To celebrate its decade in style, Urwerk’s EMC —for Electronic Mechanical Control watch— has been reinvented clad in the fuselage of the legendary SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft. Released in a limited edition of only 10 pieces, the EMC is a mechanical watch whose concept and movement were envisioned, developed, and created by Urwerk in 2014—Read about it here. 

Its traditional functions —hours, minutes, seconds, and power reserve— were complemented by an original, patented piece of information, the performance indicator. Thanks to this novel function, it is now possible, at the touch of a button, to assess the mechanical movement’s chronometric precision. This innovation made the EMC the first mechanism to enable its wearer to measure their watch’s performance in real-time. What's more, armed with this information, they can adjust the setting of their watch to achieve the ultimate goal of perfect timekeeping.

Its drive unit providing the power takes the form of an imposing double barrel vertically mounted on a single shaft. This series-coupled twin barrel ensures the EMC's stable linear timing performance by endowing the EMC with an 80-hour power reserve. Its timing adjustment screw is accessible from the outside of the watch and enables extremely fine adjustments via the balance rate index regulator, by modifying the active length of the balance spring.

The EMC control function is composed of an optical sensor linked to the balance wheel. This sensor consists of a transmitter and a receiver positioned on either side of the balance. Its role is to record the oscillations of this organ operating at 28,800 vph —4 Hz— for three seconds. This measurement is triggered manually by pressing a start button. Then with the aid of a 16,000,000 Hz electronic oscillator, this provides the EMC’s benchmark timing rate. The performance of the EMC 4 Hz balance is compared against this extraordinary oscillator to obtain the most accurate possible measurement.

This calculator can determine the differential —symbolized by the letter δ— between the movement's timing rate and that of the reference oscillator. Each microsecond difference between the two values is expressed as a gain or loss of a second per day of the movement’s timing rate. A variation of 0.0000014 of a second per half-vibration translates as a variation of one second per day. The EMC's monitoring unit —the optical sensor and the computer— is powered by a micro-generator made by Swiss company Maxon, famous for having developed the electromotors equipping the Mars rovers for NASA’s Pathfinder probe. 

Cased in titanium and steel with a crank handle and screw-down bezel in SR-71 alloy —titanium, aluminum, vanadium, silicon, iron, and molybdenum— the case measures 47.55 mm in width, 49.57 mm in length and 17.58 mm in thickness.

This EMC SR-71 is now available as a 10-piece limited series in a version enhanced by elements of the legendary aircraft's fuselage. This ‘improved’ titanium has been melted down and then worked to reincarnate itself as a screw-on bezel and a charging crank for the EMC's dynamo.

The layout of the screens composing the dial is reminiscent of the SR-71's cockpit instruments, and not without reason. A watch, like an aircraft, is a machine that provides information about its performance. The watch face is a personal cockpit; in addition to the exact time, the EMC also provides information about how it works and how it is ‘piloted’. It's a unique and exciting experience.

The EMC SR-71 thus takes on the appearance of an instrument panel with four separate dials, two of which feature screw-down bezels. The emphasis is on the seconds indicator —dial at 2 o'clock—, the tip of which is designed like a stealth aircraft. It is one of the EMC's flagship features, testifying to its smooth running and sense of precision. To its left —at 10 o'clock— the EMC's performance is displayed in seconds per day, while its power reserve appears below at 5 o'clock. At 7 o'clock, the classic hours and minutes are indicated by a set of hands. On the back of the EMC, its in-house movement is visible beneath a sapphire crystal.

This in-house Urwerk movement has been designed, developed, and crafted in the Urwerk workshops. Its performance is tested on four positions over a 30-day cycle to meet the most stringent standards for precision watches. The SR-71 is a legendary aircraft, a competition beast designed to achieve the best performance. This is also the spirit in which we designed our EMC, says Urwerk’s master watchmaker and co-founder Felix Baumgartner. The movement provides a power reserve of 80 hours when fully wound.

The watch is delivered on a NATO strap —nylon, leather— inspired by aeronautical safety straps with Velcro fastening.

Sticker Price CHF 150,000 Swiss Francs—approximately USD 176,000. For more info on Urwerk click here.