Faithful to its attachment to the ocean since its first marine chronometers created nearly two centuries ago, the Le Locle-based watchmaker turns to the land to borrow a mineral with bluish, verdant hues to dress the face of a watch.

At the end of each summer, when the sun’s rays become less intense, temperatures drop gently and the sky is covered with graying clouds, vacation nostalgia resurfaces. We swap our bathing suits for fluffy sweaters, replace our beach sandals for closed-toe shoes, and yet, for Ulysse Nardin, the ocean is never far away. The Le Locle-based watchmaker, which built its reputation by developing marine chronometers right from its foundation, continues to solidify its powerful link with nautical and underwater activities, as demonstrated by the new Diver [Atoll] watch to be worn on the wrist 365 days a year.

The fascinating dial of this limited edition of 100 pieces is covered with a disc of chrysocolla, a mineral discovered in antiquity and richly pigmented in intense hues. Streaked with ochre marbling resembling sandbars, these turquoise, marine and emerald hues evoke the waters bordering a coral reef. Eleven brilliants illuminate this oceanic face, swept by a trio of central, silvered, luminescent hands, while a porthole at 6 o’clock reveals the date in black on a white background.

The hours, minutes and seconds are driven by the UN-816 caliber, a 4hz automatic movement that delivers a 42-hour power reserve when fully wound. It is housed in a case that is water-resistant to 300m, measures 39mm in diameter and is machined from steel, 80% of which is recycled. A unidirectional rotating bezel trimmed with diamonds and blue-engraved Arabic numerals indicating the quarters tops this set. Depending on the adventures for which the Diver [Atoll] is destined, Ulysse Nardin suggests wearing it with a textured white rubber strap or a subtly pearly alligator leather strap.

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Known for its unrivaled technical properties, the silicon bluish-toned material moves from mechanical to aesthetic and dresses the face of an exceptional timepiece in the form of a geometric mosaic.

The setting lies on a fusion of poetic art and mechanical mastery: the exceptional Blast Free Wheel Marquetry provokes a sensation of freedom and stimulates the imagination. Indeed, at first glance, this horological work signed Ulysse Nardin and presented at the end of the summer during Geneva Watch Days projects us towards the azure infinity of a crystalline sea cradled by the sun’s caress. It diffuses an intense, nuanced bluish light thanks to the presence of a material known for its unequalled technical properties, usually hidden at the heart of the movement, which is transformed for the occasion into an artistic expression: silicon.

Worked in geometric tesserae of different shapes, thicknesses and finishes to compose an original mosaic, silicon covers the watch face and settles on the barrel at 12 o’clock. Beneath the “ultra-glassbox” sapphire crystal, which offers an unrestricted view of the various elements from the front and sides, a flying tourbillon rotates at 6 o’clock. It is accompanied by an indicator at 4 o’clock that displays the power reserve delivered by the hand-wound UN-176 caliber, which amounts to one week. In the center, two luminescent gray hands indicate the hours and minutes. The Blast Free Wheel Marquetry‘s imposing white gold case measures 45mm in diameter and is attached to a velvety-smooth blue rubber strap fastened by a folding clasp machined from the same precious metal.

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At the Watches & Wonders Geneva 2023 Trade Show, the Locle-based watchmaker introduced a new and ever-fascinating version of its uniquely designed and engineered watch.

After more than two decades, the phenomenon of the 2001 Basel Trade Show remains truly unique in many ways. With its Freak, Ulysse Nardin ushered in the silicon revolution. However, more importantly, with this model completed by the brilliant watchmaker Ludwig Oechslin, the manufacturer demonstrated that a watch could tell time without resorting to the sacrosanct watchmaking trinity: crown, hands, and dial. In its evolution, the Freak One, 95% of the components are in motion. The cylinder dressed with an arrow continues to indicate the hours, while the inner workings of the flying carousel reveal the minutes. These components are integrated into the UN-240 caliber, assembled from 229 different parts. This mechanism is again remarkable for its escapement made of DIAMonSIL treated silicon, a synthetic diamond coating, and for its oversized oscillator.

