URWERK UR-300 Time Quantum: Atomic Mechanics in 50 Pieces

URWERK UR-300 Time Quantum: 25 titanium + 25 AlTiN pieces, calibre UR-30.01V, CHF 168,000. The Geneva independent's boldest wandering-hour yet.

The Big Picture

• Fifty pieces in total: 25 in Titanium Grade 5 and 25 in Titanium Grade 5 with PE-CVD AlTiN treatment, each priced at CHF 168,000, making the UR-300 Time Quantum among the most tightly allocated references URWERK has produced since its founding in 1997.
• The Calibre UR-30.01V powers the watch via automatic winding regulated by URWERK’s patented Dual Flow Turbines, with a 44-hour power reserve from a double mainspring barrel.
• A T-frame of two perpendicular hour modules replaces the rotating carousel architecture of previous URWERK references, reconfiguring entirely at the top of each hour.
• Case dimensions are 45.2mm x 58.8mm x 18.25mm in titanium; water resistance is rated at 5 ATM.

Design & Mechanics

Announced in Geneva on 15 October 2026, the UR-300 Time Quantum departs from every carousel-based architecture URWERK has produced since the 2005 Opus V made in collaboration with Harry Winston. Two hour modules of linear construction are fixed perpendicularly to form a T-frame. Each module is double-ended, carrying a tri-sided hour prism at both extremities; between the four prisms, all 12 hours of the clock are accounted for.

At the 60th minute, three events occur simultaneously. The T-frame jumps forward and rotates 72°, the crossbar pivots around its midpoint to become the new stem, the old stem becomes the new crossbar, and every hour prism spins. The base of the new stem displays the next hour, aligned with the zero-minute mark. Felix Baumgartner, master watchmaker and co-founder of URWERK, describes the concept: “Beneath the sapphire crystal, you can watch a kind of ‘atomic’ reaction unfold in real time, as the elements move, interact and reconfigure before your eyes.”

Movement & Materials

The hour modules themselves combine Beryllium copper, brass, anodised aluminium, ARCAP AP1D, titanium and LIGA-processed nickel. Finishing spans circular and straight graining, sanding, côtes de Genève, and chamfered polished screw heads. The jump mechanism required URWERK’s team to balance energy precisely: sufficient force to drive the full hourly reconfiguration without introducing visible recoil, and tight enough tolerances to maintain gear efficiency across the life of the movement.

The Calibre UR-30.01V beats at 4Hz (28,800vph), uses a Swiss lever escapement with a monometallic balance wheel and flat balance spring, and draws from a double mainspring barrel. A patent-pending modular complication with planetary reconfiguration governs the T-frame; the display also includes prograde minutes and three hands showing 3×20 seconds across 120°.

Heritage & Lineage

URWERK, founded in 1997 by Felix Baumgartner and Martin Frei, produces approximately 200 watches annually. The retrograde snap that characterised pieces from the Opus V through to the 2024 UR-150 Scorpion is replaced here by a prograde jump, a first for the independent Geneva workshop at this scale of mechanical complexity.

Martin Frei, artistic director and co-founder, frames the conceptual shift: “We have shifted scale, but from the infinitely large to the infinitely small, reality remains the same. From the orbit of planets to the dance of particles, it is all trajectories, encounters, attraction.” The UR-300 follows the brand’s thematic arc from outer space toward subatomic physics, with quantum entanglement providing the conceptual grammar for the T-frame’s linked, mirrored motion.

Availability & Edition Details

Two references, 25 pieces each, both at CHF 168,000 excluding tax. The Titan variant presents the case in natural Titanium Grade 5; the AlTiN variant applies a PE-CVD treatment to the same grade of titanium, altering its surface character. Both ship on a NATO strap, with water resistance rated at 5 ATM across the sapphire crystal case back and front.

For collectors across the Gulf, enquiries may be directed to URWERK directly or via an authorised retailer in the Middle East.

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