SpotlightIntroducing: Ulysse Nardin, The Fearless And Innovative Swiss Centenarian Watchmakers

Revolutionary, futuristic and agile – Ulysse Nardin is a name that is lauded for bringing about a one-of-a-kind renaissance in the world of watches with its incredible technical and creative milestones. Inspired by the oceans and the skies alike, Ulysse Nardin’s steely resolve to conquer the depths of watchmaking truly make them the keepers of time.

Time is the only constant, they say. Well, ironic as it can be, the world of timekeeping is underlined by several incessant tectonic changes, either in the craft of timekeeping or those who shape the world of timekeeping. To bring you up to speed, almost everyone – either watch aficionados like me or true-blue horologists, who like to keep pace with the world of timekeeping and its events – was taken aback by the big news from Ulysse Nardin last year.

This big news was none other than the recent appointment of its CEO Patrick Pruniaux, who was brought in from Apple Inc. A bold and futuristic move like this is proof that the brand indeed has its finger on the pulse of the audience. Traditional yet futuristic, Ulysse Nardin believes in maintaining its legacy and keeping up with the changing tides so that it sails smoothly into the future. While the mechanical watch industry is already feeling the heat of e-commerce and the wave of digitisation, this move is a nod to the changing times.

The Legend Of Ulysse Nardin

Innovative at heart, yet anchored firmly in the past is what best describes the seafaring brand, Ulysse Nardin. A watchmaker with a strong affinity to marine chronometers, Ulysse Nardin’s 172-year-old journey aids maritime heritage and nautical navigation with its passion-fuelled innovative and inventive heart, pioneering and cutting-edge technology and its undeniable mastery of style. If you ask me what distinguishes the brand from the others in the same league, it has to be an inimitable mix of modernity and simplicity that underlines all their six pillars – Marine, Diver, Classic, Executive, Freak and Jade – despite the unique character each of them possess.

Founded by 23-year-old Ulysse Nardin in 1846, the brand gained popularity by making marine chronometers in the picturesque Le Locle in Switzerland. This renowned watchmaker was first trained in horology under his father, Leonard-Frederic Nardin, and perfected his skills under the tutelage of two master watchmakers, Frédéric-William DuBois and Louis Jean Richard-dit-Bressel. The entrepreneurial voyage began when Ulysse Nardin took note of the rising demand for marine and pocket chronometers and started providing timepieces to the navies of the United States, Britain, Russia, and Japan.

However, the one name that catapulted the brand into a powerhouse of innovation and experimentation was its late owner Rolf Schnyder. It was in 1983 when Schnyder took over the company and joined forces with Dr Ludwig Oechslin. Together they formed a collaboration crowned with monumental achievements.

Channelled by decades of craftsmanship and savoir-faire in mechanical watchmaking nurtured at the company’s production house, every single aspect – from conception and design to development, crafting and setting – each mechanical watch undergoes stringent in-house quality standards that entail the brand’s own quality certification, the Ulysse Nardin Performance Certificate.

A Trailblazing Spirit

Two years after taking over Ulysse Nardin – a manufacturer of marine chronometers – Schynder and Dr Ludwig Oechslin scripted a strong chapter of history for the brand with their maiden offering: Astrolabium Galileo Galilei. It was the first model in the Trilogy of Time series, followed by the Planetarium Copernicus and the Tellurium Johannes Kepler. With the Astrolabium, Schnyder rekindled the love affair with astrology and philosophy. In February 1989, the watch made it into the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s most complicated wristwatch. This marked the start of their winning partnership – a game-changing one at that!

This legendary companionship thrust the brand into the forefront of modern horology with several notable world-firsts and iconic timepieces such as the 1996 Perpetual Calendar, whose calendar can be set forward and backward with ease, part of the Classic Collection, thereafter followed by GMT± Perpetual, boasting an unusual perpetual calendar with a second time zone that can be adjusted forward or backward, and the Sonata, a world premiere, which featured an alarm that can be set for any time within a 24 hours.

And finally, in 2001, Ulysse Nardin introduced a timepiece that shook up the entire watch industry – the Freak – one of the most avant-garde and revolutionary masterpieces of the millennium. The Freak set the stage for horological modern art as a one-of-a-kind poetry in watchmaking without hands and a crown and with an escapement made of silicon – an innovation that is now spread all over the industry. This set forth Ulysse Nardin’s development of exciting novel mechanisms. Upping the game year after year, Freak is an invention that continues to evolve and charm with every passing year with ingenuity.

A Watchmaker With A Heart

In keeping with its winning spirit, the brand continued to advance its technical breakthroughs by creating extraordinary timepieces with the Ulysse Nardin Freak Diavolo, which is equipped with an eight-day power reserve and flying seconds tourbillon; the Genghis Khan, a Westminster Carillon Tourbillon Jaquemarts Minute Repeater, with four gongs, each with a different tone; and the Moonstruck, which simulates the rotation of the moon around the Earth as well as the apparent movement of sun around the globe.

With the greatest number of patents in mechanical watchmaking and breathtaking timepieces, Ulysse Nardin’s portfolio reflects the brand’s technical prowess and indomitable passion for the Metiers d’Art – enamelling and miniature painting. The brand is a fine example of a watchmaker that has put to test the very notion of mechanical watches and reimagined timekeeping concepts to stay ahead of time.

Explore the entire Ulysse Nardin collection here