A Highly Protected Mechanism
This UR-230 “Black Star” is original in more ways than one. First, there is its structure. Calibre UR-7.30 powering this creation is protected by a hermetic titanium container designed as a mechanical safe. Surrounding this highly protected heart, a composite ceramic case and a black DLC titanium back form the UR-230's shell: “I love the aesthetics of ceramic and its clean, precise look. It's a material that's hard, shiny, beautiful... and incredibly fragile. A single impact and it cracks – yet I didn't want to give up on this option”, explains Felix Baumgartner, master watchmaker and co-founder of URWERK. “We had to find a solution to fulfil this desire without making any comprises.”
The original, high-performance case of the UR-230 “Black Star” is made from a laminated composite ceramic developed specifically for URWERK: layers of braided ceramic, fibreglass and carbon fibre have been integrated into a polymer matrix. When machined, this unique ceramic reveals a shiny relief. Its flat, smooth surface is illuminated with sparkling dots, creating a dense, vibrant black-light texture.
Vibrant Darkness
“While Polaris evoked the brightness of the North Star, Black Star belongs to the interstellar void”, says URWERK’s artistic director and co-founder Martin Frei. "This black is not there to conceal. It breathes. It makes light appear in a setting of shadows. In astrophysics, a Black Star refers to the state of a collapsing star. The star then absorbs light like a black hole, but not completely, just at the cosmic boundary between being and disappearing. URWERK's ‘Black Star’ embodies this paradoxical presence: a deep, living black that does not deny light but reveals it by draping it in shadows – a glow born from the very heart of the night."
Wandering Mechanics
The UR-230 “Black Star” embodies URWERK’s DNA. This new UR-230 features a satellite complication with wandering hours and a retrograde 3D hand; while a central hub connects three cubic hours satellites. These four-sided blocks move across a 120° sector in 60 minutes. The active hour – the one scrolling along this minutes rail – is taken charge of and put into orbit by an openworked retrograde hand that accompanies it throughout its journey from index 0 to 60. At the end of 60 minutes, the hand instantly flies back to zero to take charge of the next satellite.
Dual turbine system
The UR-230 is a self-winding watch regulated by an exclusive dual turbine system:
- one absorbs external shocks
- the other regulates the air flow of the automatic winding mechanism, acting as a true aerodynamic brake.
A control on the back allows the rotor load to be adjusted or even completely deactivated to switch to manual-winding mode.
Two symmetrical indicators − at 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock − display these settings.
This UR-230 “Black Star” concludes the 230 collection chapter. The end of a story, but with new adventures to follow in 2026...
