Ulysse Nardin

Ulysse Nardin or the adventure of the watchmaking avant-garde

If there is one obvious thing about the Ulysse Nardin watchmaking manufacture, it is that you can remain in the avant-garde of luxury watchmaking while looking back 175 years. Indeed, the history of the House begins in 1846, in the Swiss Jura, and more precisely in the small town of Le Locle. Here was born and lived Ulysse Nardin, a visionary watchmaker who launched himself after his apprenticeship period into the manufacture of marine chronometers of great precision. The young man was 23 years old at the time, his pieces were of high quality, but it was not until 1860 that he really became known and recognized, or even experienced a meteoric rise. That year, Ulysse Nardin bought a high-precision astronomical regulator from the man who is considered the "father of Swiss watchmaking," Jacques Frédéric Houriet. Boosted by a prize won at the London International Exhibition in 1862, Ulysse Nardin's pocket chronometers made their mark in the marine world. What international shipping company at the time did not have its on-board chronometer designed and manufactured in Le Locle? The death of Ulysse Nardin in 1876 did not change the avant-garde vision of the manufacture. His son Paul-David Nardin took over, to whom the Swiss watchmaking owes patented mechanisms, including a chronometer mechanism that allows daily winding without spilling the bowl, and the creation of tourbillon escapements. The House's real history with luxury watches, however, began in 1916, when Ulysse Nardin created a 13''-smaller movement, therefore-which was perfectly suited for pocket watches as well as wristwatches.

Revolutions in movements, iconic watches

"Ulysse Nardin's odyssey is about pushing the boundaries of time, reinventing the rules of the possible and the impossible. Each new success confirms that the Manufacture is an adventurer of audacity in haute horlogerie." The unfailing link with the maritime world and this desire to always innovate made Ulysse Nardin a watchmaking house of global stature. However, it was not until the end of the 20th century that a new visionary took the reins. Businessman Rolf W Schneider acquired the manufacture in 1983 and directly displayed his (grand) ambitions. The Trilogy of Time began with the 1985 release of the Astrolabium Galileo Galilei watch, continued with the Planetarium Copernicus in 1988, and ended with the Tellurium Johannes Kepler in 1992. These award-winning watches paved the way for other watchmaking revolutions: the two exclusive complications of the GMT± Perpetual, the seven-day tourbillon carrousel of the Freak, the Sonata timepiece that was both mechanical and musical... The death of Rolf Schneider and the takeover of the Manufacture Ulysse Nardin by the Kering Group did not prevent the brand from sailing in the same avant-garde waters either. The 2010s thus saw the multiplication of in-house calibers, designed and manufactured in-house and all using silicon-based technology for watch models like Stranger, Jade, Freak Cruiser or Dual Time. The latest Ulysse Nardin creations always reflect the Manufacture's creative audacity and sense of innovation - combined with that of perfection. The X Factor, including the Freak X and the Skeleton X, showcases the inner beauty of the watches, while the latest timepiece Blast (2020) also relies on transparency with its new automatic silicon tourbillon while adopting a geometric architecture and a resolutely rough line.