In-Depth Urwerk Puts The Space Shuttle On Your Wrist

The advent of the space shuttle fundamentally changed the way we travelled to space, not to mention enabling the creation of the International Space Station. Science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke once said "The Shuttle is to space flight what Lindbergh was to commercial aviation."

In the watch collecting world we often celebrate the intersection of horology and the early rocket programs; yet rarely do we look at the space shuttle, a technical feat that represented a tremendous leap for the American space program.

Until Urwerk entered the picture.

Collective Horology, a California-based community of watch enthusiasts, teamed up with Urwerk co-founders Martin Frei and Felix Baumgartner to create a watch that translated the idea of the space shuttle's launch and landing sequence into a watch. Urwerk is the right fit for such a challenge, but they couldn't do it alone. Collective Horology brought in the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, where the Space Shuttle Enterprise currently sits, to aid in the development of the concept.

And the result is the Urwerk UR-100V P.02 for Collective. Urwerk had already demonstrated the ability to take an abstract astronomical concept and translate it into wearable horological art with the Urwerk UR-100 SpaceTime. And with the P.02 for Collective, they would pay tribute to the Enterprise, the first orbital shuttle. Tested in 1977, it paved the way for the entire program that followed. A cliché shuttle-inspired design might include the black-and-white motif or the thermal protection tiles, but you won't find that on this Urwerk piece. Visually, the design inspiration came from the instrumentation aboard the Enterprise.

What's most interesting about Enterprise in particular, beyond being named after a Star Trek ship, is that it never actually went to space. It was built to carry out atmospheric test flights so it was built without engines. The shuttle's "lifting body" design means it acts more like a glider instead of a powered plane. The instrumentation was removed from Enterprise after the concept proved successful and was installed in the Space Shuttle Columbia. At some point during the 28 missions Columbia served, it was upgraded with a glass cockpit (screens instead of gauges displaying vital information) and the original instrumentation went into storage. Eric Boehm, Curator of Aviation & Aircraft Restoration at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, documented in great detail all of the original instrumentation that was re-installed back into Enterprise in order to provide Martin Frei and Felix Baumgartner with valuable insight when it came to replicating elements from the instruments on the watch.

The watch zeroes in on a very particular aspect of the space shuttle experience, the take off and landing sequence. To give you some perspective on how difficult it is to land the space shuttle, consider this: The shuttle is orbiting at roughly 17,200 mph, and it needs to slow down enough to land on a three-mile runway at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and to make matters more interesting, this all happens while the earth is rotating underneath it, necessitating a perfectly executed approach sequence. Timing is everything. From orbit, the shuttle slows down, decreasing the circumference of the orbit enough to make contact with the upper atmosphere at around 400,000 feet and uses the resistance to slow it down even further, making S-turns to bleed off speed and make a safe landing.

And that's only half the equation. To get the shuttle into orbit a team of astronauts manage the energy produced from 1.1 million pounds of solid fuel in the boosters, and then another 1.6 million pounds of liquid fuel in the external tank that feeds the shuttle's three main engines before being jettisoned.

The left side of the watch is where the "launch aperture" displays three critical phases of the space shuttle's launch sequence. The green phase represents the period shortly after the shuttle is processed for flight. This is when the  final pre-flight checks occur, and the decision to launch is made by processing weather information from The National Weather Service, who operate the Spaceflight Meteorology Group. Input is also considered from the U.S. Air Force's 45th Weather Squadron.

Next the shuttle enters the blue phase which starts the moment that the pair of solid boosters ignite. Talking Watches guest and two-time shuttle astronaut David Williams recalls that the moment the boosters ignite, "everything's shaking back and forth and it's a spectacular moment." It's during this blue phase that the shuttle leaves the Earth's atmosphere. First the shuttle burns through the two solid rocket boosters to combat the negative effects of gravity and resistance from the dense atmosphere found near sea level, and then those solid boosters are jettisoned and the main external tank provides the additional fuel needed to reach orbital altitude.

Once the shuttle reaches orbital altitude it enters the red phase. This is the last phase displayed on this aperture. During this phase various mission objectives – like building the International Space Station or deploying the Hubble Space Telescope (and repairing it) – are carried out.

Inside the UR-100V P.02 is the caliber 12.02, a new caliber designed specifically for this watch. Felix Baumgartner, who designed it, says "this new movement enabled a redesign of the carousel, bringing the hours closer to the minutes as they travel in succession along the 60-minute scale. The result is an easier and more intuitive reading of the time." Reading the time is still confusing on such a complex watch, but luckily a highly detailed technical manual comes with the watch, much like the beautifully designed 1,161-page Shuttle Crew Operations Manual. You don't have to be trained by NASA to read the time on the UR-100V P.02, but I bet the type of folks that buy this watch wouldn't say no if offered to join the astronaut training corps.

The focal point of the Caliber 12.02 is the carousel that houses the wandering hours complication. It's made of anodized aluminum that's sanded and shot-blasted, while the screws are circular-sanded, creating an interesting contrast. The rotor features a Windfänger mechanism that keeps the rotor from reaching excessive speeds.

The watch is retailed through Goldsmith & Complications, and a total of $50,000 generated from the proceeds of the P.02 for Collective will be donated to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.

It's a difficult task to take something as abstract-but-technical as the Enterprise and translate the ethos, idea, and design into a watch. Urwerk consistently redefines what the limits in modern watchmaking are with every single release. When I spoke with Eric Boehm, a director at the Intrepid, about his involvement in the process he noted that he wasn't previously aware of horological manufacturing at this level, and that it almost seemed impossible for designers and engineers to come up with such a technical wonder. But with watches, as with space, wonder is at the heart of what we do.

The Urwerk UR-100V P.02 for Collective is available to existing and new Collective members. Florida based, independent watch salon, Goldsmith & Complications is the official authorized dealer for the collaboration and will handle delivery in partnership with Collective and URWERK. The limited edition watch costs $62,500.