{"id":4130,"date":"2015-11-17T14:29:45","date_gmt":"2015-11-17T13:29:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.my-watchsite.com\/blog\/urwerk-emc-pistol-the-horological-exception-n1788\/"},"modified":"2015-11-17T14:29:45","modified_gmt":"2015-11-17T13:29:45","slug":"urwerk-emc-pistol-the-horological-exception-n1788","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.my-watchsite.com\/blog\/urwerk-emc-pistol-the-horological-exception-n1788\/","title":{"rendered":"Urwerk EMC Pistol, the horological exception"},"content":{"rendered":"

The EMC watch, constructed by the URWERK company, is a milestone in luxury watchmaking as the first and only mechanical watch in which the rate can be checked electronically at any time simply by pressing a button.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The originality and ingenuity of the EMC concept have been widely acclaimed. The 2014 Geneva Grand Prix d\u2019Horlogerie awarded the EMC two first prizes in the \u201cexceptional mechanism\u201d and the \u201cinnovation\u201d categories, while the watch earned Felix Baumgartner the title of Watchmaker of the Year in Hong Kong. Just as important for the URWERK team are the plaudits received for the EMC from Mr Philippe Dufour, the recognised virtuoso of high-grade watchmaking.<\/p>\n

\"URWERK\"URWERK<\/p>\n

For this last version of the EMC – the Pistol – URWERK has brought together the leading craftsmen and the most skilled hands to do justice to these five unique watches. Florian G\u00fcllert was responsible for the engraving, Jos\u00e9phine and Sylviane took care of the leather work for the strap while URWERK\u2019s artistic director, Martin Frei, and master-watchmaker, Felix Baumgartner, have unstintingly given of their best to create this watch. The EMC Pistol is the fruit of this exceptional alliance. Introductions.<\/p>\n

Florian G\u00fcllert<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first thing you notice when you meet Florian G\u00fcllert are his hands – large, thin and well manicured hands.<\/p>\n

Florian G\u00fcllert specialises in engraving firearms. He is a painstaking worker who loves his craft, proving that enthusiasm can coexist with meticulous care. For 15 years he has demonstrated his talent by transforming shotguns and handguns into works of art. Freehand chasing and engraving leave his mark on metal in scrolls and letters. \u201cEngraving is a way of capturing light,\u201d he explains \u201cIt bares the metal and creates zones of shade. The metal is forcibly worked and astonishingly that is what makes it beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"URWERK<\/p>\n

This 43-year-old master-engraver set up his workshops at Klagenfurt on the shores of the W\u00f6rthersee lake in Austria. He started his career as a gunsmith, graduating in 1995 from the Ferlach technical college. But he soon changed track. It was no longer the guns themselves that obsessed him; they merely became the canvas for his art. \u201cYou can compare engraving on metal with calligraphy, while hammer peening creates such subtle nuances that they cannot be reproduced exactly. Each mark you make is unique and definitive. That is the beauty of craftsmanship,\u201d he confides.<\/p>\n

\"URWERK\"URWERK<\/p>\n

Four or five years ago, one of his clients mentioned URWERK. Curiosity led him to the website. When the watch company contacted him in 2014, he immediately agreed to accept a commission. His only reservation was time; his order book was full and his agenda overloaded. But the desire remained. He received the blueprints of the EMC case and started his research. \u201cI had to find a pattern that contrasted with the very mechanical and technical aspects of the object. I was looking for scrolls and arabesques that would break up the rectilinear architecture of the EMC. It was a rather unusual job for me, because the surface that you can decorate on a watch is restricted. You have to get it right and find a pattern that can be appreciated with an unaided eye.\u201d There was another difficulty: the steel used in the EMC case turned out to be so hard that special tools had to be found. \u201cBut the method doesn\u2019t change,\u201d he concludes. \u201cThe actions of my hands are the same as those of all engravers throughout the ages. This is what we have in common with fine watchmaking: tradition is at the centre of our craft.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martin Frei<\/strong><\/p>\n

Martin Frei\u2019s mother introduced him to world of art and his father, an astrophysicist, turned his gaze towards the stars. Today he\u2019s the artistic director of URWERK, the watchmaking company that he co-founded.<\/p>\n

Martin Frei constructs watches on paper, painting them in gouache before they assume their mechanical shape. \u201cWhat I enjoy about our working sessions at URWERK is listening to Felix and the R&D team solving the technical problems of a watch that only exists as a rough sketch,\u201d he declares.<\/p>\n

