URWERK – THE TEXTURE SHOCK

URWERK – THE TEXTURE SHOCK

By Sharmila Bertin

Two mastodons on the velvet-covered wooden display tray seem ready to do battle. A spiky bearing, eye-catching solid skull, intimidating teeth, shiny eyes…My imagination’s running away with me. But, upon closer inspection, my daydreams may well be very real. You just have to look carefully at these two architectural pieces by Urwerk, the UR-105 T-Rex and UR-210 Clou de Paris models, to see their predatory, reptilian and rare side and uncover a pair of dinosaur watches from the 21^st or 22^nd century.

The thing that really starts your mind ticking is the architecture and texture of both cases. They’re edgy and covered in sharp scales like the tapered body of a large reptile yet despite their aggressive physique, neither of these models “bite”. On the contrary, both the hand-patinated copper armour on the UR-105 T-Rex and the triangular edges of the black DLC-coated titanium and steel UR-210 Clou de Paris are soft to the touch.

Their sheer size may grab your attention on the tray but they really roar to life when they’re wrapped around the wrist: the 39.5mm wide by 53mm long T-Rex and 43.8mm by 53.6mm Clou de Paris settle comfortably onto the arm with their wide black alligator or fabric straps whose chunky mesh brings the “stud” pattern to mind.

UR-105 T-Rex takes its name, or rather surname, from the Tyrannosaurus Rex, the “tyrant lizard king”, a formidable biped predator over 4m tall that lived during the Cretaceous period. Urwerk was inspired by its huge head whose skin has a ribbed look. The case is covered in 3D copper scales lying concentrically. Various treatments create the metal’s patina: micro-beading, micro-sandblasting and oxidation. Rather than a hungry grin, at the bottom of the watch the T-Rex wears a U-shaped display showcasing the hours and minutes fuelled by the self-winding UR-5.02 calibre.

The UR-210 Clou de Paris model is a mastodon that’s far easier to tame. Its edgy skull is only partly covered in thinner and smaller scales carved out using the traditional Clou de Paris pattern. Its self-winding UR-7.10 calibre brings to life vagabond hours and retrograde minutes all rimmed with Super-LumiNova.