Introducing The Urwerk UR100V P.02 for Collective

This week saw the 52nd anniversary of Apollo 11’s successful trip to the moon, an incredible feat not only by Buzz, Neil, and Michael, but of all the women and men at NASA that made it possible. This was an era before the Space Shuttle program, however, it was 1968, a year prior to the penultimate Apollo mission, that head of the NASA Office of Manned Space Flight, George Mueller, announced plans to develop a reusable shuttle, thus paving the way for a new generation of space travel that would begin with the OV-101, aka, the Enterprise.

The U.S. Space Shuttle Enterprise was never fitted with engines or heat shielding, but it would serve as a test bed for many of the analog systems that would end up in use on Columbia and beyond. Oh, and it looks the absolute business thanks to a single fin integrated to the rear of the shuttle. Today, the Enterprise spends most of its time on display at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City, where it served as inspiration for the latest limited edition collaboration from Urwerk. This is the UR100V P.02 made for Collective, and for the benefit of the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum.

The P.02 is built on the Urwerk UR100 ‘Space Time’ watch, with a few modifications that serve as a nod to the launch and landing sequences of the space shuttle, timing the phases of each maneuver either to or from space. The ‘standard’ UR100 Space Time uses thin apertures along the top of the dial that display the distance traveled on earth, and the distance traveled by earth, each over the course of 20 minutes. The P.02 repurposes these apertures to display the three launch phases on the left, and the four landing phases on the right. Each phase gets its own color: green representing time on earth; blue representing the solid booster ignition on the left, and final descent on the right; red showing orbital altitude on the left, and atmosphere reentry on the right; and finally black, representing, well, space. See below for a clearer explanation. 

Not only do the colors bring a welcome bit of personality to the matte gunmetal chassis, but they tell a hell of a story in the process. The custom made manual that ships with the watch goes into far greater detail on the processes represented, along with some of the visual inspiration found in the Enterprises analog cockpit instrumentation. Oh, this is a watch as well, and time can be read via the rotating hour satellites that pick up a minute pointer at the top of each hour. The hour is read from the large block with the minute pointer… pointing at the minute. It’s very straightforward once you understand what you’re looking at (the time on the image below is 1:20).

The UR100 is among Urwerk’s most wearable watches, measuring 41mm wide by 49.7mm in total length, with a thickness of 14mm consisting mostly of the domed crystal. The automatic movement is regulated by a trick planetary turbine system to govern the rotational speed of the oscillating weight via Windfänger airscrew. The movement itself is the UR 12.01, which is a base Zenith Elite movement that’s been reconstructed by Urwerk and fitted with their proprietary ‘wandering hours’ display. 

Now for a bit of bad news, the UR100V P.02 is limited to 20 pieces, and costs an eye watering $62,500. Further still, this watch is available to Collective and prospective Collective members only. None of that to take away from the cool factor of this watch (which is why we’re talking about it), but this is the first of two open membership windows for Collective this year, the second of which will come this fall around the release of a far more accessible watch. You can learn more about Collective and keep an eye on upcoming collabs right here.

The retail partner for this release is Goldsmith & Complications, who will be donating $50,000 of the proceeds of the sale to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City. The museum is dedicated to the “exhibition and interpretation of history, science and service as related to its home aboard the aircraft carrier Intrepid”, which is a National Historic Landmark located on the Hudson river along the west side of Manhattan, and current home of the Enterprise space shuttle. Even if you have no plans to purchase this watch, the museum is well worth a visit, which you can plan right here. 

Urwerk is a brand that never fails to bring a smile to my face, and what Collective have brought to the table with this collaboration have really pushed the UR100 over the top. If you’re the type to celebrate the Apollo 11 anniversary this week over the …ahem, other space race happening at the moment, you’ll probably find a lot to enjoy with this one as well. Urwerk.