Limited to 25 pieces, theUrwerk UR-100Gunmetalspeaks to the brand'swhimsical, futurist design philosophy. Reminiscent of a satellite or a spaceship, integrating an atypical wandering hours display, itembodies the contrarian design principles which birthed the brand.

Creating Urwerk

In 1995, Felix Baumgartner, a promising young watchmaker, and Martin Frei, an industrial designer, first met in order to discuss the idea of creating a new way to perceive time. From their meeting, Urwerk was born, a combination of the words Ur the city where time was first measured over 6,000 years ago using sun-lit obelisks and Werk which means "to create" in German.

Felix Baumgartner first learnt about watchmaking in his fathers atelier, who restored historically significant clocks, including the Campani brothers night clock from 1656, believed to feature the first ever wandering hours complication. He would later attend the prestigious watchmaking school in Solothurn and create complicated watches for independent Sven Andersen. The other half of Urwerk, Martin Frei has a background in graphic and industrial design, complementing Felixs watchmaking abilities.

Following their meeting, the pair established Urwerk in 1997. In the same year, they launched the UR-101 and UR-102 watches at Baselworld, the first steps in their missionto push forward innovativeways of displaying time. With their atypical time display, use of modern materials and futurist design, the first Urwerk watches certainly surprised the rather conservative watch world. As Felix Baumgartner himself recalls, "we were not businessmen. It wasextremelyrisky because we had no idea how our watches would be accepted.

The wandering hours complication

It is believed that the wandering hours complication was first used on a night clock designed for Pope Alexander XII in 1656 by the Campani brothers, a well-known family of clockmakers in Rome. The insomniac pope requested the ability to read time in the dark, so an oil lamp was placed inside the clock case, illuminating the dial and allowing him to read the time through theopen-worked numerals. The concept was briefly translated to pocket watches but was supplanted by the two-hand method of displaying time.It is either an improbable coincidence or an early source of inspiration that Baumgartners father was once involved in its restoration, at a time when his son would have been around the workshop.

This UR-100 featuresoffers a contemporarytake on the wandering hours complication, with a skeletonised view of the mechanics and a futuristic design inspired by science fiction and space exploration. Itdisplays time thanks to three satellite discs, which rotate on a centre wheel, where the hour and minute hands are usually attached.The hours on the disks point to the minutes on a 120-degree sector, gliding over them over the course of an hour. The rotating ring turns 360 degrees, one full turn, in 3 hours.

A futuristic design

Aesthetically, the UR-100 Gunmetalembodies Urwerk's approach to watchmaking, with a futuristic design which has become synonymous with the brand.The case is made out of stainless steel, which has been sandblasted to give it a lightly textured, matte finish,with a dark grey coating on top.

Limited to 25 pieces, the UR-100 Gunmetal followed on from the original UR-100, which was made out of stainless steel. The matte texture of theGunmetalcase does not reflect the light, giving theUR-100the appearance and feel of an industrial, almost scientificobject.Overall, the case measures 41mm by 49.7mm, with the time being set through a crown at 12 o'clock.

Green and red accents bring touches of colour to the time display, which is remarkably legible, despite the exposedmechanics. The UR-100 Gunmetal also integrates astronomical distance indicators. The scale at10 oclock shows the distance travelled by the Earth rotating on its own axis (555 km every 20 minutes), whilst the scale at 2 o'clock displays the distance travelled by the Earth around the sun (35,740 km every 20 minutes). This detail was inspiredbya pendulum clock made by 19th century French clockmaker, Gustave Sandoz.

The Movement

This UR-100 Gunmetal is powered by the automaticUR 12.01, which has a frequency of 28,800vphand a power reserve was 48 hours. The rotor is equipped with a perforated disk, which regulates the movement of the rotor, preventing it from spinning excessively. The movement is based on aZenith bauche, which is combined with Urwerk's owntime display module.

The Set

This Urwerk UR-100 Gunmetalcomes with its outer box, inner box, leather document holder,manuals, International Warranty card and Urwerk travel case. It also comes on its original grey fabricUrwerk strap, alongside itsUrwerk tang buckle.

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