What We Know
If you know Urwerk, you know that they’ve always been looking toward the stars, making instantly recognizable watches with the brand’s iconic satellite display that rotates around the dial, with the hour pointing to the minute track as the whole display turns and snaps to reveal each passing hour. They’ve played with a variety of approaches to this concept, widening the minute track and speeding up the snap as well, but today’s release of the UR-300 “Time Quantum” introduces a new mechanic that the brand says is inspired by things at the atomic level.
Not to be confused with Urwerk’s other atomic-inspired watch (one of my top 10 favorite all-time modern watches, the AMC special), this watch draws from the concept of polarized entities—neutrons and electrons—swirling around. Instead of the rotating single carousel in the past, the new display features a “T-frame” structure. The current hour displays as usual; the flat portion of a triangular hour module is made of beryllium copper, brass, anodized aluminum, ARCAP AP1D, and titanium, and points to the current minute as it travels on a 108º arc. The other hours are rotated 120º on their axis to hide them for legibility. Once it approaches the 60th minute (and transitions to 0), three things happen.
Power built up during the rotation forces the T-Frame into rotation in a split second. The frame jumps forward and rotates 72º to put the next hour display into position, also rotating the hour module to be visible for the correct time, while the previous crossbar rotates around its own pivot point to become the crossbar of the T shape. It’s a dramatic jump that requires a lot of power. It also takes up a lot of room, so the titanium case (in two different treatment options) measures 45.2mm x 58.8mm x 18.25mm. There’s a crossbar at the top to protect the crown, which is placed at what would normally be 12 o’clock on the watch, and the watch sits on hinged lugs (the lower lug hiding a plaque of sorts showing that the watch is limited to 25 pieces).
Most of the action (including the running seconds) is shown on the front, through the sapphire crystal with an anti-reflective coating. The rear of the watch has a display caseback where you can see the “Dual Flow Turbine” automatic winding system (two oscillating weights that rotate counter to each other to wind the watch). The caliber UR-30.01V runs at 4Hz, with a flat balance spring and dual mainspring barrel (for all that aforementioned power) but only gets 44 hours of power reserve due to energy consumption. The movement is finished in a very modern way but does feature traditional techniques like circular and straight graining, sanding, Côtes de Genève, chamfering, and polished screw heads.
As mentioned, you can get two different treatments for this watch: either in traditional titanium grade 5 or titanium grade 5 with a PE-CVD treatment that blacks out the case. Both versions are limited to 25 pieces each and retail for CHF 168,000.
What We Think
When I read a press release like this, I sometimes wonder, “What came first, the chicken or the—I mean—the concept or the story justifying it?” Often, you read through, and the story feels strained against the concept, but after reading the text about this watch, everything kind of falls away, and I’m left pretty excited about the watch. Everything from the crown guard and winding system to the display itself is well-considered.
Yes, the watch is quite large. Yes, it’s impressively expensive. But it’s also just impressively, well, impressive. The video, which will be posted to the brand’s social pages and linked when it is, shows how quickly the display snaps from one hour to the next. The amount of torque applied must be incredible, but I didn’t see any rebound in the watch. I will see how it holds up in person when I meet with the brand tomorrow. My only concern would be longevity with these forces and the massive complexity and number of parts required for the T-frame. But you can’t say it’s not a cool evolution of something quintessentially Urwerk.
The Basics
Brand: Urwerk
Model: UR-300 “Time Quantum”
Diameter: 45.2mm
Thickness: 18.25mm
Lug-to-Lug: 58.8mm
Case Material: Titanium Grade 5 or Titanium Grade 5 with PE-CVD treatment
Dial Color: None
Indexes: Printed
Water Resistance: 20m
Strap/Bracelet: Nylon
The Movement
Caliber: UR-30.01V
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds
Power Reserve: 44 hours
Winding: Automatic
Frequency: 4 Hz
Jewels: 40
Chronometer Certified: No
Additional Details: Circular and straight graining, sanding, côtes de Genève, chamfered and polished screw heads; Revolving modules with prograde wandering hours indicator; minutes; three hands showing 3 x 20 seconds across 120°.
Pricing & Availability
Price: CHF 168,000
Availability: Now
Limited Edition: 25 pieces in titanium and 25 pieces in titanium with AITiN treatment
For more, click here.
