Urwerk, the brainchild of Martin Frei and Felix Baumgartner, has been pushing boundaries in the world of horology by its unique sci-fi themed design and its unique ways of telling time, as early as the late 1990s.
The UR103 was launched in 2003, telling time with its four orbiting hour satellite passing the arc of the minute counter. The idea is not new as it was inspired by a night clock created for the Pope in the 17th century, as well as the more modern interpretation of it by AP’s Starwheel few years prior to Urwerk’s first watch, the 102.
The case design is something that is highly unusual even today, with a large U shaped, spaceship like looking, with textured grooves in the case and a large crown at 12, and U shaped crystal that displays its unique mechanism.
On top of all these unique features, they do not compromise on the chronometric performance. At the back, it has what Urwerk calls it as the Control Board, with a 15 minute and second counters for a more accurate time setting, power reserve indicator as well as a “Fine Tuning” screw that allow the user to adjust the watch’s timing about +/- 30 seconds per day.