The Urwerk UR-100V P.02 has just been released in collaboration with Collective Horology and the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York. This is the second release in the Portfolio series by the private collectors' community Horology Collective, created in partnership with independent watchmakers (the first being last year's excellent J.N Shapiro Infinity Series P.01 with a meteorite dial), and I find it an unintended but amusing coincidence that both have space associations. Goldsmith & Complications, the official retailer of the limited edition of 20 pieces UR-100V P.02, will also donate $50,000 from the proceeds to the Intrepid museum.
Rapkin and Reilly admired the UR-100 SpaceTime model from Urwerk and envisioned how the watch would look if it were a specific tribute to the first space shuttle Enterprise (which is naturally displayed at the Intrepid museum). The UR-100V P.02 model features Urwerk's satellite time display, where hours are indicated via a disc, and minutes through a rotating disc and a red arrow right below the hour indicator.
However, unique here are the apertures on the upper left and right sides of the case. On the left side of the case is the "launch aperture," which displays three phases of shuttle launch: green represents the shuttle on the ground with ground control conducting final checks and ignition of the three main engines; blue is for solid booster ignition; red indicates orbital height.
On the right side of the case is the "landing aperture," showing four phases. Here, the black zone represents the 60-minute countdown for landing; the red zone shows the intense re-entry into the upper atmosphere; the blue zone represents the time when the shuttle commander takes control for the final descent and landing, and the last green zone represents the shuttle's wheels touching the runway and parachute deployment.
All this is powered by the new caliber 12.02, specifically created for this watch. Urwerk's founder Felix Baumgartner explains: "This new mechanism allowed us to redesign the carousel, bringing the hours closer to the minutes as they move sequentially along the 60-minute scale. As a result, time reading has become easier and more intuitive." The carousel and the top of the hour indicator are made of anodized aluminum, which is then sanded and bead-blasted. To protect against excessive rotor revolutions, the Windfäng rotor is designed, which can also be seen on the SpaceTime. Caliber 12.02 operates at a frequency of 28,800 vibrations per hour and has a 48-hour power reserve.
The case of the UR-100V P.02 is made of titanium and stainless steel with Gun Metal PVD coating. Its width is 41 mm, thickness is 14 mm, and the lug-to-lug height is 49.7 mm. I had the opportunity to wear the UR-100 SpaceTime with the same case dimensions, and I found them very comfortable to wear, with the unique shape and design of the case making no compromises on comfort.
The Urwerk UR-100V P.02 for Collective Horology is released in a limited edition of 20 pieces priced at $62,500. More information can be found on urwerk.com and collectivehorology.com.