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Ulysse Nardin Watch Manufacture: Where Technology Meets Pride

admin — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 07:01:12 +0000

Patrik Hoffmann was given the position of Ulysse Nardin CEO after the brand’s long standing CEO Rolf Schnyder sadly passed away in the spring of 2011. He recalls Rolf with extreme fondness, referring to how he treated him like a son in many ways, and how for long periods of time he would live at Rolf’s Swiss home while Mr. Schnyder lived in Malaysia for long parts of the year. In many ways he was being bred to take over the historic brand that Rolf saved during the quartz crisis in the 1980s.

Just a few weeks before his death I saw Rolf at Baselworld who offered a small speech on the future of Ulysse Nardin. He seemed energetic but those closest to him knew he had been not well for a while. Nevertheless, it was important for Rolf to share news on the brand’s upcoming caliber UN-118 movement that would be placed in the brand’s highest volume watches such as the Marine Chronometer.

The UN-118 will contain technology that I believe is very important to the watch industry’s future, and its story begins with the Freak watch that was released about 10 years ago. Ulysse Nardin likes to say that it is a product driven, not marketing driven brand. I don’t know what that means to the lay-person, but I understand their meaning well as being someone familiar with the watch industry. The idea is that they focus more on selling a product versus a lifestyle images created through marketing. When you look at things like Diamonsil, it is hard to disagree.

The Freak watch was novel for showcasing silicium as a movement component. In the US we call it silicon. Silicon parts in watches are very hardy and require no lubrication. They are also more or less impervious to environmental conditions such as cold or magnetism. All-silicium watch movements are coming in the future in my opinion, but the material alone can be brittle. To solve the problem of silicium’s fragility, Ulysse Nardin invested in (and eventually bought), a company that applies diamond coatings to silicium parts (I think the diamond compound is actually grown on the silicon). The combination of the words silicium and diamonds is where the term “Diamonsil” comes from. The caliber 118 (as called internally) will have a Diamonsil hairspring and escapement – which Ulysse Nardin also makes entirely by themselves.

Producing their own movement has more to do with practicality than it does image. For years Swatch Group owned ETA has been threatening to no longer supply brands with movements. Ulysse Nardin has long since relied on ETA bases for its mainstream movements which are then modified by Ulysse Nardin. The brand’s highest-end Ulysse Nardin pieces are another story. Delays, price increases, or complete lack of parts from ETA would be an unwelcome eventuality to say the least. The overall sentiment in the watch industry right now is that no matter what happens at ETA, the outcome in unpredictable. This has led to a surge of innovation and investments, whereby non-Swatch Group brands are either making their own movements, or looking for suppliers elsewhere. Ulysse Nardin as a high-end brand, would of course like to dictate its future as much as possible. They are among a rare breed of successful, but independent watch brands remaining in Switzerland.

Hoffmann, aware of these issues, paints an uncommonly clear picture of what it is like to be a CEO of a Swiss watch brand in modern times. Uncharacteristic to the personality of many Swiss watch company CEOs, Hoffmann is very straightforward and honest – a quality that is easy to appreciate and reflects well on his leadership and the brand overall. As a new CEO he already emits a confidence and cautious mentality needed during these times.

The UN-118 movement isn’t in full production yet. As is the case with any watch brand, it is not a problem to build movements, it is a problem to industrialize the production of building movements. Major movement makers such as ETA are rare because what they do is simply not easy. Sure less expensive movements can be purchased from Asia, but most of them cost less because they simply cannot match the level of detailed effort and precision applied by the Swiss. Even the most basic watch caliber undergoes hundreds of steps until a final movement is produced.

The major irony of silicium parts (diamond-coated or not) is that they focus on improving a technology that is no longer strictly necessary. Owning a mechanical watch is as much emotional as it is practical. While I don’t think that wrist watches are no longer necessary (duh), I do agree that technically speaking quartz regulation based watches could completely replace mechanical watches if necessary. Nevertheless, mechanical watches are more interesting and fun to own almost all of the time in comparison to quartz.

