Urwerk's UR-202 combines turbines and watches just how you always wanted
By Joshua Topolsky 
posted Apr 19th 2008 6:29AM
posted Apr 19th 2008 6:29AM
[Via OhGizmo!]
Please note: If you're a current Engadget commenter, you do not need to re-register. Simply login and you will be prompted to select a username.
I want (even though it looks cheap)
I want one too. I never thought this day would ever come. I've finally found something I'd sell my body for. :P
this thing rivals the TAG Heuer Monaco V4 in awesomeness. but cheap? i think not.
Very cool but I kept waiting for Dieter to show up in the video asking me to touch his monkey.
How on earth do you tell the time on that thing!?!?
If you're rich enough to afford this, you've got a servant behind you with a watch just to tell you the time.
See the number at the stem of the little pointer? That's the hour and the number it's pointing at is the minute. How much more simple could you get?
see all the numbers at the bottom, ranging from 0-60 thats the minutes, the needle pointy things points at the minutes and the number on the pointer is the hour. its simple.
Interesting design.
I'm guessing when the '8' finishes its 60 minutes' worth, the turbine blade right after it turns into a '9.'
When the '9' is done, the third blade immediately takes over at 0 minute, showing a '10.'
Yeah, so when one blade finishes its 60 minute rotation the next one is just at the beginning. Very cool.
Well in that case I want one!
....+3.......GOTCHA
GAZ.....IT SAYS......8:13.........AND I UNDERSTAND THAT IT EVEN......TALKES......JUST 4 U....
Generally speaking, time displays that are tweaked to that degree are rarely useful, if even good looking. This watch seems to prove the opposite, a design that is not only truly innovative, but easy to read, and an aesthetic that has yet to cross over into the "ungodly abomination" that many designers are trying to pawn off these days.
LEE SIXTA
AND I EVEN UNDERSTAND IT SAYS 8:17!
@Nathaniel: Bingo. Give me a simple slim watch (like an old Patek Philippe) any day... but this one, wowza. I'd wear it.
Hang on, checking my account balance..... uh, can anyone spare $171,965.41?
WANE----&...GAZ.........LOOKS MORE LIKE.....8:15.176 PM TO ME......ENOUGHT SAID.......about this....thing.....WOOPS.....WATCH......L
@ LEE SIXTA
Are you on crack?
@LEE SIXTA
I may not be able to tell the time on it, I do howerver know where my CAPS LOCK key is :P
....GAZ........WhaT Cap LoCk KEy?......L
easy. the big hand says 8 and the pointer says 170 minutes. See? the rich have really neat watches; and different time intervals. ah .. to be rich...
actually if you go to the links below you will see that this pig is rather large on both the woman's wrist and the man's wrist. to big to be cool..
I want this watch so bad. I don't even wear watches but this is just cool.
I don't get it and I won't either
It looks like a weapon more than a watch 。it remind me the nuclear warhead，the RAPTOR,but not a watch，i still like it
If Chuck Norris were a watch, it would be this watch.
Holy crap the advert for this thing is AWESOME:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLTBnIszCLE
Sorry for the triple post but I just found this site with lots of good pics of the team behind the watch and close up pics of the watch itself.
http://www.horomundi.com/forum/showthread.php?p=46084
Agreed....that advertisement was very well done...
i usually think "techie" watches (for a lack of a better term) are gay, but this really pleases the geek in me and the wanna be baller in me too.
@ Rob: for lack of a better term, eh? Ironic.
Very interesting. I wonder how much it costs, definitely seems like something worth getting.
This. Is. AWESOME. YES, IN CAPITALS. Too bad im not a bajillionaire. Giveaway Engadget, please?
I don't even think engadget could afford one of these, and they certainly wouldn't get one free from them to give away!
I doubt even A'list celebrities would get them free even to promote the watch.
A friend has the 103, which is also pretty nifty. The build quality of these are amazing, but at the cost of a mid range luxury car, you'd expect that.
if you think $172k is mid range, then I envy your life style. It's funny to mention that my Sentra also has about the same number of miles :)
I want this like Paris Hilton wants a "Man"
Urwerk is like the Veyron of watches. This model is $172,000.
Holy shit. Really? I was thinking that it would "only" be like $30,000.
I've never even heard of this company and it's crazy how expensive their watches are, but I guess if you have to pay for that kind of advertising you gotta charge a lot for the few watches you'll be selling at that price. Don't get me wrong, it awesome, but not "I could buy a Lamborghini for the same price!" awesome. Their watches look friggin nice, even the back has gauges!
......is that 172k, wholesale......i only buy.....wholesale........L
I'm going to have to sell a LOT of kidneys. Along with my soul, heart, arms and legs. Thank god for eBay.
