Independents

tom2517
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Urwerk 210Y

Here’s my review on Urwerk 210. Indies are a popular topic here but while people likes to talk about them, seldom do people actually buy them, especially they are usually priced even higher the main stream brands. 

I do also have concerns (like everyone) with the ability of them staying in the business say 5, 10 years down the line but in the end I have decided it’s not really a big deal. 

Originally I was comparing between MBF LM2, HYT H2, 4N, Urwerk, and a couple of others, and while there are obviously pros and cons for each one, in the end I have decided to go with Urwerk mainly because one of my favourite watch of all time is the HW Opus V, and the 210 is very close to it and in a more sporty disguise. 

Case: 210 comes in steel, rose gold, and two models with steel with AlTin coating (210 AlTin and 210Y). I picked 210Y because I wanted a black watch (though it’s more greyish) that’s also very scratch resistant. AlTin is a coating developed for industrial proposes, it is used mainly used for drilling tools to prolong their life. But perhaps it’s an expensive process in Switzerland because there’s only minimal price difference between AlTin coated steel and the rose gold model. The case itself is more tall than wide, and thick too, since it has to house the satellite complication, and it has some sharp edges as well, unusual for a watch case. 

Strap and buckle: Usually 210Y comes with nylon strap, but for some reason mine came with alligator strap. The buckle is tang buckle (also AlTin coated), but a deployment buckle can be special ordered, didn’t ask how much though, but I am sure not cheap (nothing is cheap when it comes to Indies)! 

Movement complications: Instead of say, a tourbillon, Urwerk’s complication is the satellite movement. 210’s base movement came from Sowind (so probably a GP movement), Urwerk then design and build the satellite complication on top of it. 210 has a retrograde minute hand which I think is a very important function, for me at least. Urwerk 202 has what I considered a “slow” movement. It doesn’t have a second hand, no tourbillon to gaze at, and no chrono to play with, so essentially every time you look down, nothing is moving. On the 210, one can look forward to the giant minute hand cage every hour when it jumps back. 

210 also has a power efficiency indicator, which tells your movement for the last two hour, that whether you have been winding the rotor efficiently. The function works, same with the turbine control in the back of the watch. But I usually keep it at “full” because I find “reduced” is only suitable when I pretty much have to be active all day.

Movement Finish (as far as I can see): 210 is not finished in the classic sense as in lots of anglage, cote de geneve, and whatnot. What it has is modern CNC machine work and stamping parts. I can’t really say its better or worse than traditional watchmaking, it is just different.

Conclusion: How does one describe the 210? I have heard “strange”, “weird”, “interesting”, and “what is that?”, but never beautiful or pretty, perhaps this is both Urwerk’s strength and weakness. The satellite complication itself, I guess a close comparison would the UN Freak, where a module is built on top of a simple base movement, is unique and you won’t see it on any other brand (save the Opus V). Personally I like it very much and the fact that nobody I know has one.

Going forward I hope Urwerk will come out with another kind of time telling complications, a couple of watch enthusiasts I talked to think Urwerk cannot just keep on making variations of the satellite display (or maybe they can, who knows) because unlike main stream brands such as Patek and Rolex, where people buy multiple watches from the same brand. People who buy Urwerk might stop at one piece since all others are just variations. 

To be fair, Urwerk does have other complications like the EMC, which is interesting but not my cup of tea. CC1 Cobra is actually a tremendous watch, there's nothing else out there like it (except the the original prototype at PP museum), but it’s very expensive at over 300k list (it’s on my list though).

P.S. Just this past fall Ralph Lauren wore the 210Y on his runway show. Ever since RL ventured into the watch business, RL himself only wears RL watches on the runway, so for RL to wear another brand in an event this high profile, it’s the best possible endorsement Urwerk can get. 

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