This automatic movement delivers performance with its 72-hours of power reserve. Its Grinder^® winding system linked to the rotor and housed under the 44 mm diameter black DLC titanium case provides the ability to dynamically energize the watch. Beyond its aesthetic impact, the stylized 5N rose gold bezel is highly functional. Pressing the button at 6 o’clock bearing the word “Freak” disengages it. Its rotation thus enables setting the watch’s time. A second press on the push-button locks the position. This exceptional timepiece includes a textured wristband, made by the BIWI company from 30% recycled rubber. More than a watch, the Freak One also represents a state of mind.

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As a prelude to Watches & Wonders Geneva 2023, the Locle-based watchmaker is unveiling its debut model, a refined interpretation of its contemporary design.

Since 2020, each timepiece in the Blast collection by Ulysse Nardin assumes the form of a visual labyrinth in which one’s gaze delights in exploring. The chiseled lines of its 45mm-diameter case provide an eye-catching skeletonized showcase. As for the Blast Tourbillon Blue & Gold, an engaging interplay of material and colors lends this modern timepiece an elegant appeal. In this instance, the case marries elegant blue PVD-treated titanium in a sandblasted finish with satiny, polished rose gold. Above, Super-Luminova^®-coated hour and minute hands indicate discreet hour markers clad in the same luminescent material, hovering over the open architecture inherent to the collection.

A geometric structure is found composed of bridges in the shape of a rectangle forming an X. The letter is echoed for the flying tourbillon cage at 6 o’clock. The regulating organ also creates an axis of symmetry with the platinum micro-rotor at 12 o’clock. This airy composition facilitates the discovery of some of the 137 elements and cogs bringing to life the UN-172 caliber. This high-performance self-winding movement with a silicon escapement complete with wheel, lever, and balance-spring produces a 72-hour power reserve, i.e. 3 days. For a perfect complement to a classic or original wardrobe, the Blast Tourbillon Blue & Gold comes in a dark blue rubber wristband with a velvet effect, fastened by a folding clasp. Definitively chic and contemporary!

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This timeless color seduces through the elegance and lightness it imbues in objects. The latest version of the manufacturer’s skeleton diver draws on the color’s virtues.

After the Black version made of titanium and Carbonium^®, produced in a limited edition of only 175 pieces, Ulysse Nardin is now offering its daring skeleton diver’s watch in a new immaculate guise. This Diver X Skeleton White takes up the avant-garde design of the other models in the collection. The iconic X-shaped architecture in gray tones lies at the heart of the open-plan setting. The border adorning it and the swift second hand enhance the contemporary composition in vivid blue. The overall composition is encircled by a concave unidirectional rotating bezel fitted with white rubber. This same material is used for the wristband that is finished with a folding clasp. This complements the 44mm diameter titanium case, enhanced by a polished, satiny finish that is water-resistant to 200 meters. This edition, with its decidedly sporty chic look, can also be worn on a fabric alternative closed with a rip-tab.

The hour and minute hands, trimmed with luminescent Super-Luminova^® paint, are powered by the UN-372 caliber assembled using 171 components. The sapphire case back provides a glimpse of its inner structure. This self-winding movement, endowed with an extra-large oscillator, an escape wheel, a lever, and a silicon balance spring, delivers a comfortable power reserve of 72 hours, hence three days. Once again, sleek styling and high performance are the order of the day with the Diver X Skeleton White!

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Inspired by the previous marine chronometers, the collection is being expanded at the end of this year with three new models, each equipped with a remarkable complication or mechanism.

Travelers in search of excellence are in for a treat. The Marine Torpilleur Dual Time by Ulysse Nardin provides an attractive alternative to a second time zone display. Here, no additional hand is added to overburden the presentation. Instead, it is replaced by an aperture at 9 o’clock. Reading is thus immediate. The self-winding movement UN-334 with 48 hours of power reserve, also orchestrates a large date located at 2 o’clock. The caliber is housed in a 44mm steel case. Two discreet push-buttons placed in the case middle facilitate setting the watch.

