Urwerk’s ‘SpaceTime Blade’ Is A Towering Horological Marvel
The $63,000 glass-domed structure offers an entirely new way to look at timekeeping.
The haute horology masters at Urwerk have a serious penchant for doing the unexpected, and that’s a massive understatement. That could mean a watch that tracks lightspeed time, it could mean a Bugatti-inspired timepiece, or in the case of the stunning SpaceTime Blade, it could mean, well, a timekeeping method that’s not even a watch at all.
The boundary-pushing piece goes into unfamiliar territory even for Urwerk, although its dedication to artisanal craft and precision very much remains the same.
The SpaceTime Blade is a 5.6-foot-high, 44-pound metal and glass blade that ventures away from typical (although still challenging) Urwerk tenets like planetary gears and a wandering hours movement.
Of the 33-piece limited-edition offering, which looks like something out of a Christopher Nolan sci-fi movie, the haute horologist said it “redefines time as only URWERK dares to do.”
“We continue to explore the relationship between time and space. As far back as the 1800s, Gustave Sandoz made this relationship visible by creating a clock that, instead of displaying the hours, showed a countdown in kilometers,” said Felix Baumgartner, Urwerk co-founder and master watchmaker. “This totally original instrument reminded us of our condition as mere passengers on the space vessel Earth, hurtling through the galaxy at phenomenal speed.”
“It’s about making our journey visible; translating the 940 million kilometers we travel around the Sun each year into hours, minutes and seconds,” Baumgartner added.
The artistry inherent in the SpaceTime Blade is visible every step of the way, starting with the base, which is an Urwerk crown fashioned from lost-wax casting applied to bronze.
“Ensuring compliance with the demanding URWERK aesthetic standards represented a mammoth endeavor,” the watchmaker noted.
A glass dome running from the base to the top protects the core of the SpaceTime Blade, which just so happens to be “eight vertically aligned and individually flame-shaped handmade Nixie bulbs.”
The process wasn’t undertaken lightly, Urwerk said: “Each of these oblong glass tubes has stood the test of fire. Each has danced and twirled under the blowtorch in order to acquire its characteristic appearance.”
The blade operates a current when switched on, with each position covering a different strain of timekeeping, be it hours, minutes and seconds (simple enough) or an indication of the Earth’s daily rotation expressed in kilometers and measured at the equator (not so simple).
The boundaries of time, space, horology and craftsmanship have once again been pushed beyond their limit, or at least Urwerk has put forth an impressive, valiant attempt. Accordingly, this level of craft doesn’t come cheap: The SpaceTime Blade retails for $63,000 via the exclusive timepiece maker.