In 1995, two very ambitious young men, Felix Baumgartner and Martin Frei were first discussing their ideas for a new type of satellite carousel watch. Baumgartner was an accomplished watchmaker, who presented the idea to Frei, an artist and budding designer. Frei returned shortly with a wealth of sketches and ideas. A few years later, 1997 Baselworld saw a new company, Urwerk, release two models: the UR-101 and UR-102. These two models were the foundational, first-ever watches upon which Urwerk has been built since. 25 years later, Urwerk revisited those first steps with a celebration of their progress.
The UR-102 Reloaded is what resulted, a revised case, dial, and calibre that has managed to not lose the soul of the 1997 design. The UR-102 is pebble-like, neo-futurist, and sci-fi. Compared to the watches Urwerk make today, it's somewhat restrained. But this was the start of the hand-less time display which Urwerk is built on. The UR-102 Reloaded was made in 100 examples of both PVD and untreated titanium. Of those 100, the first 25 of each were delivered as a boxed set of both watches. This is one of those preserved sets.
The case was updated from 38mm to 41. The overall pebble-like shape was preserved, but with a new, far more intricate and contemporary lug design. The original had straight, soldered, quad-lugs. This Reloaded includes a highly faceted, strong lug design reminiscent of mid-century spider lugs but inspired by the stabilizing arms of the Sputnik satellite. The case was realized in either uncoated raw titanium or PVD, with a bead-blasted texture. Interestingly, Urwerk chose to meld the crown into the case, recessed at 4.
The arched dial, or time display rather, of the UR-102 Reloaded is doubly bold. The raw titanium version sports a blue arch with a black polished framing, where the PVD is all black. That blue is a nod to the original watch, which was an anodized blue aluminum case. The hour window has evolved from circular to oval, while the shape of the overall window has been extended to give dynamic, angled edges. All negative space on the time disc has been adorned with descriptions of historic Urwerk timelines from the early days, in the space-age parlance only Urwerk can create.
The UR-102 is the purest form of Urwerk's anti-traditional satellite display. The case is an aesthetic evolution of the original UR-102, but still true to the essence of the duo's first 1997 Baselworld watches. The Reloaded was an eagerly-anticipated callback to a watch which has stood the test of time, the very core of what Urwerk stands for. The UR-102 is based in independent thinking and design, not just independent watchmaking. It is a watch that calls back to a very different era of independent watchmaking, but does so with one eye toward the future.
