The late 1990s saw the arrival of independent watchmakers wishing to breakaway from the designs traditionally associated with the epoch, and Urwerk has definitely been one of the founding and torch bearers of the Creative Independent Horology movement.

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 piece 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 artworks that also tell time.

The brand’s signature wandering hour time display is already present but in a rather minimalistic fashion. In a design twist, the odd hours are displayed on an orange background whereas the even hours are displayed on a black background. 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.

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 lightning speed confirming the desirability of the model. 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.

Please note Urwerk offers a complimentary servicing of the watch within 6 months of purchase.