Three brilliantly insane watches celebrate technology for technology's sake

Unique, clever and anything but boring – standout timepieces from Urwerk, MB&F and Breguet

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Unique, clever and anything but boring – standout timepieces from Urwerk, MB&F and Breguet

Abid Rahman

Published: 7:30pm, 6 Sep 2016Updated: 12:43pm, 7 Sep 2016

Technology isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be. Take Wi-fi on airplanes, for example. Recently, I flew to Europe and chose Finnair purely because the airline has onboard Wi-fi, which means I can work a little, and send inane WhatsApp messages to friends, all along the lines of “Guess where I’m texting from?” The flip side of this is that you now become “available” and so must reply to work emails, and there’s only so many texts you can send before people stop caring and go back to ignoring you. Sigh.

There are, however, brief moments when technology for technology’s sake is to be cherished and this week we’ll look at three ridiculous watches that glory in that mantra.

First up is the Urwerk UR-105 TA Clockwork Orange. Urwerk is known for its innovative ways of displaying the time and, on the UR-105 TA, this is done through satellite hours (four rotating discs that move in a carousel motion) that line up with the minutes disc at the bottom of the dial. The black PVD titanium case is 39.5mm wide and 53mm long, so it’s not a small watch. Inside is a 5.02 UR automatic movement that holds up to 48 hours of power. Despite its overall industrial look, there’s are some classic touches, too, such as the circular graining on the dial. It sounds complex and it looks complex and, yes, it’s pointless, but, nonetheless, this watch is undeniably cool and something very different. Prices are available upon request.