Satellite Complication

One the UR-103T, the satellites rotate simultaneously behind the scenes in multiple stages, in preparation for their turn to indicate the time. They actually perform a four-beat 480° pirouette. Each satellite turns four 120° turns in the period between leaving the minute arc and arriving again with a new numeral displaying.

The four satellites of the UR103T are made of aluminum and mounted on their own bronze/beryllium Geneva cross. The mechanism is then suspended from the orbital cross structure in ARCAP 40, a material that is light, non magnetic and corrosion resistant, and is mounted on an ARCAP plate. The orbital satellite complication is over 300 times heavier than traditional hands, a factor that requires absolute precision in the manufacture of its minuscule components, and in assembling, balancing and regulating the complication to obtain the excellent chronometric performance URWERK demands of its exceptional timepieces.