Why watch enthusiasts should collect independent brands, according to Urwerk

Advertizing

CNA Lifestyle

Why lookout enthusiasts should collect independent brands, according to Urwerk

Collectors are able to engage directly with the watchmakers, says Urwerk co-founder Martin Frei.

Why watch enthusiasts should collect independent brands, according to Urwerk — Urwerk's latest cosmos is the UR-111C. Time is read off the roller. (Photo: Urwerk)

08 Feb 2022 04:39PM (Updated: 04 Jul 2022 09:31PM)

Afterward several years amassing and assembling a watch collection, there comes a signal in a collector's life when he or she begins to expect beyond the big name brands. That is when he or she tends to gravitate towards the independents – creators that march to the beat of their own drums, free from corporate pressures.

Read: What niche brands can offer collectors

One such maker is Urwerk, which Geneva-based watchmaker Felix Baumgartner and Zurich-based artist Martin Frei co-founded in 1997. Their firstborn, the UR-101, was a radical feat of micro-engineering science directly out of a sci-fi flick. With a design inspired by Star Wars' Millennium Falcon, it was as far removed from any other mechanical sentinel at the time, and set the tone for the company for the next two decades.

The teaser video for Urwerk's UR-111C was a tribute to Blade Runner, which happens to be one of Frei's favourite movies, forth with Star Wars and the space opera Star Expedition. CNA Lifestyle spoke to Frei to find out the value of collecting contained brand timepieces.

WHY SHOULD A Sentry ENTHUSIAST COLLECT Contained BRANDS?

For the beauty, the human talent, the creativity, the sincerity injected into each creation. We practise not have v-year plans. Nosotros do not rely on complex marketing strategies. Our communication tools are our watches. They are our way of expressing ourselves.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU Give TO A WATCH ENTHUSIAST WHO IS LOOKING TO Get-go COLLECTING INDEPENDENT BRAND TIMEPIECES?

To follow his centre. First you spot the watch. The 1 that makes your manus sweaty and your brain echo endlessly 'Mine'. Yous try to get as much information on it equally you can: on websites, social media, magazines... And then the fun starts because you tin can really pick upward your phone or drop an e-mail to its creator and yous know what? He is going to respond you back. You take a direct connexion! You cannot contact a Mr. Rolex or a Mr. Omega but for sure you can talk to (independent watchmakers) Philippe Dufour or Kari Voutilainen or Felix Baumgartner or myself.

Martin Frei and Felix Baumgartner, co-founders of Urwerk. (Photograph: Urwerk)

WHAT ASSURANCE Tin Y'all GIVE THAT A Sentry FROM A NICHE BRAND Similar URWERK WILL Concord ITS VALUE?

We cannot give such balls. Buying independent is not an investment! You lot buy something rare that you feel related to. You buy it to be your own, to have it on your wrist, to live with it and be the witness of precious time. For investments please refer to your banker :)

WHAT Practice YOU THINK THE Next BIG THING IN WATCHMAKING Will Be?

When information technology comes to watchmaking trends I try not to follow them besides closely. I want to preserve my free spirit. I am not from the watchmaking world, my background is more from the artistic side and I like it that manner.

Trained as an artist and designer, Frei did non come from a watchmaking groundwork. (Photo: Urwerk)

MORE WATCH BRANDS AND RETAILERS ARE SELLING ONLINE. DO YOU SEE THIS AS THE WAY Forward?

Yep I practise. Nosotros live in an e-connected world and watchmaking will be no exception. Information technology is an area like whatsoever other discipline that has to evolve with its time. Simply to be frank I call back that nix volition ever replace the immediate experience. You lot may fall in love with a creation online simply in my opinion, the real bail will be created when you accept it in contact with your skin, on your wrist.

URWERK BEGAN More than THAN 20 YEARS AGO WITH THE INTENTION OF Irresolute THE Condition QUO. WHAT WOULD YOU Modify Most THE WATCH Manufacture TODAY?

I would not change much. I run across diverseness, creativity and boldness all around.