The Marine Torpilleur Phase de Lune retains the same aesthetic features, including an hour circle made up of elongated Roman numerals, and plays the elegance card with its 42mm-diameter rose gold case. This precious material is also employed for the pair of hour and minute hands as well as for the oscillating weight. On a magnificent white varnished dial, the moon progresses within the small second at 6 o’clock. The power reserve indicator at 12 o’clock provides information on the energy still available over the 60 hours. The ensemble is powered by the automatic UN-119 caliber with Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute (COSC) certification. As for the Marine Torpilleur Tourbillon Grand Feu, on its Grand Feu enamel dial, the flying tourbillon of the automatic UN-128 caliber executes its gyrations with precision. While the previous version unveiled on the occasion of the manufacturer’s 175th anniversary was crafted around a rose gold case, for this version, Ulysse Nardin opted for a steel case, still 42mm in diameter.

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With this limited edition created using recycled material, the manufacturer embarks on a groundbreaking collaboration featuring its new ambassador, Børge Ousland.

“As much as I love summer, I can’t help but look forward to winter. Seasonal changes are such treasured moments when nature reverses its habits, its colors…” This message left on social networks by Børge Ousland highlights the Norwegian adventurer’s fondness for the harshest of annual periods. His passion for the Arctic regions, his expeditions since 1990, and his amazing feat accomplished with Mike Horne in 2006 – they were the first ones ever to reach the North Pole in winter – makes him an outstanding explorer acclaimed by all. His commitment appealed to Norrøna, who provided him with clothing made of durable premium materials, tailored for these extreme conditions. Now he has joined Ulysse Nardin as an ambassador. Because just like the equipment supplier, the manufacturer shares the same ambition: to develop a more circular business approach. It is therefore only logical that the two companies began a collaboration that took form through the Diver Norrøna Arctic Night.

This diver’s watch, water-resistant down to a depth of 300, is fitted with a 44 mm-diameter case made of recycled steel, eco-sourced Carbonium® and Nylo® produced from recycled fishing nets. Its wristband is also fashioned from the same material. Issued in a limited edition of only 29 pieces, this series powered by the high-performance automatic UN-118 caliber with silicon escapement and 60-hour power reserve is accompanied by an exclusive Norrøna arktis jacket in Gore-Tex® pro. The polar regions are eagerly awaiting you!

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The Le Locle-based watch company is closing the summer season in style by unveiling a new limited edition, full of mysterious architecture, transparency and color explosion.

As enchanting as a sunset on the high seas, when the sky is shrouded in pink and purple hues and the sun changed into a huge orange ball seems to melt into the dark mass of the ocean, the Blast Rainbow explodes with color on the wrist. Limited to only 50 pieces, this new watch by Ulysse Nardin has a multiple personality made of mystery in transparency, darkness in nuance, motionlessness in movement.

With this edition, the Le Locle watchmaker reinterprets the regulator developed by the time mechanic Abraham-Louis Breguet at the beginning of the 19^th century and makes it twirl freely at 6 o’clock on the dial. The location of this flying tourbillon echoes the platinum micro-rotor placed at 12 o’clock, which enables the automatic winding of the UN-172 caliber. This fully openworked 2.5hz manufacture movement, which delivers 72 hours of power reserve, is housed in a full black case with a diameter of 45mm, machined in titanium DLC and ceramic. Bending the famous X, Ulysse Nardin‘s visual signature, which seems to emerge from its rectangular frame on the face of the watch, the hour markers and the DLC steel bezel are set with 50 baguette-cut stones: rubies and sapphires in orange, yellow, green, blue, violet and pink form a rainbow gradation. At the center of this architectural and contrasting universe, two blackened baton-type hands, highlighted with white luminescent material, display the hours and minutes.

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The launch of this limited series provides an opportunity for the manufacturer to dedicate itself even more to protecting sharks by participating in committed charitable actions.

