After some initial success, Urwerk labored for six years to create a follow-up to the UR-101 and UR-102 launched in 1997. The result was the UR-103 line, which would be the company's signature model for a decade. The futuristic case features a large crown at 12 00 between large lugs and a time readout along the bottom edge, designed to be easy to read while driving.
The UR-103 is nicknamed the “Space Ship” or “Time Traveler” for its futuristic case. The case is nearly flat along the sides, from the wide lugs at the top to a curved surface at the bottom edge. It is marked by longitudinal lines, accentuating this long rectangular shape. The display features "wandering" hours similar in some ways to the UR-101, that points to the minutes along a 90º path. There are no hands, but a pointer by the hour marker indicates the time quite precisely. The oversized crown is said to resemble a rocket engine.
The underside of the watch features overlapping 15-minute and seconds hand subdials, a retrograde power reserve indicator, and an exposed regulating screw that can move the time indication forward or back up to 30 seconds per day. The case measures 50 mm long, 36 mm wide, and 13.5 mm thick.
Unlike the original Urwerk movement, UR-103 features a hand-winding movement operating at a frequency of 21,600 A/h. The movement features a Maltese cross arrangement of four hour discs, each showing three hours. This is hidden in the early models but was exposed in later examples.
The UR-103.03 introduced a “Targa” case that allowed the time discs to be viewed more easily through a U-shaped window.
The UR-103T features a large rectilinear window through which the entire movement can be viewed. Due to the window and black ARCAP cross, this version is nicknamed “Tarantula”.
The series ended in 2010 as the Urwerk UR-201 became the new focus for the company.
One final UR-103 was built in 2011 for Only Watch. The UR-103 “Phoenix” featured a white gold case hand-engraved by Jean-Vincent Huguenin.