Boutique haute horlogerie brand Urwerk has consistently been at the forefront of futuristic mechanical watchmaking for 25 years, and over its quarter century of existence the brand has created an array of truly otherworldly silhouettes. Its latest design concept, the UR-112 Aggregat first announced in 2021, is undoubtedly one of the wildest with a wedge-like overall shape, rotating barrels in place of traditional hands, and a driveshaft and differential system to move torque between its mainspring and its four separate displays. While the gray-on-black two-tone matte titanium case of the original UR-112 Aggregat accentuated the design’s rugged and futuristic form, for its first major release of 2022 Urwerk returns to the concept with a markedly brighter interpretation. The limited edition Urwerk UR-112 Aggregat Odyssey’s mix of bare stainless steel and titanium surfaces gives this aggressive asymmetrical design a sharper and more eye-catching character, without losing any of its technical audacity.

Although the 42mm-wide, 51mm-long, and 16mm-thick case of the Urwerk UR-112 Aggregat Odyssey shares its form with the original UR-112 Aggregat, this version’s new finishing drastically changes the personality of this design in images. In its original matte black and gray guise, this wedge-like, sloping grooved form evokes a futuristic piece of purposeful military equipment, but the switch to a mix of titanium and stainless steel elements highlights the case’s hidden complexity. With rounded chamfers running the length of the case sides, deep streamlined grooves, and a stylized “hood scoop” atop what is technically a wildly unorthodox hunter caseback, there is a wealth of polished, bead blasted, and textured elements here to visually break up the brushing along the broad planes of the main case body. With the use of two different metals, Urwerk maintains a two-tone look for the UR-112 Aggregat Odyssey, but the end result is subtler and more layered in images than the warm gray on black of its predecessor. Interestingly, however, the UR-112 Aggregat Odyssey’s water resistance rating drops to a paltry 30 meters, while the original model offered a sporty 100 meter rating.

Strictly speaking, the Urwerk UR-112 Aggregat Odyssey does not have a dial. Standard timekeeping functions are instead handled by a pair of rotating assemblies at 6 o’clock, evolving the brand’s signature satellite hours complication in a new and more intricate direction. Both the hours and minutes displays use a set of revolving black prisms engraved with sharp Arabic numerals, which both rotate and revolve around a central point to display the current time in conjunction with a fixed indicator line. Although the concept is bafflingly complex in theory, in images the display is immediately intuitive and easily legible, especially thanks to its jumping hours mechanism. Urwerk places two additional subdials directly on top of the movement underneath the hunter caseback. The first of these is a digital running seconds display, highlighted atop a perlage movement plate with a bold red anodized window. To the left of this display is a clean and graphic power reserve indicator subdial. In relation to the out-of-the-box design approach taken by the other displays, this final subdial is remarkably traditional, but integrates well into the compartmentalized design in initial images.

Like its predecessor, the Urwerk UR-112 Aggregat Odyssey uses the brand’s wild in-house UR-13.01 automatic movement. In order to deliver power to the watch’s unique 6 o’clock planetary hours and minutes displays, these elements are connected to the main gear train via an automotive-style drivetrain, including a longitudinal titanium driveshaft connected to a differential. On top of the unique layout, this dramatic design also uses energy recovery mechanisms to scavenge torque from the rotating assembly of the planetary minutes display. These systems allow this complex, weighty, and power-hungry movement to manage a respectable 48 hour power reserve at a 28,800 bph beat rate. Urwerk pairs the UR-112 Aggregat Odyssey with a sharply tapering black textile strap.

With new, more intricate finishing and a brighter overall look, the new limited edition Urwerk UR-112 Aggregat Odyssey brings a more complex and eye-catching character to its most outlandish concept to date. Although Urwerk does not specify exactly how many models will be produced, given the edition size of the previous model a total production run of around 25 units is likely. The Urwerk UR-112 Aggregat Odyssey is available now through authorized dealers. MSRP for the Urwerk UR-112 Aggregat Odyssey stands at 250,000 CHF as of press time. For more details, please visit the brand’s website.