Not so long ago, in a galaxy very near us, independent watchmaking brand Urwerk took inspiration from the rich world of science fiction for their next watch: the UR-100. Introduced in late 2019, the UR-100 quickly became one of the brand’s bestselling pieces, not only because it is their entry-level watch in terms of pricing, but also due to its compact and round-ish case, making it the most easily wearable watch from Urwerk. Since, Urwerk has released different versions of the UR-100 in limited editions of 25 pieces, all the more futuristic than the next. The latest, the UR-100 Gold edition, with a case carved out of a single block of 2N yellow gold, is reminiscent of a beloved character from old school sci-fi, the golden, ever-polite yet bumbling, C-3PO, and also aims to aid in efforts to save the world.
The UR-100 Gold Edition is flashier than its predecessors, which were either in steely or slate gray or matte black. The movement remains the same as previous versions, with a trio of rotating satellite discs to indicate the hour, each disc with a red hand to point to the minute on the track on the bottom half of the dial. The pointers also indicate, when they point to the top half of the dial, the distance travelled by Earth’s rotation on its own axis on the equator (555km for every 20 minutes) at 10 o’clock, and the distance travelled by the Earth around the Sun (35,740km every 20 minutes) at 2 o’clock. This Gold edition features bright green numerals on the hour disks and minute track—a colour that isn’t new to the Urwerk catalogue.
While this Gold edition is worthy of note on its own, so is how the first piece of this limited edition was sold. The first UR-100 Gold went under the hammer during an online auction on the Urwerk website on 10th of May, going for CHF 96,500, with proceeds going to charities fighting the current pandemic. The winning bidder, based in Liverpool, chose for proceeds to be donated to the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, who are partnering with multiple institutions in efforts to aid the COVID-19 crisis in the UK and overseas. Urwerk has also decided to buy and donate Personal Protective Equipment to vulnerable people in Switzerland via a donation to the Swiss Red Cross. Like C-3PO showed us in Star Wars, heroes can aid in all sorts of different ways.
