An Interview With Felix Baumgartner On His EMC Project.......

Zach:  Can you share with us your inspiration for Urwerk's EMC project?

Felix: As all watchmakers, chronometry has always been in my mind and is a kind of Grail. Some watchmakers have been working with tourbillon to achieve the best results possible, others have opted to use new new material as silicium. On our side, we decided to work on interactivity. We were inspired by a tool used everyday by all watchmakers to achieve our goal. That's the witchi. This "simple" device is the ultimate arbitrator when in the atelier. It will give you a precise feedback on the performance of your movement. This is exactly what we succeeded with EMC, we put a sophisticated and miniaturised "witchi" into the watch.

Zach:  How long did it take your team to develop this from concept design to the final working prototype?

Felix: More than 6years. We had to find the right person to develop the functionality of the electronic side. in 2009, we approached an engineer and started to draft a project but before we could finalise anything he got scared and step off. We had to find someone crazy enough to “invent” an electronic program for a mechanical watch and good enough to make his part work. In parallel, we worked hard with our team to create our own base movement, one reliable and stable to ensure a long-term chronometric performance.

Zach:What major challenges did you face during the development of EMC and how did you overcome them?

Felix:We were working on a brand new chapter in Haute Horlogerie. So we had to face all kind of technical problems. In order to monitor our balance wheel we had to create one responding to our needs, that meant special shape, special adjustment.  We are using  here the latest technologies to make our EMC work. We had to “imagine” a source of energy to power our monitoring. Of course, we could not work with a battery. We figured out how the electronic device in the EMC could work with a manual winding just as the watch itself.

Zach:The EMC is a very different concept from other Urwerk watches. How confident were you of the success of this project? What was the initial response when it was first introduced to the media?

Felix: Well. We have two creative lines with URWERK. One, the “traditional” one with satellites and wandering hours and the other one, UR-division, that allows us to develop new concepts. When working of the UR-division, we are taking technical risks because we develop world-first, it was the case with the CC1, it is the same here. So you never know about success. We are working on projects that enthusiasm us. That’s the main criteria.

The response was really positive. We had a chance to show our concept in baselworld 2013 (the watch was not yet finished) and one of our very first supporter was Mr Dufour, himself. If the godfather of independent watchmakers give you his blessing, you feel honoured and blessed.

Zach: Will the next Urwerk design be based on the EMCs concept or do you already have something else in mind?

Felix: Well the next creation will be ranged in the traditional URWERK satellite indication of time collection but the UR-division – our laboratory – is still working hard to surprise you.

 The Prototype set-up and the final product. This is an amazing timepiece!

Technical specifications

Case
Material:                              Titanium and steel
Dimensions:                       43mm width, 51mm length, 15.8mm height
Crystal:                                 Sapphire crystal
Water resistance:            Pressure tested to 30m / 3ATM
Finishing:                              satin finish; shot-blasting

Movement
Calibre                                  UR-EMC calibre conceived, developed and manufactured by URWERK
Escapement                       Swiss lever escapement

Balance wheel                   in ARCAP P40, linear balance coupled to the optical sensor
Frequency                          28,800 vph – 4Hz
Balance spring                   Flat
Energy source                   Vertically mounted double mainspring barrels, connected in series
Power reserve                  80 hours
Winding                            Manual winding
Finishing:                          Côtes de Genève, snailing, micro-bead blasting , polished bevels on screw                                           heads

Artificial intelligence
Generator                           Maxon® generator with manual winding charging super capacitor
EMC system                       Optical sensor controlled by an integrated circuit board 16,000,000hz reference oscillator       

Indications                         Hours, minutes, seconds; precision delta, power reserve.                                                                          Timing adjusment screw