Urwerk’s New UR-10 Spacemeter Tracks the Distances Traveled by Earth and the Sun

When seasoned collectors think of Urwerk-the independent watchmaker founded by Felix Baumgartner and Martin Frei in 1997-they likely picture the satellite (or “wandering”) hours complication. Developed in the 17th century, the system displays the time with an orbital disc (or discs) that indicates the hour and points to the minute along an arc that sits on the periphery of the dial.

And though the complication is now an Urwerk signature, the Genevan maison has plenty of other horological tricks up its sleeve. To wit: Check out the brand-new UR-10 spacemeter ($94,000). With its integrated bracelet and rather conventional syringe-style hands, it appears-at frist glance, at least-like a luxury sports watch. A closer examination of the model’s three subdials, not to mention its lack of pushers, quickly reveals that this is not a standard chronograph, but an orbital distance tracker.

Inspired by a 19th-century clock that Baumgartner’s watchmaker father, Gérard, restored, the Spacemeter is a miniature astronomical complication and tracks the distances traveled by several heavenly bodies. The counter at two o’clock measures every 10 kilometers the Earth travels in its daily rotation (in increments of 500 meters), while another one at four o’clock tracks every 1,000 kilometers the sun has moved, calibrated in 20-kilometer steps. at nine