Urwerk: UR-220 Falcon Project

Just a few months after launching its UR-210 “final edition”model, URWERK amazes us with the new UR-220 “Falcon Project”. 

With a new manual-winding movement, entirely reconceived and redesigned, and the control board on the back of the case, the new UR-220 goes back to URWERK’s earlier technologies as in the UR-110.

For a change we’ll start with the back of the watch, which shows how much the 200 series modules have evolved. URWERK’s signature Oil Change indicator returns after years of absence to show the accumulated engine running time of the watch. In the UR-220, the Oil Change indicator takes the shape of a numerical counter calibrated in months, shown on two adjacent rollers.

The log of the movement’s running time is started by the owner of the watch who removes a security pin and presses the pusher on the back of the UR-220. From then on, the counter displays the accumulated running time of the watch in months. When it reaches 39 months, it is time to take the watch in for a service and oil change. URWERK’s watchmakers will set the counter back to zero and replace the pin at the end of the service.

From an aesthetic point of view, the most important novelty is certainly the use of carbon. The result is an extremely strong and lightweight 43,8 mm case, composed of 81 ultra-thin layers of high-resistance 150g CTP carbon, which thanks to its circular pattern structure emphasizes the curve of the case.

The UR-220 adopts the satellite indication of its predecessor “UR-210”, in which the wandering hours are indicated on three rotating cubes. In turn they pick up the minutes pointer as they enter the 120° scale of 60 minutes. At the end of the hour, the minutes pointer leaps back to the start of the scale to be picked up by the next hour. To minimise the inertia of the retrograde minutes, each side of the pointer has been pierced to make it as light as possible. 

The only other indication on the dial is that of the 48 hours power reserve. This is displayed on two up/down gauges positioned in the two upper corners of the dial, each of 24 hours. When the movement is wound, the right-hand gauge reacts first. As soon as it shows 24 hours of power reserve, the left hand gauge takes over. Splitting the power reserve indication turned out to be a complex task, requiring 83 mechanical parts. 

With the UR-220’s strap, URWERK again ventures into new territory. It is the company’s first rubber strap, and therefore has to be something special. The strap is cured, moulded and textured by the Vulcarboné process which gives it a touch like velvet. (Price CHF 145.000 + Tax)