Unveiling the New UR-230 “Polaris”: Urwerk’s First Ceramic Watch

In 2023, Urwerk unveiled the UR-230 “Eagle” as the first installment in its 230 series, replacing the UR-220.

The model featured the brand’s signature satellite hours display powered by a new movement: the calibre UR-7.30. The blacked-out design – achieved with DLC-treated titanium and CTP (carbon thin-ply) carbon case – was produced in a limited run of just 35 pieces.

Today, Urwerk is back with the second generation of the 230 series, but the brand new UR-230 “Polaris” marks the first use of a ceramic case in its catalog.

However, this isn’t your ordinary ceramic – it’s a special composite developed exclusively for Urwerk in partnership with a Jura-based company called Busch Composites.

Ceramic has become an increasingly popular material in watchmaking over the years thanks to its strength and scratch-resistant qualities, with Rado being one of the first brands to use the material all the way back in the 1960s.

In recent decades, brands across the spectrum of watchmaking from Chanel to Audemars Piguet to IWC and countless others have built watches from ceramic.

The downside of the material is its inherently brittle nature, leaving it prone to cracks and breakage. In addition, the rigidity of the material lends itself to more angular rather than rounded designs in part because the process of creating a ceramic watch case involves the use of a mold.
 

With Urwerk’s avant-garde and highly aerodynamic case shapes, the brand knew it would need a slightly different approach than typical ceramic. So, Urwerk tapped some experts in the field to develop a unique ceramic composite exclusively for the brand.

This exciting new material takes center stage in the UR-230 “Polaris.” Let’s take a look!

I recently sat down for an exclusive interview with Felix Baumgartner, master watchmaker and co-founder of Urwerk, during which he explained: “Busch Composites largely works in the space and aviation industries. However, they also do a bit in the pharmaceutical and watch industries.

“For us, they made a special mixture of ceramic and quartz fibers, pressed together and treated with epoxy, which gives the material its crisp white color.”
 

While the new material marks the biggest difference between the “Polaris” and the original “Eagle,” there are a few other changes to note. “The addition of quartz to the ceramic eliminates several problems with traditional ceramic: color limitations, breakage, and the use of molds,” Baumgartner continued.

“With molds, you’re limited in the design of the case itself, and you lose about two percent of the case material, which diminishes the precision of the case. Instead, with this composite, we were able to machine our case to retain the curved proportions we desired.”
 

Moreover, with respect to the case design itself, the “Eagle” featured a hunter-style case that served as a protective cover for the sapphire crystal. The “Polaris” uses a more traditional case construction, which allows for a sleeker and slimmer design, shaving off 1.5mm of thickness from the original “Eagle.”