In the quiet corridors of traditional Swiss watchmaking, change typically moves at a glacier’s pace. But occasionally, just occasionally, a few daring individuals find glaciers far too slow. Enter brothers Felix and Thomas Baumgartner, born into generations of watchmaking tradition, and Martin Frei, an artist whose imagination owed more to Star Wars than Swiss clock towers. Together, they launched URWERK in 1997, determined to rewrite the rules about how watches could look and how we experience time itself.
Their audacious vision was to create watches inspired by spacecraft, yet rooted firmly in Renaissance clockmaking traditions. The outcome? Two wrist-bound mavericks: the UR-101 and UR-102, unveiled to an unsuspecting watch world at the Baselworld fair, under the modest banner of the Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants (AHCI).
A Bold (and Slightly Awkward) Beginning
URWERK’s debut at Baselworld in 1997 wasn’t exactly glamorous. The trio’s original dream was the UR-101, a watch inspired by Han Solo’s beloved Millennium Falcon, envisioned in sleek curves crafted from 18-karat yellow gold. Unfortunately, dreaming big didn't automatically fill their pockets with gold bullion. Faced with harsh financial realities, they turned to Plan B: the more practical UR-102, encased in polished stainless steel and inspired by the charmingly minimalist Soviet Sputnik satellite. More modest, certainly—but no less daring.
Thus, in an amusing twist of fate, URWERK’s first public debut featured the pragmatic UR-102, rather than the golden UR-101 they initially dreamed of. It was a classic tale of compromise: “We’ll do what we must now, so later we can achieve our true dream.” And achieve it they did.
From Sputnik to Millennium Falcon
Early sales of the UR-102 steadily filled the coffers, enabling Thomas—part watchmaker, part magician, to painstakingly handcraft the golden UR-101 case. With its smooth, organic form, hidden upper lugs, and minimalist dial featuring only a wandering hour display, the UR-101 finally took flight. Ironically, while the UR-102 represented practicality, the UR-101 truly embodied the trio’s spirit: bold, rebellious, and unapologetically futuristic.
Both watches shared an elegant paradox: futuristic cases inspired by spacecraft, yet powered by a display system rooted deeply in the 17th century. This wandering hour mechanism, reminiscent of a papal night clock the Baumgartner's father had once restored, replaced conventional hands with numerals gliding gracefully across a crescent-shaped arc. Felix Baumgartner’s ingenious Maltese-cross mechanism, hidden beneath the minimalist dial, gave the watches an almost meditative rhythm, offering a poetic reflection on the passage of time.
Charming Quirks and Rare Editions
Due to their rarity and exceptional craftsmanship, the UR-101 and UR-102 quickly became legendary among collectors. Variants of the UR-101 eventually appeared in white and rose gold, while the UR-102 saw the playful “Night Watch,” a stealthy matte-black version humorously designed explicitly to be visible in darkness—though perhaps ironically drawing more attention than ever.
In later years, URWERK revisited the UR-102 with imaginative flair. In 2021, for the charitable Only Watch auction, they created the UR-102 “Gaia,” dressed in grey anodized aluminum with platinum and vibrant blue accents. The following year, in collaboration with artist Cooper Jacoby, they introduced another unique UR-102 featuring thermo-chromic pigments—color-changing technology seemingly borrowed from science fiction itself.
Celebrating their 25th anniversary in 2023, URWERK introduced the UR-102 “Reloaded,” a twin-set limited edition offered in titanium and steel finishes, slightly enlarged to 41 millimeters with contemporary updates yet faithful to the original vision. These reissues proved definitively that great design doesn't age—it simply evolves.
A Legacy with a Wink
Today, collectors chase the UR-101 and UR-102 as enthusiastically as their hour numerals chase the minutes across their dials. These watches are sought after not merely for their rarity or beauty, but because they symbolize a defining moment when three visionary dreamers dared to look beyond tradition. Felix, Martin, and Thomas didn’t merely make watches they crafted wearable fantasies for those who preferred gazing at stars over counting seconds. Their creations didn’t just challenge convention, they gleefully ignored it.
If you ever encounter an original UR-101 or UR-102, know that you’re holding more than just a watch. You're holding proof that sometimes the boldest journeys begin by abandoning caution, embracing dreams, and leaping into the unknown—preferably at warp speed.