Wow. I want. Now.
at first glance, i was quite confused by this, but realizing how the hour/time changes with the different 'blades' thats really sweet
In 1 word - Ugly
You know what, I have to agree, why the hell would you want that thing strapped to your wrist? Unless perhaps you have a really really small . . . amount of taste.
Do you guys realize why you are ranked so low?
It's because you must really have small... taste.
Two Urwerk's on ebay right now. $40K and $98K. Hmmm.. do i buy a watch or a house?
....u can get ...both.......buy the watch 4 cash......and get a loan for the house...........AIN'T LIVING IN THE U.S.A......GRRRRRRREAT......THE LAND OF PLEANTY.....L
...CHRIS....WHAT ARE THEY LISTED UNDER ON E-BAY.....I CAN'T FIND ANY?
TKS......L
That watch reads 8:17, right? I think that's a sharp looking watch. I'd never seen anything like it. I couldn't afford one hand or pointer on that thing.
That has to be 60 dollars tops! whats with waterproof?
Wow an insanely expensive watch that is actually cool. Figures...
DAMN Them, I want......I yearn.
Retail on the another model goes from $62,000
http://cgi.ebay.com/Urwerk-103-09-18k-White-Gold_W0QQitemZ190213547822QQihZ009QQcategoryZ31387QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
....evereone will notice it, and want to see it.......even up CLOSE.....even the ....ladies.....like a....corvette.....GOT TO HAVE ONE.....enough said.....L
I think I like the Opus V more...
http://www.network54.com/Forum/274559/message/1112215571/OPUS+5
Agreed
http://cgi.ebay.com/Harry-Winston-Opus-V-Platinum-Felix-Baumgartner_W0QQitemZ200216972582QQihZ010QQcategoryZ31387QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262
If you look at the video you'll discover that there sure are a lot of little pieces to glue together. See all those little pieces flying around? I wonder if they use Super Glue? No wonder it costs so much.
.....I JUST SAW THE VIDEO......I CAN'T STAND IT.........PLEASE, WHERE DO I SEND MY MONEEEEEEEY=......$$$$$$$$$$$.......L
I am waiting for the 20 dollar chinese imitation......if it can do half the things this one does before it falls apart, I'll be satisfied.....btw the chinese one will have touchscreen; beat that.
and it'll have mp4 support as well!
and MP5 through MP7 support
Awww, they just missed the annual Rube Goldberg competition. I think this bit of design nonsense would have won hands down. I will point and laugh at anyone I see wearing one.
btw, we design turbine engine components to minimize complexity, weight, and cost. This watch is the antithesis of a turbine engine. Still, it looks like a fun design exercise.
gerG
You missed the point of this watch pretty hard.
If you can afford to spend $200k on a timepiece and then wear it around out in the open, you can also afford to not care what anybody thinks of the design.
In fact, you don't even need to not care. You can pay people to not care for you. You can pay them BY THE HOUR.
Wait, someone buys this watch to impress people, and to prove that they are sufficiently rich to not care what other people think. But since they don't care what people think, they would not buy this watch in the first place...
You are right, I don't get it.
The little pinwheels look like fluid dampers to me. That would make them impellers, and not turbines at all. From that perspective my turbine engine analogy was off base. Sorry about that.
No, they buy it and wear it to show off how much money they have. They have so much, in fact, that they can drop 200 Grand on this thing even though it is hideous looking. They're not buying it for the looks, they're buying it because it's expensive and obviously so.
That thing is quite awesome.
Sometimes not being extremely fucking wealthy is crappy.
I saw this like a year ago, but I still want one. Or one of those mechanical-digital ones.
combine Bad Ass with Dumb Ass and you get the UR-202 watch.
.......I AM GOING TO GET A 2 nd LOAN ON MY ROLLS MONDAY, FIRST THING, AND GET ONE.........LOOKS LIKE I WILL HAFT TO CUT BACK ON THE.....GRAY----PU-PAUN.......L
This beautiful watch design has been available for quite some time now as the Urwerk UR-201. The UR-202 has some slight changes, but apart from that, it's the same as its predecessor.
They chose the name Urwerk (prounounced "er'-werk", not "yoor'-werk) as a combination of two parts: "Ur", referencing the ancient city and land which would be located in present day Iraq - "Ur of the Chaldeans" - one of the first places in ancient history where mankind was found (it's not the first location, but to the people at Urwerk, it is - however, that's another discussion for another time). And the second part of the name, "werk", is just German for "work". Just a bit of etymology for ya. The names watch designers come up with are creative and of course, always must reflect power, something virtuous, or the birth of something great. Whether the names are inspiring or slightly amusing to you (or a little of both), they're interesting, at the very least.
This watch is intriguing and one of the more interesting and unique designs out there. Also, one of the more expensive. The UR-202 is a limited run - extremely limited. In fact, many don't even see oxygen before they're sold off.
