Picture a handful of university students partying up at a New Year’s Eve do in southern Switzerland. Dinner, wine and Sixties punk on vinyl set the scene for the forging of youthful friendships. That cold winter night was enkindled by inspiring discussions about dreams and passions. Frei met Baumgartner’s older brother, Thomas, then. And when the younger sibling began tagging along to subsequent hangouts, the wild and ambitious exchanges about art, watchmaking, music and science fiction burgeoned even further. They were set on this crazy idea to make a watch together. It had to have a cool concept, of course.
The constant refrain of the dreaded quarter-life crisis is often fettered with bouts of uncertainty and questions about one’s “true calling”. But this is scarcely the case for Felix Baumgartner and Martin Frei, co-founders of independent Swiss brand Urwerk. Surfing at the crest of the wave, Urwerk does not really require a seat at the table occupied by the big leagues. Instead, it has carved out a unique space for itself through the founders’ ingenuity and cognisance in the realm of technology.
It has been 26 years since the brand’s inception. To think it all started with a pair of funky space-like timepieces, fashioned by a couple of young, zealous enthusiasts overdriven with avidity who somehow ended up at the Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants.
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