Most obviously, the UR-220 uses the familiar system of planetary, or wandering, hours. However, unlike in the UR-210 models, the movement here is manually wound, not automatic.
It’s this signature, three-armed display that most of us tend to associate with Urwerk. The hours are displayed on three blocks that are connected to the three arms. The display portion comprises a 120-degree arc along which the arms pass, picking up the retrograde minutes, which snap back on the hour, as they go. The display can seem a bit elaborate at first, but it’s actually very intuitive. And thanks to the high level of contrast between the green numbers and minute track and the black architecture of the carousel, it’s quite legible too.
Each rotating arm has a block with four of its sides bearing numbers that correspond to the hours. The only other dial-side display is the power-reserve indicator, or indicators, I should say. There are two them, tucked in the upper left and upper right corners of the display, respectively. Each of them tracks consecutive 24-hour periods, so that when the first is filled or emptied, the second takes over, for a total power reserve of 48 hours. Splitting the power reserve between two displays was no simple feat: It required some 83 additional parts.