Since 2010, with the Diver Hammerhead Shark, Ulysse Nardin has focused on creating a strong connection with the world of sharks. Ten years later, the brand became involved with OCEARCH, which supports, among others, scientists in collecting information on the movement of the large gray fish. This year, this commitment expands and takes another form. The manufacturer will donate 1% of annual sales of its “shark watches” to the 1% for the Planet movement. It is also dedicated to the Shark Trust, a specialized European organization working to reform unsustainable and unregulated fisheries. For this occasion, Ulysse Nardin is unveiling the Diver Chronograph 44mm Great White.

This diver’s watch combines a 44mm diameter titanium case, water resistant to a depth of 300 meters, with a white unidirectional rotating bezel coated with rubber. On its dial are found the chronograph counters, a small second hand, and a date display at 6 o’clock. To ensure excellent readability in all conditions at sea and on land, the hour and minute hands as well as the markers are coated with Super-LumiNova®. All time data is powered by the UN-150 caliber with 48 hours of power reserve. This self-winding movement has an escape wheel, a lever, and a silicon balance spring. The 300 pieces of the Diver Chronograph 44mm Great White come with a white rubber wristband decorated with a shark motif laden with luminescent material.

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Always a lover of freedom, the avant-garde watchmaker unveils a new, very exclusive edition with an architectural face enhanced with bright yellow, and made of titanium and Carbonium®, a technical material that is as light as it is resistant.

With its personality based on freedom, wide open spaces, usually oceanic, and avant-garde design, Ulysse Nardin continues to surprise with each new creation. This is once again the case with the Diver x Skeleton Black, a watch available in only 175 pieces. Based on the success of the blue-tinted version presented in 2021, we can predict that this dark piece, with touches of bright yellow, will sell out quickly.

At first glance, the eye is immediately drawn to the large X that reigns, hemmed in with bright color, in the center of in-relief dial. Swept by the two large blackened hour and minute hands and the second hand, the rectangular hour markers seem to float on the open structure over part of the movement, the self-winding skeletonized UN-372 caliber, clocked at 3hz and providing three days of power reserve (72 hours). All displays are coated with white Super-LumiNova® which allows easy reading even in the dark.

This Ulysse Nardin engine is housed in a massive 44mm diameter titanium case coated with black DLC. This light metal is complemented by the Carbonium® of the graduated bezel, a resistant material derived from aeronautics and composed of compressed carbon fibers. The Diver x Skeleton Black comes with two straps, one in yellow rubber with a folding clasp for a sporty and biting identity, the other made of recycled fishing nets with a kind of Velcro® (R-Strap) closure for an (almost) total black look.

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With this series limited to 200 pieces, the watchmaker from Le Locle demonstrates its ability to produce a timepiece using material from environmentally friendly sources.

In 2020, with the Diver Net, Ulysse Nardin presents a concept watch that will serve as a stepping stone to future sustainable production. Many of its components are crafted from recycled fishing nets. The Diver X Ocean Race model is just one step from a unique creation to a limited edition this year. Unveiled to coincide with the announcement of the manufacturer’s partnership with the upcoming 2022-2023 crewed round-the-world monohull race, this diving watch is packed with innovative solutions for sustainable development.

Its 44mm diameter case, waterproof to a depth of 300 meters, is machined from at least 80% recycled steel obtained from the automotive industry. The side panels and the bottom strapping combine 60% recycled fishing nets with 40% Carbonium, supplied respectively by the companies FIL&FAB and Lavoisier Composite. Carbonium offers a 40% lower environmental impact than other carbon composites. It is also used 100% for decorating the unidirectional rotating bezel. Its wristband with a rip-tab closure is also made from recycled fishing nets by the French company JTTI. Its self-winding movement, with 60 hours of autonomy, drives the hour and minute hands, the small seconds and the date at 6 o’clock, as well as a power reserve indicator at 12 o’clock. In order to limit the carbon footprint, 95% of the components of the UN-118 caliber are sourced within a 30 km radius of the manufacturer.

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During the 2022 Watches & Wonders show in Geneva, the manufacture center staged an ever-so elegant, never-seen-before limited series of its exclusive timepiece flaunting mesmerizing engineering.

