Since its creation almost 30 years ago, Urwerk has done more than measure the hours, minutes and seconds of conventional time, looking infinitely further to astronomical time (and we know that horology is a child of astronomy). Other points of reference exist, billions of kilometres above our heads, and while they are of no practical use here on Earth, for Urwerk founders Felix Baumgartner and Martin Frei, they are a galaxy of inspiration.
Five years in the making
Urwerk began its exploration of sidereal time five years ago in 2019, the year of the UR-100. Like other Urwerk timepieces, it displays the hours on three central satellites that move across a minutes arc from right to left; the same direction as the east to west path of the Sun. But that’s not all. Two apertures show other information: on the left, the distance you would travel every 20 minutes, if you were standing on the equator, as Earth turns on its axis and, on the right, the distance the Earth travels every 20 minutes as it rotates around the Sun. The point being? There isn’t one. Other than the merit of an object that is poetic, scientific and situates our little blue marble in the greater cosmic scheme.
Urwerk reprised the UR-100’s principle in 2022 and again in 2023. This time, however, the points of reference were no longer the equator but Mexico City then ancient Mesopotamia (now mostly Iraq), specifically the city of Ur which gave the brand its name (the werk part means “factory” in German). Both these UR-100V Time and Culture are variations on the UR-100 with a slightly reworked module.
Episode IV
The brand has now released a fourth iteration. The UR-100V LightSpeed reprises the same principle of astronomical durations but no longer takes Earth as its reference. Instead, it measures the time taken for light from the Sun to reach a given point. Namely, every planet in the solar system.
The UR-100V LightSpeed therefore indicates how long it takes for the Sun’s rays to strike the surface first of Mercury, then Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and, last of all, Neptune. Because Mercury is closest, the Sun’s light reaches its surface in just 3.2 minutes compared with 4.1 hours for Neptune. Because these are all fixed durations, Urwerk can engrave them on the dome of the UR-100V LightSpeed, starting from the far left with the Sun, represented by a dot in a circle. Almost adjacent to it is Mercury (3.2 min), then Venus (6 min), Earth (8.3 min) and so on. Visible from the back, the design of the rotor is inspired by sunrays.
The case of the UR-100V LightSpeed, in carbon and titanium, measures 43mm across. The movement inside delivers 48 hours of power reserve. This is not a limited edition but Urwerk makes only a small number of watches a year, anyway. The UR-100V LightSpeed is priced at CHF 65,000 excluding VAT.
