The URWERK UR-103 is a hand-wound satellite-hours wristwatch produced from 2003 to 2010, with a final unique piece in 2011. It introduced the two ideas that still define URWERK: hours carried on rotating satellites across a minute arc, and a Control Board on the caseback. Across seven years, it appeared in more than a dozen executions, from 18k gold to coated steel and black platinum. For a collector, it is the most direct way into the brand. Plus, it carries an important part of the brand's history.
The watch was first shown on 3 April 2003, at the AHCI stand at Baselworld. Felix Baumgartner and Martin Frei had built URWERK's first two models in the late 1990s, and the 103 was the watch that put the company on a stable footing. This guide sets out every version.
First, let's look at how the UR-103 works.
The 103 moved the time display from the top of the UR-101/102 case to the bottom, on the wearer's side, so that you can read it with your hands on a steering wheel. The oversized crown sits at the top, protected and clear of the wrist, making it easy to set the time and wind while wearing it. This would go on to be part of the. The case is 36 mm wide and 50 mm long, including the lugs, and 13.5 mm thick.
Four-hour satellites ride on a titanium orbital cross. Each satellite carries three numerals: one shows 1, 5, and 9; the next 2, 6, and 10; then 3, 7, and 11; and the last 4, 8, and 12. As the satellite approaches the minute arc, an internal Geneva cross turns it to present the correct hour. The cross makes a full revolution every four hours, so one satellite is always crossing the 0-to-60 scale. The numeral shows the hour; its position on the arc shows the minutes.
The display weighs about 160 times as much as a conventional pair of hands. To keep it efficient, Baumgartner made the satellites in aluminium, the orbital cross in grade 2 titanium, and the base plate in non-magnetic ARCAP P40.
On the back sits the Control Board, a world first for a wristwatch. It shows the power reserve, a 15-minute counter, and a seconds display for precise setting. A screw lets the owner adjust the balance rate by about ±30 seconds a day.
The UR-103 uses calibre 3.03: hand-wound, 21,600 vibrations per hour, 21 jewels, and a 43-hour power reserve. The later UR-103 T uses calibre 3.04, 21,600 bph, with a 36-hour power reserve.
UR-103 Editions
The UR-103 launched in stages: the UR-103.01, with prototypes in steel; when creating the 103, Felix and Martin couldn't afford gold until they secured orders, so they used only a small sapphire window over the minute track. It focused purely on time, with an almost full shield framing the dial. The 101.01 ran in editions of 25 in red and white gold.
They also created a few unique pieces, like "Junker" for the aircraft manufacturer,
with its triangular logo engraved on the front of the case. It features side wing frames and a cool detail: the wheel frame on the satellites, making them look like aircraft wheels.
They also created a few unique pieces with master engraver Jean-Vincent Huguenin, like this Dragon piece. But many of the very early editions were not photographed and documented.
This may sound unusual in today's business climate, but at the start, Felix and Martin were watchmakers and artists. They didn't study business, so in the early years their focus was pure creation; documenting every piece wasn't on their minds. Some early pieces didn't even have a documented serial or case number. But this also adds to the charm and sense of wonder when you do discover one of the early UR-103 models.
The success of the UR-103 shaped the brand's long-term future and has become one of our most important historical watches; you can read more about this story here: The UR-103: The watch that saved URWERK.
The success of the 103, and its orbiting hours, came with the demand to open up the display and show more of the mechanism. Remember, this was twenty-three years ago; the world of independent watchmaking looked very different before Instagram, YouTube, and smartphones. Everything was a discovery, and no one had designed a watch like the 103 before.
Never stopping and always finding ways to refine, Felix and Martin, our co-founders, decided to revise the satellite system's inner workings. The earlier satellites' discs were initially driven entirely from under the carousel they were mounted in. For greater stability, they suspended them from an orbital cross. Each satellite sits on a triangular Geneva cross that ensures its smooth revolutions, lowering friction and increasing accuracy.
The first of this newly modified mechanism appeared in the UR-103.03, with its Targa (Porsche-inspired) U-shaped crystal, in 2005, showing all four satellites. 75 pieces were created in white and red gold. 
Working with master engraver Jean-Vincent Huguenin again for a short series of unique pieces. With engravings on the front like the "Imperial" with a double-headed eagle, and the "Art Deco" with, you guessed it, an Art Deco-inspired case engraving. The Phoenix was the last, featuring a beautiful Phoenix in the centre of the targa case, with a wing design spreading out. These watches are super rare and hardly ever seen. Back then, independent watchmaking was still in its infancy, and the collectors who understood these watches were few and scattered around the world. Unable to communicate with other collectors like you can today.
