Got enough money for a high-end sportscar but would rather buy a wristwatch instead? Try URWERK’s UR-CC1 King Cobra, which sports retrograde linear displays that bring to mind overactive dashboard panels from barreling high-performance classic roadsters.
Borrowing from the Patek Philippe Cobra prototype watch from 1958, the King Cobra tells time by way of a jumping cylinder for the hours (bottom of the face), a retrograde cylinder for the minutes (middle) and a rotating disk for the seconds (top). URWERK claims investing three years of research and development into the timing mechanism to ensure that the decidedly car-inspired fly-back design doesn’t get in the way of accurate time-telling.
Curious owners can watch a vertical, self-lubricating honeycomb-patterned rack that rotates the minutes on a 300-degree angle from a window on the side of the case. A linear spring reverses the cylinder back as soon as it hits the 60-minute mark within 1/10th of second.
Great pains were taken to ensure that the massive-looking watch is as comfortable as can be, including using skeletonized panels, lightweight materials and a wrist-hugging curved case. The frame measures 45.7 x 43.5 x 15 mm and sports a brushed satin finish. It’s available in either Grey gold or black gold, with both variants touting titanium baseplates and limited to 25-unit runs.
URWERK hasn’t given a price for the UR-CC1 King Cobra (so save those piggy banks for another day). Given how many of their previous stuff tended to be marked in the six figures, though, I won’t imagine this thing selling for any less. Your sports car money may or may not actually be able to afford it.
[URWERK via Watch Happening]