Wartburg 353 » HYT S1 Ahmed Seddiqi 75th Anniversary H03474-A Replica watch

Pack up! This is the ultimate space watch.



At least when it comes to tracking time and space.

There are two main categories of watches that can rightfully be called "space watches."

One is watches that have actually been worn in outer space, like the Omega Speedmaster, Seiko's "Astronaut" collection, the Breitling Astronaut, and so on. The other is watches with celestial complications that track the movement of celestial bodies like the moon and stars, or use various space-based alternative calculation methods (such as the equation of time or sidereal time) to measure time. Jaeger-LeCoultre is particularly adept at this type of watch.

But if you want a watch that can actually measure the wearer's actual movement through space and time, then Urwerk is the watch for you. Specifically, you need the brand's aptly named new watch: the SpaceMeter.

Look, Mom, Hand

Urwerk's entire brand philosophy revolves around creating unique and unconventional ways to read and interact with time. Consequently, its watches are avant-garde in design, and most feature satellite navigation complications or other unique time-reading mechanisms. I don't recall ever seeing an Urwerk watch with center hands, but the UR-10 SpaceMeter does.

At first glance, the watch looks pretty ordinary. It has traditional hour and minute hands and three subdials. But then again, this is an Urwerk watch, so you can pretty much throw all that conventional flair out the window.

The two center hands do display the time in a 12-hour format, but that's just the norm. The three subdials track the Earth's movement through space in real time, creating a unique and innovative way to measure time and space, giving the wearer a unique perspective on their place in the universe (if you want to delve into it; otherwise, it's just cool).

Here's how it works. The subdial at 2 o'clock, labeled "Earth" in blue, measures the time it takes Earth to rotate daily, displaying the value in distance rather than time. The subdial is marked in 500-meter increments, with one full rotation of the dial tracking 10 kilometers of rotation. In other words, in the time it takes for the hand to orbit the subdial once, the Earth rotates 10 kilometers (based on the equator).

At 4 o'clock, a white sun-patterned dial tracks the Earth's orbit around the sun, with each graduation representing 20 kilometers traveled, and one orbit representing 1,000 kilometers. Finally, a third counter at 9 o'clock uses a blue and white scale to measure two distances simultaneously: this time, 1,000 kilometers for rotation and 64,000 kilometers for revolution, allowing for mathematical calculations and keeping the two measurements synchronized.

That's all very cool and unique, but there's more on the back of the watch. Turn the watch over and you'll find a 24-hour scale with a red hand indicating the 24-hour time. The scale marks the rotation and revolution distance every six hours.

The inside of the scale beautifully showcases Urwerk's new dual-flow turbine unit, the latest development in its innovative rotor air brake system. Because the Urwerk caliber UR-10.01 automatic movement inside the SpaceMeter features a unidirectional winding rotor, Urwerk devised a system to slow the rotor when it spins freely in the opposite direction (that is, when not winding the mainspring), as reverse rotation would cause unnecessary wear.

This system consists of two counter-rotating propellers. When the rotor begins to spin freely, the airflow it generates slows its speed. Why not simply use a bidirectional rotor within the movement, eliminating the need for a proprietary turbine system? It's easy to implement, and Urwerk never does things by the book. Plus, the turbine system is incredibly cool.

This unique turbine movement, coupled with a unique spacetime complication, is undoubtedly a highlight of the UR-10 SpaceMeter, but other aspects of the watch are equally striking. For example, the angular case is truly distinctive, and not just in the crown at 12 o'clock.

The 45.4 mm x 44 mm case measures just 7.13 inches thick (excluding the sapphire crystals on either side) and is composed of two parts. The top case is made of sandblasted titanium, while the back is made of sandblasted stainless steel. The watch has no middle case; the two sides are held together by screws on the side of the watch. The integrated bracelet is made of sandblasted titanium, complementing the more prominent half of the case.