Watch Of The Week: The New Urwerk UR-102 “Reloaded” 

With Watches & Wonders 2023 on the horizon, the weeks leading up to this year’s conference seem to be rather exciting, with new launches being released almost every day. Case in point: Urwerk’s highly-anticipated newly-released UR-102 “Reloaded.”

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Urwerk

A testament to the brand’s innovative approach to horology, the UR-102 “Reloaded” draws inspiration from the original collection launched at Baselworld in 1997 while catapulting the timepiece into the modern era. The watch is now presented in a boxed set in two variations: one in titanium, the other in signature Urwerk black.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Urwerk

For Felix Baumgartner, the Master Watchmaker and Co-Founder of Urwerk, the new UR-102 transcends beyond a timepiece: “The UR-102 is more than a symbol,” Baumgartner says. “It represents my entry into the AHCI (Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants). It embodies the first collaboration with Martin Frei, our first steps into the world of fine watchmaking, our first dreams of independence.”

With subtle design enhancements, the UR-102 “Reloaded” now measures 41mm — changing from the original 38 mm — and its crown now merges into the case, having made a strategic move to 4 o’clock. Also, its lugs are larger, recalling the attachments on the Sputnik space satellite: solid, angular, and designed to ideally position the mechanism on the wrist. The font of the hours and minutes markers has been redesigned, with new information appearing on the dial.

“Right at the very beginning, we had the deep and intimate conviction that focusing on the wandering hour was our path,” says Martin Frei, the Artistic Director and Co-founder of Urwerk. “For this UR-102, our concept featured a time indicator that looked like a celestial body. It picked up the vibe of Sputnik, the first man-made artificial satellite. The satellite trajectory of our hours pointer followed a semi-circle from minute 0 (ascension) to minute 30 (the firmament) and disappeared at minute 60 (descent). Like Sputnik, the ‘body’ of our UR-102 was made of a shiny metal offering a mirror-like reflection of any bodies that might cross its path.”

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Urwerk

Baumgartner also notes: “The blue of the original UR-102 is a distinctive feature we wanted to keep. At the time, we wanted our design to be colorful and were thinking of a flame-blued shade for our case. So we used a lovely bright, intense, anodized aluminum. If you observe our UR-102 “Reloaded” in its titanium version, you will notice that the minutes track is the same blue. These scattered clues make the pedigree of the UR-102 “reloaded” patently clear. The same goes for the crown of the UR-102 “Reloaded.”

A monumental moment for the brand, the UR-102 “Reloaded” is limited to just 25 pieces.