Urwerk UR-CC1 Watch

The luxury watchmaking house of Urwerk, famous for its devotion to the avant-garde style, is proud to unveil its complex and totally innovative UR-CC1 watch. Encouraged by retro car speedometers and the Cobra, a progressive Patek Philippe model from 1959, created by watchmaker Louis Cottier and jeweler Gilbert Albert, the UR-CC1 happens to be a blend of linear displays.

Contrary to its renowned inspirer - just a wonderful showpiece at Geneva museum for now -the UrwerkUR-CC1 model, dubbed the "King Cobra", is distinguished by its unparalleled functionality. Its case, demonstrating brushed and polished surfaces, consists of two horizontally elongated sectors with shaped sapphire crystals protecting each of them.

The lower sector displays hours and minutes. The scale beneath both sectors is gradually transferred by a line, which proves to be much more than just a simple indication. In fact, an unrivalled system of dual retrograde cylinders, which instantaneously spring back to their initial positions the moment they get to the end of their travels, is a result of Urwerk’s dedicated work within a period of more than three years.

The upper sector of the Urwerk King Cobra CC1 watch is also exclusive. For the first time in the history of watches, small seconds are displayed in both linear and digital modes. The ultra low-mass components, requisite for this indication, were produced by means of Mimotec’s photolithography techniques. This process enabled an extremely high level of manufacturing exactitude. Created from lightweight nickel, the weight of the transparent seconds disc is just 0.09 grams.

Curved sapphire displays on the sides of the UR-CC1 model’s case expose a set of mechanical surprises presented by Urwerk. The minute cylinder, revolved by a vertical triple-cam and toothed rack mechanism, rotates through 300-degrees and travels from 0 to 60. As soon as it gets to the end of the hour, the minute cylinder immediately flies back to 0. Urged by the retrograde action of the minute cylinder, the hour cylinder moves forward to show the new hour.

Urwerkreferred again to Mimotec’s photolithography technique to get an ultra low-mass and extremely solid component for the rack production. Due to its honeycomb skeleton structure, the rack, made of nickel, takes advantage of further weight reduction.

As a consequence of this work there appeared a part, solid enough to convey the motion of the cam to the minutes cylinder and lightweight to ensure low energy consumption, as well as relatively high shock resistance. To manufacture the triple-cam, Urwerk has opted for beryllium bronze, a material that is distinguished by its low frictional coefficient and self-lubricating properties. 

A "fly brake turbine" pneumatic shock absorber, meant for improving the watch in terms of durability and insulation from shock, has been integrated into the automatic mechanical movement of the UR-CC1 King Cobra timepiece.

The dial and the bridges are manufactured from ARCAP P40, an extremely solid cupronickel alloy. Both the hour and minute cylinders feature Superluminova treatment, which ensures perfect readability in any lighting condition.

The Urwerk UR-CC1 watch will be available in grey or black gold, with case backs produced in titanium. Both interpretations are restricted to just 25 items. The supremely complex King Cobra case measures 45.7mm x 43.5mm x 15mm.