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10 Things You Didn't Know about The Urwerk UR-100

Urwerk

If you are intrigued by astronomy, time study, or science, then the Urwerk UR-100 is a must-have watch. The 3-D, limited edition, piece of art presents a brand like no other, especially when it comes to display, complexities, and design. In this post, we discuss ten things you probably didn't know about the latest Urwerk UR-100 SpaceTime Watch.

1. The Brains behind it

Urwerk was founded by Felix Baumgartner and Martin Frei in 1997. They had one goal in mind: to craft and design, Haute Horlogerie watches while blending futuristic vision with tradition. The two trace their roots back to UR, Mesopotamia in Switzerland, where Urwerk was incepted. The acronym "UR" means original, and "WERK" means working in German or achievement. The latest timepiece of the duo's efforts is the sleek UR-100 launched last September. It highlights the brand's ambition to bring a brand new perspective to space and time.

2. Inspired by an Unusual Clock

A pendulum clock initially inspired the Urwerk UR-100 in the 19th-century designed by Gustave Sandoz, which was later gifted to Baumgartner by his father. Sandoz had invented it to feature in the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. This clock, with its regulator dial, was not meant to display time in the standard minutes and hours, but rather, in equatorial time. It features a circular scale around on its perimeter and in 100km increments.

Each time the central hand ticks, it moves 500km, denoting the 500km moved as the Earth spins on its axis along the equator. The bottom subdual's totality measures each 40,000km the earth moves while spinning on its axis. The extra-long pendulum hanging downwards is responsible for regulating the clock and swings after every 2.16 seconds.

3. Urwerk UR-100 SpaceTime Aesthetics

The shape of its case brings back memories of the earlier brand’s aesthetics. According to Martin Frei, the company decided to borrow a leaf from the first models (UR-101 and UR-102) for the UR-100. The company utilized some of the original design concepts from the previous models in crafting the UR-100. For instance, its case is a mere deconstruction of the first Urwerk case, whose steel dome was reproduced in Sapphire crystal. Its form is highlighted by steel and titanium case.

4. The UR-100 SpaceTime has a 12.01 Caliber

Powered by a 12.01 caliber, the UR-100 SpaceTime has an automatic winding rotor. The rotor is controlled by a Windfäng (meaning a flat turbine or air trap in German) that helps reduce shocks, wear and tear, and over-winding. By receiving support from the horizontal turbine, the rotor has a massive diameter, which helps minimize wear due to reduced mass.

5. Urwerk UR-100 Tracks the Earth Spins through Space and Time

The UR-100 will take you through a journey of space and time, two concepts at the heart of the brand. While using its orbiting satellite's minute and hour hands, this timepiece can display time in minutes and hours as well as distance traveled through space. These two concepts are merged to create the brand new UR-100 SpaceTime.

UR-100 SpaceTime features the company's impressive orbital hour satellites that are a little different. Instead of its red-arrow-tipped minute pointers on hour-based satellites vanishing after an hour, the watches minute arrow passes under and through subsidiary dials. It then reappears later to show surprising astronomical indications, including the distance traveled on and by Earth.

6. Urwerk UR-100 Displays Distance traveled on Earth.

The leading indicator at the 10 o'clock mark on the watch determines the total distance you have traveled on the surface of the Earth. The watch calculates this based on the Earth's average rotational speed on the equatorial axis while moving at 555km for every 20minutes.

7. Urwerk UR-100 Displays Distance Orbited by the Earth Around the Sun

Right opposite to the 2 o'clock mark on this timepiece, the hand moves to a different celestial indication that displays the total distance orbited by the Earth around the sun. This revolution journey spans 35,740km per every 20 minutes. Ideally, the UR-100 SpaceTime will offer you three distinct space-time possibilities. It reminds us in a thought-provoking way, of our journey through space and time. According to "Felix Baumgartner" (https://www.watchuseek.com/urwerk-ur-100-spacetime-gunmetal/), people live in a universe governed by rotation, time, and orbit that they try to measure, but always forget the aspect of space-time.

8. Urwerk UR-100 SpaceTime is More Affordable

You can easily conclude that this watch is a "more affordable" option compared to its predecessors. While its entry price announced at $49,000 may not look cheap, the previous releases (UR-105CT retailed over $60k while the UR-111C retailed roughly at $125k) seem to be more costly than the UR-100 SpaceTime.

It is the only model by Urwerk making an entry in the market under the $50k mark. Since its caliber isn't over-simplified to reach such a price entry mark, it has become more appealing to aficionados who've been keenly following this brand for decades but were held back by substantial budgetary constraints.

9. The Urwerk UR-100 SpaceTime Size and Dimensions

This unique timepiece size is 49.7mm from lug to lug and 41mm across, which is an ideal size for most wrists. It can feel a little bit hefty since its base is slightly rectangular. When it comes to its case profile, it reads 14mm thick on paper, but only at the peak of its domed sapphire crystal. Additionally, the case is pressure tested for water resistance to 3ATM/100'/30m.

10. The First Urwerk UR-100 Gold Edition Auctioned to Fight Covid-19

According to The URWERK-STORE, the new UR-100 Gold Edition premiered on May 4th nicknamed C3PO. Its arrival presented an opportunity for the company to offer something back to the community in the fight against Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. The first piece of this Gold Edition is auctioning on the URWERK-STORE. Hence, to make it more unique and special, the limited plate engraved with 25PCS is instead changed to Fight C19. All proceeds from the upcoming auction will be sent to a Covid-19 charity that the winning bidder selects. This auction is set to run from May 8th to May 10th at 4 pm.

Conclusion

Of all the impressive and sophisticated timepieces manufactured by URWERK, the UR-100 SpaceTime offers enthusiastic watch collectors many reasons to own it. It comes in Iron or Black rendition models both with titanium and steel cases and limited to 25pcs each. The Black rendition now comes coated in Black PVD. Exquisite and unusual timepieces have always had a fair market share. With the UR-100 SpaceTime, Urwerk has managed to capture the elite watch collector's imagination.

Garrett Parker

Written by Garrett Parker

Garrett by trade is a personal finance freelance writer and journalist. With over 10 years experience he's covered businesses, CEOs, and investments. However he does like to take on other topics involving some of his personal interests like automobiles, future technologies, and anything else that could change the world.

Read more posts by Garrett Parker

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