The UR-103.03 came to a close with the model's first platinum piece; in true URWERK style, it was a UR-103.03 in PE-CVD Black Platinum nicknamed "Blackbird"
Next to arrive in 2006 was the UR-103.05 in polished platinum, limited to 50, with vertical engraving and sapphire windows cut into the case sides to reveal a unique satellite display.
It also had the control board on the back, now finished in black platinum, and this would carry on in all the following 103s. 
That same year, the UR-103.06 Joaillerie was also created: 25 in gold and 10 in platinum, set with 277 diamonds.
The year ended with a run of UR-103.07 in red and white gold, which explored a different vertical engraving pattern.
In 2007, something special came along, not seen before or after.
The 103.08 was the first UR-103 in steel; the case was coated in titanium aluminium nitride, an industrial tooling coating less than four microns thick. Rated at 3,500 Vickers, against 600 for steel and 4,000 for sapphire. The mix of titanium and aluminium produces the unique colour: bronze that turns to aubergine as the light moves, with a black titanium back—known as the UR-103 TiAlN.
The earliest pieces carry an angular sapphire crystal instead of the rounded Targa. Those faceted crystals proved very difficult to cut, with only roughly 20 in existence, before we returned to the curved shape. The unique colouring and lighter steel case have made this one of the most sought-after 103 models.
After the TiAlN in 2008 came the most recognisable 103, the UR-103.09, back in white and red gold with a new vertical engraving, a wider clear border, and a black control board.
2008 also saw two black special editions—the UR-103.09 AlTIN in steel, with a matte black case, of which only 5 were made.
And the UR-103.10 BPT Hexagon, Black Platinum
A 10-piece limited edition, the Hexagon pairs a platinum case under a glossy black PE-CVD treatment with an angular crystal and, for the first time, angular satellites. Their faceted lines break with the soft curves of every earlier 103, and the satellite mechanism was reworked to drive them. The lume glows a cool menthol blue.
Martin Frei traced the black to the India ink of his fine-arts studies. He called it the ultimate stealth watch, one whose value few onlookers would ever guess.
2009, the UR-103 display changed again. This time, it fully opened up, called the UR-103T "Tarantula" and added a new frame to the carousel, with its double arms coming out like spider legs.
It came in three versions: 60 in red and white gold and 33 in AlTiN steel.
The UR-103 story draws to a close with the 2010's UR-103T Mexican Fireleg in AlTiN steel with orange lume, limited to 60. Again, one of our most popular pre-owned watches due to its colouring and design.
And finally, the UR-103T Shining T. Limited to 33, in AlTiN black gold, with sapphire crystal satellites, revealing the titanium Geneva crosses underneath.
The UR-103 had one unique piece in 2011: the UR-103.01 Phoenix mentioned earlier, created for URWERK's first creation for the Only Watch auction.
Not just an important part of our journey, the success and acceptance of the 103 helped propel independent watchmaking. At Baselworld, the young manager of Harry Winston's Opus series attended. There he was shown a picture of the UR-103, and he knew right away he had to meet the creators; that young man was Maximilian Busser.
"The first time I saw the UR-103 at Baselworld, I was literally blown away! I immediately offered the Urwerk team the opportunity of creating an Opus. Six months later, Felix and Martin came to see me with two ideas: one, an incredible 3D movement that we all agreed would be the OpusV as you know it; and the other, a linear-time presentation, which would become the Urwerk CC1 many years later.
In the early 2000s, the few independent watchmakers who created not to please potential customers, but because it is their calling, first inspired me to start my own adventure. To be creatively free had to be the goal, even though it came with a price. Felix and Martin were trailblazers in that domain, and they opened my mind to another defining idea that became part of the MB&F DNA: that watchmaking could be three dimensional. Like their pieces or not, Urwerk wrote a whole new chapter in the history of watchmaking."
– Maximillian Busser, founder of MB&F.
Although the UR-103 has been discontinued since 2010, seasoned collectors and newcomers to independent watchmaking still enjoy it today. A great gateway into URWERK if it's your first piece, as it carries a great story and history. With its now-retro sci-fi look, it shows how URWERK is so unique in design that it never really ages. We even celebrated this last year by bringing out a specially designed rubber strap exclusively for the UR-103. For a modern, rn comfortable fit.
If you are ever interested in a UR-103, you can always reach out to us at: info@ur-legends.shop
We carry several examples, all certified, fully refurbished to a like-new finish, and backed by a three-year warranty as part of our UR-LEGENDS collection.
