URWERK is not just an independent luxury watchmaker. It makes luxury timepieces that are actually pretty geeky. The brand’s latest watch, the URWERK UR-100V Lightspeed, is one such example of a geeky watch. Yes. It is another UR-100V but I think the Lightspeed will appeal to space and science geeks.
The UR-100V LightSpeed by URWERK is a marvel of horology that marries the concepts of Time, Space, and Light, drawing inspiration from both the realms of science fiction and the fundamental principles of physics.
This timepiece features a 3D planetarium with eight celestial bodies, illustrating the time light takes to travel from the Sun to each planet within our solar system, encapsulating the vast distances and ephemeral beauty of our cosmos on the wrist.
With light as its medium, the UR-100V LightSpeed offers a unique perspective on the universe’s grandeur and our place within it, highlighting the past’s presence in our perception of the stars.
Its innovative design forgoes traditional hands for satellites that mark the hours and minutes, creatively reimagining a 17th-century clock principle into a modern, interstellar journey. The UR-100V LightSpeed isn’t just a watch; it’s an odyssey to the speed of light, offering a piece of the cosmos to wear, explore, and ponder.
Specs-wise, it features a self-winding UR 12.02 movement, powered by a Windfänger airscrew and boasting 40 jewels with a frequency of 28,800 v/h – 4Hz, ensuring a 48-hour power reserve.
Its intricate mechanics include satellite hours in aluminum on beryllium-bronze Geneva crosses, an aluminum carousel, and triple baseplates in ARCAP alloy, encased in a watertight titanium container and a black PVD-treated aluminum rotor.
The timepiece exhibits exquisite finishes such as circular graining, sand-blasting, shot-blasting, and circular satin finishing, with chamfered screw heads and Super-LumiNova-painted hours and minutes. It displays satellite hours, minutes, and the time a sunbeam takes to reach eight planets.
Encased in a 54-layer ThinPly black carbon case with a Grade 5 titanium caseback, treated with sand-blasted, shot-blasted DLC, it measures 43mm in width, 51.73mm in length, and 14.55mm in thickness.
Protected by a sapphire crystal and tested for water resistance at 5ATM (50 m/164 feet)), it’s secured with a textured rubber bracelet and folding clasp.
The new URWERK UR-100V Lightspeed is available now for a cool 65,000 Swiss francs plus tax, which works to be around US$73,483 based on the current going rate.
Images: URWERK.