Expect pricing for this black-platinum beauty to top $200,000 USD. Yeah, I know... insane. But in this high-end market, you gotta pay to play. All this tells me is that I should've been a watch designer - design three different watches, sell a hundred of them, and retire!
I do not know if you are aware that "Uhrwerk" means "clock work" in German and is sometimes used as a synonym to "clock".
However, talking about ancient cities is way cooler than admitting that you took a German word for clock and removed one letter ;-)
What you say may also be the case, which would make things doubly fitting. But because I don't speak German, my oversight of that is excusable.
However, that bit of etymology was what I was informed of by a reputable source who sells these extremely expensive timepieces (among many others). He in turn, must have heard that directly from Urwerk themselves. And naturally, communicating honestly is a necessity in a business where you're trying to land customers who can afford to drop six figures on a single watch.
"I do not know if you are aware that "Uhrwerk" means "clock work" in German and is sometimes used as a synonym to "clock".
However, talking about ancient cities is way cooler than admitting that you took a German word for clock and removed one letter ;-)"
I have to admit, I just realized that I didn't read your post very carefully the first time because I didn't catch that you spelled it UHRwerk and not URwerk, and I didn't carefully read your last comment. My bad. One little detail makes so much difference, eh?
But since the spellings are different and these are watches and not clocks, I'm even more certain the etymology is correct.
In my post, when I was saying “you”, I of course did not mean you (I expressed myself somewhat unclear). I was referring to the “Urwerk” marketing people.
And by the way, a watch is a clock.
I understand; I didn't take offense to anything you said.
And now we're getting into real details here, but a watch is not a clock. Does anyone wear clocks on their wrists? Who says, "I just bought a new clock" and then displays what's on their wrist?
In noun form, a watch is referred to as a "chronometer", a "portable time piece", and sometimes even a "complication", but never a "clock". Watches and clocks both tell time and both have movements, but one is not the other. Watches are worn, clocks are not. A simple search in the dictionary also supports this.
(And that isn't meant to be argumentative, just stating a fact).
If you solve the puzzle on this watch, do you get a red jewel to place on the gun rack and get access to a shot gun?
Great rip off from the Harry Winston Opus 5...
http://www.network54.com/Forum/274559/message/1112215571/OPUS+5
the Opus 5 only does 30 meters.
Well that explains the price, lawyer fees and settlements.
I don't think modifying one of your previous designs qualifies as "ripping off." The Opus is nice and more elegant, but this model is more about chic-coolness. To all the haters saying it's ugly... to each his own, I think it's pretty d@mn cool myself and can't wait for the $20 knock-off we'll be seeing in a few months!
Also, the above link will explain how it works and how to read the time off of it. Nice up-close pics of the Opus too!
Your link says "This year Max Busser has co-operated with Felix Baumgartner of Urwerk", so the same Urwerk designer worked on both watches.
After seeing it fly together, I would have to say that it has way too many parts to work reliably.
OK here's the prices, Red gold: € 92.600, White gold: € 94.000, Platinum: € 115.500, Black platinum: € 129.600
So let's see that's $130,000 to start, and it ends at almost $200,000.
I'll wait for someone to rip off the design and grab it for $40 at Walmart some day. That company is only charging that much because they can, the parts that make it cant be anything special.
does anyone know of any really cool watches?
this has motivated me to get one, but I really don't need black platinum...
why can't they make some original designs and then make then out of normal materials... I'm sure a lot of people would want one if it was like $300-400 or maybe even twice that.
The turbines help to regulate the movement. The little switch thingy on the back opens and closes a valve to the turbines, which makes them go faster or slower.
GAY
What, are we, 5?
"clockwork" ha ha ha pwned,
but i do have sympathy for others as well!
After mortgaging my house to buy one, I'll probably feel really stupid.
actually this is not the first of its kind. there's a harry winston watch, the opus 5, pictured here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dz3_44Lsf6A&feature=related
that uses the same system. and i think it might be cheaper too. the thing with this watch is that it somehow uses satellites to keep it on time. i guess that at this price it comes with its one satellite.
ok, so i was badly informed. the harry winston opus V was created with the help of Felix Baumgartner, the founder of Urwerk (thus the same design). the opus V was covered by engadget in 2005 (more specifically Jun 20th; good archive, guys) and the satellite thing i was talking earlier about it has to do with the little blocks that are arranged like satellites on a three-dimensional rotating system, showing the time as they spin around. my bad.
the harry winston now retails for as much as 289.000 on ebay.
If this watch takes me to the past or the future I'm taken it, lets go Marty, back into the future!
Everyone,
I went on the manufacturers website and found one of their listed authorized retailers. Just for grins and giggles i decided to call the retailer and the guy who i spoke with told me that the watch will cost around $150,000. Just thought I would throw that out there.