Infinity And Beyond: Introducing The Urwerk UR-100V P.02 for Collective Horology
You needn’t be a bazillionaire to explore space when you have this cool collaboration on your wrist.
By Rhonda Riche
Editor-At-Large
Who doesn’t dream of intergalactic travel? Even if you think that the space race between three of the planet’s richest people is an absurd exercise in ego, there is probably a part of you that has also fantasized about exploring life outside of the Earth’s atmosphere.
The sensible watch enthusiast also recognizes that, for the time being, their money is better spent on an awesome timepiece. That is why we’re intrigued by Collective Horology’s second collaboration in its Portfolio Series – a three-way collaboration with the independent Swiss watch manufacturer Urwerk and the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York.
It’s called the Urwerk UR-100V P.02 for Collective. Here’s the flight plan.
Space Jam
Collective Horology is a membership-driven watch community co-founded by childhood friends Asher Rapkin and Gabe Reilly in California. The group produces collaborative watches for current members as well as those interested in joining Collective.
Collective currently produces two collaborative series: The Collective Series (an annual collaboration with its favorite watch brands) and the Portfolio Series (a showcase for independent watchmaking). Previous editions have included partnerships with Zenith, J.N. Shapiro, and H. Moser & Cie.
The bespoke UR-100V P.02 for Collective pays tribute to the 40th anniversary of NASA’s Space Shuttle program. The idea was born from Urwerk and Collective’s fascination with space exploration as well as their shared passion for creative, concept-driven watches.
Every design detail of this flying saucer-shaped timepiece is influenced by the goals and the glory of space travel and the Space Shuttle’s storied history. For example, the dial display of the Urwerk UR-100V P.02 is meant to evoke the space shuttle program’s typical launch and landing sequences in minutes.
This countdown is visible through apertures that also show the approximate location of the shuttle at each phase of launch and landing. Green numbers represent the Earth. Blue lines evoke the shuttle traveling through the sky. And red represents the upper atmosphere with the pitch-black dial and case indicating the vast expanse of space itself.
A Series of Firsts
It feels like we are at the dawn of a new era of space travel. So it’s appropriate that Urwerk is also exploring a new world of collaboration. Urwerk’s co-founders, chief designer Martin Frei and master watchmaker Felix Baumgartner, have previously only partnered with other watchmakers (and Macallan whiskey), but Collective Horology used its connections to plead its case for a different sort of pairing.
“What we like, and think is exciting, is that a watch is a creative canvas upon which stories can be told. We don’t fancy ourselves watch designers but, because of our marketing background, we do see ourselves as storytellers,” said Rapkin in a press release for the new piece.
Gabe Reilly added, “We loved Urwerk’s use of orbiting satellite hours and minute hands for the UR-100 SpaceTime launched in 2019, but we saw an opportunity to tell a different story. If Urwerk were to create a watch that was a tribute to the space shuttle prototype, Enterprise, what would that be?”
Rapkin and Reilly also wanted to team up with an institution that could both inform and benefit from the project. They approached the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, which is situated on the Hudson River – just two miles from where Rapkin grew up: “Going there as a child was just the most incredible experience. We chose the Intrepid Museum, which has the space shuttle Enterprise on permanent display because they were open and enthusiastic about the project.”
“The museum was such a major part of both Gabe’s and my youth,” Rapkin continued. “And because 2020 was a uniquely challenging year for museums around the world, we and Goldsmith & Complications, the official authorized dealer, are going to donate a total of $50,000 from the proceeds of this project to help ensure that Enterprise’s stories of bravery and innovation will be told for generations to come.”
Flight Simulation
The original UR-100V, with its iconic satellite display, already celebrated space, but the P.02 is different in one very significant way. The original model tracked the kilometers traveled along the equator in 20 minutes as well as the kilometers traveled by the Earth in its journey around the sun in the same period. The P.02, however, takes a different tack, using two lateral apertures to track the process and timing of the take-off and landing for the Space Shuttle.
Ultimately, the Urwerk UR-100V P.02 is a contemplation on what astronauts endure to explore the Universe on behalf of all Earthlings. “When you ask an astronaut about it, which we’ve never had the chance to do until now, they tell you that for some, it can be transformative, others downright scary,” said Rapkin.
Eric Boehm, Museum Curator of Aviation at the Intrepid and former astronaut, helped design the watch so that the wandering hour hand puts the wearer in the shoes of an astronaut and “think about what seven minutes sitting at the top of a rocket must be like.”
In the press release, Boehm also commented that owning a watch like this one is just as much an investment in the art of watchmaking as it is storytelling: “I was thrilled to assist in bringing the P.02 to life, taking design inspiration from Enterprise’s cockpit instruments to help tell the story of some of the shuttle program’s most dramatic moments: launch and landing.”
And if it sounds complicated, don’t panic – the timepiece also comes with a custom-made, detailed manual that allows the wearer to follow the elapsed time of launching or landing a Space Shuttle mission.
Pricing & Availability
How can you get your ticket to ride? The Urwerk UR-100V P.02 for Collective will be available exclusively to current and new Collective members and cost $62,500.
Florida-based, independent boutique Goldsmith & Complications is the official authorized dealer for the collaboration and will handle delivery in partnership with Collective and Urwerk.
Those interested in joining Collective can visit the Collective website for more information and membership applications.
(Images © URWERK / Collective)
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