Yellow gold — the most traditional of precious metals — meets one of the most radical case constructions in contemporary watchmaking. With the UR-150 Golden Scorpion, URWERK clads its kinetic flagship in the queen of metals, and the result is less armour, more sculpture; more precious object than machine.
The UR-150 is URWERK’s vision of time in motion at its most mature: three-hour satellites rotate on a central flying carousel while a retrograde hand tracks the minutes across a 240-degree arc, before snapping back to its starting point in one hundredth of a second. Behind the spectacle sits the automatic UR-50.01 calibre — 38 jewels, 4 Hz, 43-hour power reserve — whose cam-and-rack system, paired with a speed regulator borrowed from minute repeaters, keeps the display in a state of permanent mechanical tension.
“I never design a watch as a static object,” says Martin Frei, co-founder and chief designer. “On the Golden Scorpion, yellow gold behaves almost like an optical material. It reveals certain lines, makes others disappear and constantly renews the perception of the watch.” The 2N yellow gold case middle — sandblasted, microbead-blasted and satin-finished — measures 42.5 mm across and 51 mm lug to lug, capped by a domed sapphire crystal and a black PVD titanium caseback, on a hybrid rubber strap.
Co-founder and master watchmaker Felix Baumgartner sees the name as a character brief: “Its name alone suggests a strong, almost aggressive personality. That force is reflected in the constant tension between the trajectory of the satellites and the lightning return of the retrograde hand. The UR-150 always appears poised and alert, ready to strike.”
The UR-150 Golden Scorpion is a limited edition of 25 pieces, priced at CHF 105,000 excluding taxes. Gold, as URWERK notes, elevates everything it touches.