Those who know it don’t get a change of scenery but are totally awe-struck… The Freak X Aventurine watch keeps its incredible noticeable system that replaces the traditional hour and minute hand duo. For newcomers, discovering this timepiece promises a visual experience that can’t be rivaled. An experience that’s even more breathtaking as, this time round, Ulysse Nardin combines its flying carrousel that revolves around itself every 60 minutes with a sumptuous blue aventurine dial. The mechanical structure takes on the features of a spaceship floating around in a starry sky or a vessel sailing over the waves. This original time-display scenography reigns inside a 43 mm-diameter blue PVD titanium and rose gold dial. The choice of this mix of materials boosts the watch’s up-to-the-minute personality.

Caliber-side, we come across the UN-320 assembled using 405 components and beating at 21,600 vibrations an hour. This selfwinding movement introduced in 2019 stands out with its escapement wheel, anchor, balance spring and extra-large balance wheel, all crafted in silicon. Performance is also on the cars as the watch boasts a power reserve of 72 hours.Ulysse Nardin was savvy enough to opt for an exclusive production of these timepieces. The Freak X Aventurine complemented by its elegant blue alligator strap is no exception to this rule. It’s issued as a limited edition of just 99 pieces.

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Space, infinite frontiers, exploring new worlds, heading towards the unknown… More than a fiction, a reality brought to life by the watchmakers of the brand with this captivating opus.

Once again, Ulysse Nardin delivers on its promise with the Freak S watch presented at the latest Watches and Wonders Geneva. Forget all conventions! Again without hands, without dial, and without crown, this model offers a stunning visual experience. Architectural design like a spaceship straight out of a Hollywood blockbuster, the visible portion of the UN-251 caliber features two 20° inclined silicon oscillators with a frequency of 2.5 Hz combined with a vertical differential. The presence of the latter enables the averaging of two steps and the equitable distribution of the energy of the cylinder in the direction of the duo of extra-large balances. This kinetic sculpture displays the hours by means of a stylized protrusion inlaid with Super-Luminova® and enhanced with aventurine, and the minutes by means of the pointed front of the spaceship.

The complex mechanism is housed in a 45mm diameter case combining high-tech and precious material: black ceramic, black DLC titanium, and 5N pink gold. The caliber can be wound in two ways. The “Grinder” system uses the movements of the wrist to supply the watch with energy. It is also possible to supply it manually through the bottom of the case. As for setting the time, this is achieved by rotating the bezel. The Freak S is limited to 75 timepieces and is worn on a black alligator leather and gold calf leather wristband enhancing the watch’s exclusive personality.

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The sun has a rendezvous with the moon… and together, for once, the two stars appear on the dial of the latest travel-friendly astronomical creation unveiled by the manufacturer!

The heliocentric system of Nicolas Copernicus (1473-1543) seems not to be transposable to the watchmaking world. The newly designed Blast Moonstruck by Ulysse Nardin indeed assumes an earthly perspective in order to follow the orbits of our sun and the moon. On its dial, a dome-shaped depiction of the northern hemisphere dominates the display. Its base is encircled by a scale numbered from 1 to 31. On its outer edge, a discreet luminescent triangle points to the day.

Revolving around these elements, our star in bronzite and our satellite displaying its phases move in their respective elliptical curves at the actual speed observed from our planet. The information marking their trajectories enables us to identify the lunar phases and the tidal coefficients.

While gravitation is responsible for the movement of celestial bodies throughout the universe, the UN-106 caliber with 50 hours of power reserve manages the orchestration of all the data in this timepiece. This complex self-winding movement, assembled with 335 components, is housed in a 45mm diameter case forged in ceramic and black DLC titanium. In addition to the hours and minutes, it also displays the world time and a second time zone. Two push-buttons ideally integrated into the body of the case facilitate setting the watch. With all of these features, frequent travelers, explorers of dreamed spaces, and lovers of fascinating watchmaking will fall under the spell of this astronomical watch.

Price: CHF 75,000 www.ulysse-nardin.com

By Dan Diaconu

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