The UR-102 “Reloaded” represents the revival of a foundational watch, with which URWERK made its debut over a quarter of a century ago. Although two one-of-a-kind versions of this model were created in recent years – the UR-102 “Gaïa” for Only Watch 2021 and the UR-102 ‘TimeforArt” created in collaboration with Cooper Jacoby that featured temperature-reactive coloured discs – the UR-102 “Reloaded” marks its official return to the watchmaking bench.

Launched in 1997, the UR-102 saw the beginning of the wandering hours concept that would later be taken to new heights in subsequent URWERK watches. The watch was designed by Martin Frei who modelled it after Han Solo’s freighter, the Millennium Falcon, in Star Wars. The movement conceived by Felix Baumgartner featured a distinctive wandering hours complication that pointed to the minutes on a disc that was visible through a semi-circular aperture on an aluminium case, which was contrasted by a platinum case back.

Compared to its original size of 38mm, the UR-102 “Reloaded” now boasts a 41mm case, which gives its sleek, minimalist design a much stronger presence on the wrist. And while the original UR-102 was one of the few URWERK watches with a conventional crown at three o’clock, the Reloaded version has its crown located at four o’clock and recessed into the case, which really ties its futuristic look together. More than that, while early versions had either teeth-like lugs or two straight and flat lugs, the round bombé shape of the case is now contrasted with the taut lines of two angular, faceted lugs, making it sleeker than ever before.

A box set containing two versions of the watch will be available for purchase in a limited run of 25. Both watches feature sandblasted titanium cases with steel case backs. The first iteration is a ‘Titanium’ model with a piercing blue, satin-brushed wandering hours display, while the second iteration is a ‘Black’ model featuring an entirely black PVD coated case along with an all-black display. The discs on both models have been engraved and painted with Super-Luminova.

Inside the watch is the self-winding calibre 2.02 which is a workhorse ETA movement that has been significantly modified to accommodate a wandering hours mechanism.

Tech Specs

The UR-102 “Reloaded” is sold as a limited-edition boxed set of 2 watches (Titanium version and Black version)

Movement: Self-winding Calibre 2.02; power reserve of 48 hours; 4Hz, or 28,800vph
Functions: Hours and minutes
Case: 41mm x 11.3mm; titanium with stainless steel case back (Titanium model); black PVD titanium with black PVD steel case back (Black model); water-resistant to 30m
Dial: Satin-brushed and engraved discs with the hour and minute markers hand-painted with Super-LumiNova
Strap: Rubber strap with textured Baltimore-quilt pattern with sandblasted and micro-blasted titanium pin buckle
Availability: Limited to 25 sets
Price: CHF 56,000 before taxes