URWERK UR-100V TIME AND CULTURE II talks about the brand’s Mesopotamian inspirations

The new Urwerk watch pays homage to the Sumerians of the ancient Mesopotamian civilization of Ur

Urwerk may have been in the watchmaking industry for just over 25 years, but its name was inspired by the Mesopotamian city of Ur in 3800 BC. The inhabitants of Ur, known as the Sumerians, were the first to define a unit of time - 60 representing seconds and minutes. In addition, "Ur" in German means "beginning" or "origin", while "werk" means creation, work and innovation.

Now, inspired by all of these aspects, Urwerk launches the UR-100V Time and Culture II, which features intricate details of the horological history associated with the city of Ur. This is the second version in the series, following last year’s UR-100V Time and Culture I, a watch inspired by 15th-century Mesoamerica and featuring the “sun stone.”

Measuring 41mm wide and 49.7mm long, the new steel-titanium model draws many design cues from the Mesopotamian era - the blue refers to lapis lazuli, a stone associated with Innana, the goddess of love, war and fertility, Inscribed between the lugs is Nanna, the main god of the city of Ur, the moon god. Beneath the sapphire crystal are several round particles and a sandblasted design inspired by the Mesopotamian era and its gods, including the sun god Utu, this time with a four-corner design representing the four cardinal points. (The sun is particularly relevant to the UR-100 series because the watch to its right shows the Earth's orbit around the sun, which is 35,742 kilometers every 20 minutes.

Additionally, there are Super-LumiNova® painted aluminum satellite hours crafted on a beryllium bronze Geneva cross, with a minute track at the base displaying a reading from 0 to 60 minutes, once 60 minutes is reached the minute hand disappears and reappears as a kilometer counter. Inscribed on the left side are 477.29 kilometers, which is the distance traveled by every resident of Ur. The self-winding UR 12.02 movement mounted on the titanium caseback is controlled by a Windfänger air screw, beats at 4 Hz and has a 48-hour power reserve. Paired with a pin-buckle Baltimore strap, this watch is completed.