Urwerk UR-300 Time Quantum Rebuilds the Wandering Hour

Urwerk has spent more than two decades making mechanical time feel less familiar, and the UR-300 Time Quantum pushes that habit into new territory.

The new watch reworks the brand’s wandering-hour signature around a display that dismantles and rebuilds its layout once every hour, turning the act of changing the hour into the main event.

It’s still recognisably Urwerk, but the choreography is different, sharper and more architectural.

At a glance

• Urwerk has introduced the UR-300 Time Quantum, a new wandering-hour watch with an instantaneous reconfiguring display.
• Its T-shaped hour module uses four rotating prisms and jumps 72 degrees at the top of every hour.
• Two launch versions are limited to 25 pieces each, priced at CHF 168,000 excluding taxes.

A wandering hour that changes its shape

The wandering-hour indication is central to Urwerk’s identity, appearing across models such as the UR-120, UR-150 and UR-230.

The UR-300 keeps the principle of an hour indication travelling across a minute scale, but replaces the familiar carousel-like arrangement with a newly developed modular structure.

Under the sapphire crystal, two linear hour modules form a T-shaped frame.

Each end of the modules carries a three-sided rotating hour prism, giving the four prisms a total of twelve hour indications.

The active hour sits at the lower end of the T-frame and travels across a curved 108-degree minute scale from 0 to 60.

At the end of the hour, the display doesn’t simply hand over to the next marker.

The full assembly jumps forward and rotates by 72 degrees, the crossbar pivots to become the new stem, the previous stem turns into the next crossbar, and all four prisms rotate to reveal the new hour numeral.

The result is a complete mechanical reconfiguration in a single coordinated movement.

The mechanics behind the hourly jump

The spectacle depends on controlling energy, speed and positioning with unusual precision.

An instantaneous jump involving multiple moving parts needs enough force to complete the sequence cleanly, while avoiding recoil or unnecessary stress through the gear train.

Urwerk’s system begins with an initial rotational speed of 360 degrees per hour, reduced to 180 degrees and transmitted to the main arm.

That arm rotates counterclockwise, while a cam adds a clockwise correction of 72 degrees per hour.

This produces the 108-degree hourly motion of the display, followed by the 72-degree jump at the hour change.

A rack, cam follower, spring and cam control the angular position of the module, with the cam profile coordinating both the slow progression across the minute scale and the abrupt transition at the hour.

There’s also a practical safeguard for setting the watch backwards.

When the time is adjusted in reverse, a retractable pivoting lever moves the cam follower out of the cam’s path, then returns it to its working position once normal rotation resumes.

UR-30.01V calibre and materials

The UR-300 Time Quantum is powered by the automatic UR-30.01V calibre, which uses a Vaucher base with an in-house display module.

Urwerk equips the movement with its Dual Flow Turbines, which regulate winding and manage energy delivery to the double mainspring barrel.

The power reserve is 40 hours.

That figure isn’t unusually long by current standards, but the point here is less about endurance than maintaining stable running while driving a display that consumes energy in an abrupt hourly event.

The movement runs at 28,800 vibrations per hour and uses a Swiss lever escapement with a monometallic balance wheel.

The hour-display components use materials including beryllium copper, brass, anodised aluminium, ARCAP AP1D, titanium and LIGA-processed nickel.

Finishing includes circular and straight graining, Côtes de Genève, and chamfered polished screw heads.

Titanium cases and limited production

The case is large, as it needs to house four hour prisms, their moving supports and the reconfiguring mechanism beneath the display.

It measures 45.2mm wide, 58.8mm long and 18.25mm thick, with a crown integrated and protected at the top of the case.

The UR-300 Time Quantum is offered in two launch versions.

The Titan model uses Grade 5 titanium, while the AlTiN edition has a PE-CVD finish.

Both have anti-reflective sapphire crystals, 30 metres of water resistance and NATO-style straps.

Production is limited to 25 pieces per version.

The price is CHF 168,000 excluding taxes.

Details & Specifications

The UR-300 Time Quantum is a watch for collectors who already understand Urwerk’s language and want to see it pushed into a more kinetic, system-led form.

It doesn’t use complexity as decoration so much as movement itself, making the top of every hour feel like the moment the watch was built around.