Urwerk resurrected the UR-101 with another uber cool transformation of the original model with a textured skin, scaly armour which they have used in before and call the T-REX.
Press Release with commentary in italics.
New: Urwerk UR-101 T-REX
The Urwerk UR-101 T-REX has a retail price set at CHF 38,000 (Swiss francs// excl. tax). Limited Edition of 100 pieces.
Commentary
We see the return of the T-Rex to the Urwerk collection. We first caught sight of this monster of a watch in the UR-105 T-REX. But this time, the base used is the UR-101 instead of the UR-105. The same hand patinated bronze with the same guilloché pattern is applied to the case, including the lugs. And while the UR-101 T-REX had a titanium case back, the novelty sports one in stainless steel which is black PVD coated. The T-REX moniker is also found on the UR-100V T-REX, a watch which also dressed in the same way – with the patinated bronze guilloché case which features an openworked dial, instead of the case which covers up the view to the mechanism on the dial side. We are not sure the movement used is the same, as Urwerk changed their movement nomenclature. The UR-100V T-REX used the Calibre UR 12.02.
The look is equally menacing. The guilloché is particularly successful in pulling off the armour scales on what we imagine the prehistoric dinosaur the Tyrannosaurus Rex might look like. And the bronze case, ably assisted by the hand patina, nails the look. As the case is in guilloché, with a cut depth which is very much deeper than the traditional guilloché applied to dials, the scales are tactile and gives an even stronger impression of running your fingers on a dinosaur.
The movement on the UR-101 T-REX is the UR-101V which is less complicated than UR-5.02 used in the UR-105 T-REX. It not only does not feature the rotating cubes on the hour display, it also lacks the regulating turbines regulating the winding power of the movement.
And at CHF 38k, this is as close to entry level as an Urwerk can be. Though the UR-102 Reloaded in a boxed set issued as a 25-piece limited edition, comprising the “Titanium” and “Black” versions retails at CHF 56k does work out to be less expensive per piece. The UR-100V T-REX also has a higher price tag of CHF 50k.
Release details
Quake and quiver! The latest addition to the T-Rex lineage is making a big entrance. Bronze carapace, raw presence, primal contact. Not content to be seen, this new arrival demands to be touched.
A specially resurrected UR-101 has undergone the transmutation into a boosted creation covered with textured skin, scaly armor covering its bezel, as well as its sides, as well as its lugs. Usually found on the dial alone – where it is carefully protected under a sapphire crystal the organic guilloché pattern – it is exposed here to the touch, filter-free and deliberately inviting contact.
The UR-101 T-Rex wants to face off with the world and here at URWERK we are always ready to rumble.
LIVING BRONZE.
“Bronze is a fabulous metal”, explains URWERK’s co-founder and artistic director Martin Frei. “It reacts to the touch. It is alive. It re-oxidises as soon as it is scratched and this oxidation protects it and erases the traces of time. It is fascinating, as if reacting like the skin’s natural regenerating process”, he continues.
The UR-101 is the third URWERK model to be given the T-Rex treatment. Its rounded design triggered the desire for transmutation, providing the perfect base for the characteristic guilloché pattern. Take a closer look: the engraved grooves start at the crown, running along the entire case in a low-gradient climb, up to the steep, curved slope leading to the back. One change of pace follows another in a complex, beautiful succession. This 100-piece limited-edition UR-101 T-Rex with its ergonomics inspired by the Millennium Falcon is all about form and substance, surface and depth.
This UR-101 T-Rex measures 41 mm in diameter and 11.86 mm thick at its highest point. Above and beyond the numbers, the way it feels when worn makes all the difference. Its curvature ensures sa natural fit, sitting snugly on the front of the wrist, finding a small niche in which to nestle between two bones. From there on, the asymmetry of the case is revealed, tilting slightly towards the gaze, higher at 12 o’clock than at 7 o’clock thanks to the addition of a ‘spoiler’ with a crown puller that facilitates handling of this creation. Inspired by the very first UR-101, this detail further accentuates its originality.
PIERCING THE CARAPACE.
The bronze from which the majority of the case is made is first guilloched before being oxidized and finally brushed. It will evolve over time, with its brown color becoming even more pronounced, without ever turning green. The same will happen to the inside of the scales, where the graver has been used, as well as for the lugs that are integrated to the back of the UR-101 T-Rex, slightly tilting the case.
This engraving with a geometric pattern first appeared in 2016 on the UR-105 T-Rex, followed a few years later by the UR-100 T-Rex: “It’s a traditional guilloched dial pattern”, says Martin Frei. “We applied it to the entire surface of our case, right up to the edges. You can touch it. It has an animal, physical, almost visceral power.” The art of finishing – that sometimes overlooked facet of URWERK’s approach – is revealed here on a large scale.
DELVING INTO THE MECHANISM.
A reinterpretation of an original URWERK model, the UR-101 T-Rex spells a return to URWERK’s roots. Featuring two satellites, a 180-degree display and a solid, snailed carrousel, this movement is a new expression of brand’s technical “wandering hours” signature. The development of the UR-1.01V caliber provides an opportunity for co-founder and master watchmaker Felix Baumgartner to recall the first URWERK movements. “Our original idea was a satellite time display. Making a carousel almost 150 times heavier than two hands move isochronically was our first challenge. It was in conjunction with Svend Andersen, my first watchmaking mentor, that we realized a Maltese cross was required to manage such a mechanism. And that was just the start of the challenges we have set ourselves ever since.”
The strength of the URWERK universe lies in the collision of imaginations. Between the world of Martin Frei and that of Felix Baumgartner, between the pop culture of their adulthood and the tales of their childhood, between a variety of cinematographic, historical and literary references, the URWERK concepts interpenetrate and coexist in a mash-up where cool meets underground. Alluding to dinosaur scales and the Millennium Falcon, to 18th- and 21st-century watchmaking – all viewed through the prism of the brand’s 25-year existence to date – is the essence of URWERK style. A name that evokes Ur the Sumerian city; Urzeit as in prehistory; Uhr meaning time (and clock); as well as Werk, the movement.
With the UR-101 T-Rex, URWERK does not just tell time; it gives it shape and a voice—a roar.
Urwerk UR-101 T-REX Specifications
100-PIECE LIMITED EDITION
M O V E M E N T: Calibre UR-1.01V, self-winding * Jewels 28 * Frequency 28,800 v/h – 4 Hz * Power reserve 48 hours * Materials Copper, brass, ARCAP P40 * Finishes Snailing, sandblasting, satin-brushing * Chamfered screw heads
I N D I C A T I O N S: Wandering hours on two satellites, minutes: Hours and minutes markers painted with Super-LumiNova®
C A S E: Materials Hand-painted guilloché bronze case ; black PVD-coated steel caseback ; steel and PEEK crown puller * Size 41 mm in diameter, 11.86 mm thick (at its highest point)* Glace Glareproofed, metallised sapphire crystal * Water resistance Pressure-tested at 30m / 3ATM
S T R A P: Material Black rubber with black calfskin lining * Pin buckle Black DLC-treated steel
