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 pieces 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 artwork 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.

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 that Urwerk generously offers a complementary servicing of the watch to the winning bidder within a period of 6 months after the sale.