Urwerk
When they were first unveiled, Urwerk’s timepieces set a new bar for Avant Garde watchmaking with their unconventional lines and mechanics. More than twenty years later, the brand that is every bit as powerful and idiosyncratic Fueled by the collaboration between Felix Baumgartner, a watchmaker bent on radically new methods of displaying the time, and designer Martin Frei, who came from outside the watch industry, Urwerk eschews the orthodoxies followed by most of the watch industry. The “satellite system” at the heart of the majority of the brand’s time displays is inspired by a 17th century carriage clock in Baumgartner’s father’s collection, but has been transformed into an ultramodern, moving sculpture. The outside lines are also aggressive, yet surprisingly comfortable and designed for interaction above almost all other qualities. Urwerk’s more recent pieces carry this idea further, allowing you to adjust the rate of the watch and track its service needs in some instances. With this volatile approach to watchmaking, Urwerk is poised for many more creative surprises in the years to come.