Urwerk Returns To Their Roots With New 102 Reloaded

Late last year, Urwerk teamed up with artist Cooper Jacoby to create a special one-off version of their original 102 watch from 1997. We brought you live coverage of that watch prior to its auctioning, and wondered if we might see this form return in a fully fledged redesign of the 102, given the full redesign of the case. Today, we receive an answer to that question in the form of this UR102 Reloaded set of watches. The latest 102 gets the same case we saw featured in the one-off that fetched over $400,000 at auction, but misses out on that trick color-changing element that made that one so special. A fair trade off in my book, as I’m just happy to see this case make it into a production reference.

The original 102 is an important part of Urwerk history, serving as their first platform and an ultimate proof of concept that’s since evolved in a variety of ways. There are no hands at work here, heck there’s barely even a dial, just a long wandering hour aperture tracing the time across a display arc at the top of the case. It’s simple, elegant, and looks just as fresh today as it did 25 years ago (though the inspiration for this design is much, much older).

Indeed, the 102 represents many firsts for the brand, and these are represented within the rotating element of the dial itself, written above the broader celestial themed components. It provides a personal touch to the theme of the watch, without compromising the core themes at work. The disc elements themselves are heat treated blue on the bare gray titanium case, and classic Urwerk black on the full black titanium case. 

These new 102 Reloaded references will initially be offered together as a set, and limited to 25 examples. The titanium cases measure 41mm in diameter here, which is a touch north of the 39mm that was the original. It’s important to note that this case is slightly unusual compared to other cases, in that it has a soft fall off toward the edges, with a pebble-like appearance and texture, so it doesn’t feel very big at all on the wrist. This is aided by the 11.3mm total thickness. In fact, I’d call it downright pleasant with this new leg design, which is far more angular than the case itself, and adhere to the wrist with ease. 

The new 102 makes use of the Urwerk caliber 2.02, an automatic movement with 48 hours of reserve that hosts the wandering hours mechanism which rotates the hour disc, as well as position each of the hour markers in its appropriate position. The minute arc is static. Each of the engraved areas is filled with Super LumiNova for maximum visibility in low light situations. 

The 102 Reloaded is limited to 25 sets, and is priced at CHF 56,000. Keep an eye out for individual variants of the watch coming soon, as well as hands-on impressions in the coming weeks. Urwerk.