SJX Watches
In-Depth: Hidden Innovation in the Urwerk UR-150 “Scorpion”
Urwerk is universally known for its unique approach to time-telling, usually marrying the classic concept of wandering hours with avant-garde styling and reinvented mechanics. The brand’s signature brand of watchmaking is exemplified by the UR-150 “Scorpion”, which demonstrates the brand’s ability to reinvent the wheel in displaying the time. The UR-150 is a time-only watch, showing just the hours and minutes, but with a technical execution that is sophisticated and elaborate. Nicknamed “Scorpion” due to its crisp retrograde hour hand that brings to mind the desert creature’s swift sting, the UR-150 features a central carousel that creeps slowly over the course of one hour, only for the hour hand to snap back and reset with a lively action at the top of each hour. The concept of satellite and retrograde hours is not new to Urwerk – in fact the idea dates back to the Opus V – but in the UR-150 the mechanics underlying the time display have been refined, upgraded, and elaborated upon. Dissecting the time display module of the UR-150 is a fascinating process that speaks to the talent of the watchmakers and constructors at Urwerk who conceived these radical time displays. The mechanics are inventive, especially in the interconnected nature of the various sub-assemblies ranging from the retrograde to the satellite discs. The construction also incorporates finer engineering details like main shaft that supports two concentric but independent axes of the carrier...
