URWERK UR-101 Green Mamba: Black Case, Emerald Indication

URWERK UR-101 Green Mamba: 41mm PVD black steel case, emerald wandering-hours display, Calibre UR-1.01V, limited to 50 pieces at 33,000 CHF.

The Salient Points

• An emerald-green wandering-hours arc — described by co-founder Martin Frei as evoking both a spacecraft control panel and the luminescent eyes of a mamba — anchors the entire visual proposition of this new UR-101 execution.
• Limited to 50 pieces, the UR-101 Green Mamba carries a 41mm asymmetric steel case with Panter Black PVD coating and the automatic Calibre UR-1.01V at 28,800 vph.
• Price is set at 33,000 CHF, excluding taxes.
• The original UR-101 was first shown at Baselworld in 1997, making this among URWERK’s most historically grounded references.

Colour as Architecture

Two colours do the structural work here. The Panter Black PVD casing absorbs ambient light across the full 41mm width and 10.3mm profile, reducing the object to a near-absence. Against that field, the emerald-green wandering-hours arc cuts with precision. Martin Frei, co-founder and artistic director of URWERK, describes the colour as simultaneously technological and predatory: the green of a spacecraft instrument panel, and the luminescent gaze of a mamba in cover.

Felix Baumgartner, co-founder and master watchmaker, frames the edition in similar terms: the black allows the case to disappear; the green restores its identity. For collectors in the Gulf, where strong graphic contrasts read clearly under bright interior light, the pairing has an immediate visual authority.

Movement & Case Construction

The Calibre UR-1.01V drives two satellite carriages that traverse the emerald arc, rendering the wandering-hours indication that has defined URWERK since the beginning. At 28,800 vph with a 48-hour power reserve, the movement’s bridges and plates combine copper, brass, and ARCAP P40, finished with circular Côtes, sandblasting, satin work, and hand-bevelled screw heads. The sapphire crystal carries both anti-reflective treatment and metallisation, reinforcing the contrast between the dark case and the illuminated indication. Water resistance is rated to 3 ATM.

The strap is black rubber lined with black calfskin, closed by a DLC-coated steel pin buckle. Nothing in the construction is decorative in the conventional sense; every surface choice reinforces the same graphic logic.

Heritage & Lineage

The UR-101 debuted at Baselworld in 1997, the same year URWERK was founded. Almost thirty years after its first appearance, the reference retains the asymmetric case architecture and wandering-hours reading that set it apart from the established Swiss canon. URWERK produces approximately 200 watches per year, keeping the studio at artisan scale. The Green Mamba, at 50 pieces, sits well within that philosophy of strict limitation.

Edition Details & Pricing

At 33,000 CHF before taxes and limited to 50 examples, the UR-101 Green Mamba occupies a clear position within independent watchmaking: a price point that reflects genuine manufacture finishing, not volume production, and a quantity that makes acquisition competitive without being cynically scarce. For collectors in the Gulf with a preference for independent ateliers over established maison catalogues, this edition warrants direct contact with URWERK.

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