Year: Circa 1998
Reference No: UR-102
Case No: 50
Model Name: UR-102
Material: Stainless steel
Calibre: Automatic, 17 jewels
Bracelet/Strap: Leather
Clasp/Buckle: Stainless steel Urwerk pin buckle
Accessories: Accompanied by Urwerk travel case, maintenance booklet confirming servicing of the watch in August 2023 and Certificate of Authenticity confirming the production of the watch circa 1998.
Urwerk's UR-102 has now achieved cult like status with collectors, so much so as in Dec 2022 a unique version sold at Phillips New York for above $400,000. In Spring of 2023 the brand announced two limited editions nicknamed UR-102 Re-Loaded that sold out at lightening speed confirming the desirability of the model.
The UR-102, launched in 1997 at the Basel watch fair, is as close as one can get to calling a piece made from Urwerk “vintage”. It was, along with the UR-101 the founding pieces for Urwerk, underlining Urwerk’s ambition to bring a completely fresh and out of the box approach to watches and watchmaking and to make derivative artwork that also tell time.
The brand’s signature wandering hour time display is already present but in a rather minimalistic fashion. One might rightly consider the case design, with its round bombé shape and 8 lugs, as having a somewhat sci-fi vibe, this comes from the fact that the case was inspired by the Soviet satellite Sputnik.
Both incredibly rare and historically relevant, the present UR-102 offers the collector of modern icons the possibility to own one of the earliest watches created by one of the leaders of Creative Independent Horology, a genre that would boost Urwerk to watchmaking heights a few years later.