UR-230 POLARIS LIMITED EDITION OF 35 PIECES

Radiant and iridescent, the second installment in the 230 series inaugurates a color and a material that both depart from URWERK's historical language. With its white case, carved from a block of proprietary fiberglass-enhanced ceramic, the UR-230 Polaris opens a new color horizon, a polar perspective. So far devoted to using black, gray, and muted textures, URWERK dramatically pivots towards natural brilliance and a new energy that glimmers white.

A year after the release of the UR-230 Eagle - the first opus in the 230 series and entirely crafted out of TPT carbon - URWERK is already shifting this new collection towards a wholly new and immaculate intent. With its technical base unchanged, the UR-230 dons a pure white, highly technical material, stemming from an exclusive and proprietary development. 

The UR-230 Polaris is made of a layered, ceramic-based composite. Its polymer base houses sheets of woven ceramic, intertwined with fiberglass plies. Used in the airspace, medical and henceforth, watchmaking industries, this new and high-performance material combines the advantages of each of its constituents.
“The usual ceramics are hard, but it's also what makes them a liability, says Felix Baumgartner, master watchmaker and co-founder of URWERK.These materials are heat-sintered, which makes them prone to shattering in case of a strong impact. We had to go past that limitation. So we decided to develop a ceramic, by and for ourselves.Thanks to the glass fibers it contains, it doesn't break."

Not content with overcoming the main weakness of watch-specific ceramics, the UR-230 Polaris has another ace up its sleeve. The resin that encapsulates the fiber-based sheets is colored white, while the fiberglass is a very light silver. Machining the case into its complex shape reveals the finely stacked layers, with a varying effect depending on the curve and angle. They share a graphic component with carbon fiber: uneven and shimmering. Shifting from full matte to slightly glowing, they offer random plays with light. That specific white is alive, constantly changing, and subtly so. It entirely contains the almost all-black URWERK caliber UR-7.30.
This unique take on white came after thoughtful consideration, as explains Martin Frei, art director and co-founder of URWERK: “The white case outside and the black movement of the UR-230 Polaris, especially with a white strap on, are strongly reminiscent of the aesthetics of 2001: A Space Odyssey.They're a throwback to Kubrick's breathtaking set designs and the iconic Discovery 1 spaceship.This design also hints at the entire Apollo 11 aesthetics as created by NASA, where white was used as a heat shield, an absolute requirement of space dwelling. This watch is not only elegant, it's also got NASA cool written all over it.”