\"URWERK<\/p>\n

For the EMC Pistol, Martin Frei envisaged a watch that displayed contrasting styles. The minimalist design of the top part of the case dissolves into raised engravings. The smooth and satin-finished surfaces of the upper part highlight the decorative work of the lower section. \u201cThis abrupt change in style illustrates our intentions: we wanted an object that was both solid and fluid. Our EMC, which looks uncluttered, gains new strength from this almost baroque decoration. The engraving is similar to that on collectors\u2019 firearms. It is sparing, it doesn\u2019t dominate, yet it provides the final touch that creates surprise \u2014 the wow effect.\u201d <\/p>\n

The very distinct design of the EMC derives from the principle that form follows function. \u201cThe EMC is a mechanical watch fitted with a hand-cranked electric generator, a capacitor and a system that monitors its rate. It took me some time to combine all that into a watch that sits comfortably on the wrist. When we first demonstrated the EMC idea, the module was in its trial container \u2014 a plastic box 15cm long and 10cm wide and as thick as a brick. Miniaturising the components and maximising the space by making full use of every cubic millimetre was an exacting task that we undertook with pleasure. Every aspect of the EMC constitutes an exploit. Disguising the constraints and making it look easy is what we\u2019re good at,\u201d he concludes.<\/p>\n

Jos\u00e9phine Morf and Sylviane<\/strong><\/p>\n

Welcome to the little workshops of the Place Simon-Goulart in Geneva\u2019s old watchmaking district of Saint Gervais. Hidden in an attic you find the Portal\u00e8s leather company, presided over by its owner, Jos\u00e9phine Morf, and Sylviane, her nimble-fingered worker.<\/p>\n

\"URWERK<\/p>\n

These two ladies are well known in watchmaking circles for their skill. Their speciality is the high-grade leather strap, the exceptional adjunct to outstanding watches.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe make each item more or less on an individual basis and for very small series ordered by watchmakers and manufacturers of luxury leather goods,\u201d Jos\u00e9phine explains. \u201cURWERK\u2019s order at first took us by surprise,\u201d she adds. \u201cThey wanted a part of the skin that we very seldom use because it is in relief. The straps we made are truly three dimensional with a series of small ridges.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"URWERK\"URWERK<\/p>\n

The strap for the EMC Pistol is certainly unconventional. Its manufacture is entirely in the hands of Sylviane who deftly manipulates edge bevellers, mechanical blades and cutters. \u201cWe have made five unique straps, which in my view are among the finest created by our company.\u201d <\/p>\n

Felix Baumgartner<\/strong><\/p>\n

Felix Baumgartner, the son and grandson of watchmakers, founded URWERK with Martin Frei and has presided over the fortunes of their company for the past 18 years. The EMC is his Holy Grail, his dream come true and the watch with which he renewed his skills and demonstrated that his commitment to fine watchmaking is as strong as ever.<\/p>\n

\"URWERK<\/p>\n

The EMC that he conceived is first of all based on URWERK\u2019s proprietary movement \u2014 a chronometer movement with an original balance wheel and twin barrels. It\u2019s also a crazy idea: an electronic device that oversees the proper operation of the watch by monitoring the sprung balance at its heart. The result is a mechanical timepiece that can be adjusted by its owner to achieve the best possible timekeeping performance. \u201cOur aim was to give each EMC owner the information that hitherto could only be supplied by a watchmaker using sophisticated equipment. To achieve this we had to take a fresh look at the mechanism and redesign it from scratch to provide information that could be seen and analysed,\u201d Felix Baumgartner explains.<\/p>\n

\"URWERK<\/p>\n

The movement for this watch was conceived, developed, manufactured and decorated in URWERK\u2019s workshops. It\u2019s a movement with a classic finish that contrasts with its futuristic performance. \u201cWe have finished it in the tradition of fine watchmaking, with Geneva stripes, snailing, shot-blasted and brushed finishes, because we have broken the rules elsewhere,\u201d he declares. \u201cOne of the real joys of watchmaking is to enhance the material one works with,\u201d he adds. \u201cI started my apprenticeship at my father\u2019s workbench where I stripped the dials and and wheels of old clocks. It was an endless task, but it made me proud. My father had an eagle eye that detected the smallest part that wasn\u2019t up to standard. He gave me a sense of perfection.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The EMC watch, constructed by the URWERK company, is a milestone in luxury watchmaking as the first and only mechanical watch in which the rate can be checked electronically at any time simply by pressing a button. The originality and ingenuity of the EMC concept have been widely acclaimed. The 2014 Geneva Grand Prix d\u2019Horlogerie […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4142,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[41],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUrwerk EMC Pistol, the horological exception - MyWatch EN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.my-watchsite.com\/blog\/urwerk-emc-pistol-the-horological-exception-n1788\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Urwerk EMC Pistol, the horological exception - MyWatch EN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The EMC watch, constructed by the URWERK company, is a milestone in luxury watchmaking as the first and only mechanical watch in which the rate can be checked electronically at any time simply by pressing a button. 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