Urwerk UR-210 Maltese Falcon Watch

Normally I like minimalist designs but you’ve probably noticed (or not) that I’ve written quite a few posts on Urwerk watches, which are the complete opposite of minimalist; their designs are super-complicated because “they can be”.  Today I present you the Urwerk UR-210 “Maltese Falcon” watch, the latest creation from the mad geniuses at Urwerk.

One of the main features of the UR-210 Maltese Falcon watch is its world first “Winding Efficiency Complication”, which tells you whether you’re using stored energy to power the watch or creating energy to charge the power reserve.  I’m sure a lot of thought and engineering went into this complication and it sounds very cool but is a pretty useless feature, in my not so humble opinion.  Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the engineering behind this complication and love Urwerk’s watches.  Below is a quote from the company explaining this complication:

Armed with knowledge of both winding efficiency and available power reserve, you are now able to intervene. If your UR-210 indicates an insufficient supply of energy, you can position the winding efficiency selector (at the back of the watch) to “FULL”.
The rotor will then convert the slightest movement into stored energy.  In this configuration, a turbine connected to the rotor provides smooth, unimpeded power. But if you are more active, then that may provide more power than required and unnecessarily wear the mechanism. In that case, you would position the winding efficiency selector to “REDUCED” to engage the rotor damping system. An air turbine compressor mounted on ruby bearings spins and creates internal resistance – enough friction to slow down or dampen the automatic winding rotor. In “STOP” mode, the automatic winding system is disabled completely and the UR-210 runs off reserve power and may require manual winding.

The face of the Urwerk UR-210 features the company’s famous satellite complication, which is also featured on the UR-110 watch but in the UR-210, is displayed a bit differently.  The minutes are displayed on a retrograde scale at the bottom of the dial with a large cage/pointer aimed at the retrograde minute scale; the pointer is designed to mimic the look of a Maltese falcon’s beak.  The pointer moves clock-wise as minutes pass and snaps back to 0 at the top of the hour, the “snap-back” from the 60 minute marker to the 0 minute marker takes only 0.1 seconds.  The hours are displayed by three rotating arms with four numbers engraved on each (from 1 to 12); the number for the current hour is placed inside the cage/pointer that’s aimed at the minute retrograde scale.  Confused yet?  Look at the pictures and all will be revealed.

The UR-210’s dial features a 39-hour power reserve indicator at the 1 o’clock position and the “winding efficiency” indicator is placed at the 11 o’clock position and comes with green, grey, and red colors.  When the small pointer is in the green area, the watch is being wound, grey indicates neutral, and red is when the watch is using up the power-reserve.

The Urwerk UR-210 Maltese Falcon watch comes in a 43.8mm wide by 53.6mm long titanium and steel case that is covered with sapphire crystal.  The watch is powered by a 51 jewel caliber UR-7.10 automatic movement and is water resistant to 30 meters (100 feet).  The watch is priced at 137,000 Swiss Francs or about $148,000 US.

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