In Switzerland, especially in the traditional locuses of watch making, the culture is mired in mechanical watches. A place that values tradition as much a Switzerland does, no longer making things they have been making for hundreds of years just isn’t an idea they seriously entertain. It isn’t that everybody in Switzerland wants to make watches, but they seem to feel extremely comforted knowing that enough people are. So given that reality brands like Ulysse Nardin want to make the best watches possible. Part of that seems to be for sales, and part of that seems to be to impress the neighbors.

I’ve been to a lot of watch manufacturers and one of the major themes at Ulysse Nardin seems to be technology. Slowly but surely the brand is bringing in-house machines and capabilities previously relied upon by suppliers. That doesn’t mean Ulysse Nardin is totally independent, but the more you do in house, the more reliable your products tend to become. The result is an interesting mixture (not uncommon in modern brands) of mixing traditional techniques with modern technology. The watch maker and his or her desk remains, but they play nice with electronics next to their screwdrivers.

Patrik knows the various Ulysse Nardin buildings and production rooms very well. He’s been at the brand for a while and is as interested in new products as he is production efficiency. Nevertheless, Hoffmann is the CEO, and the technical guy in charge of little things like the UN-118 and implementing new technology is Ulysse Nardin Executive Vice President Pierre Gygax. We all met together and talked watches, the business, and the future of Ulysse Nardin – you can hear more about that in the video.

I am impressed with the dedication of the people at Ulysse Nardin and what they have accomplished. The dual nature of the brand continues to intrigue me. Watches like the Freak and Moonstruck lie on one end, and more high-volume pieces like the Maxi Marine and Executive Dual Time sit on the other. With Hoffmann at the helm I think the brand will continue in the same positive direction, and I look forward to see where they are at in five years time.

Written by Mr. Ariel Adams - aBlogtoRead.com, trusted independent watch media.

Ulysse Nardin Freak Diavolo Watch Review

admin — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 07:01:30 +0000

Back when I was a brand new watch lover I came across something weird called the Freak. I was still too much of a novice to know who or what Ulysse Nardin was, but the strange timepiece stuck in my mind - probably because there was nothing else like it (and still isn't for that matter). Over the years the Freak kept coming back and eventually all the bits and pieces of what it was in full came together for me. I understood this freakish creation and all the innovations contained within it. My time spent trying to appreciate the Freak paid off, and it coincided with my overall horological education. Right now the Freak is about 10 years old - and still selling strong.

I recently had an ironic conversation with the CEO and COO of Ulysse Nardin. They explained to me the importance of building useful complications that people would use on a regular basis. That they weren't into making wildly designed watches that had a very niche appeal. To that I responded, "well what about the Freak?" Correcting themselves, "Beside the Freak we mean. That is why we called it the Freak, because it is wild and different." It most certainly is. The Freak has recently been followed up with the Freak Diavolo. Not exactly a replacement, the Freak Diavolo improved upon the original design in a few ways, and also added a tourbillon complication. The "Diavolo" part of the name came from two horn looking windows in the back of the watch next to another window of the mainspring that act like a power reserve indicator. I first talked about the Ulysse Nardin Freak Diavolo watch when debuting it to the world here.

The concept of the Freak requires a bit of education to understand, but in essence it is a simple and straight forward machine. If the design wasn't so unorthodox it would be a great watch to explain how a mechanical movement works. The original Freak movement was the minute hand of the watch (yes), and it revolved around the dial on a track each 60 minutes. This large hand contains the basic gear assembly required to make a watch operate. At the opposite end of the hand was the escapement. Looking closely you can see each of the gears moving together in a beautiful expression of how a mechanical watch movement operates. Under the large minute hand/gear assembly is an hour hand. The original Freak offered the hours and minutes only. For comparison purposes I have added some images in this article of the Ulysse Nardin Freak Blue Phantom so you can see how it compares to the Freak Diavolo.

According to Ulysse Nardin the construction of the 44.5mm wide Freak case has many more pieces than the movement. The movement is around 50 part reportedly. An impressive feat as mechanically speaking, the less moving parts you have the better. The Freak movement was one of the first to make use of a silicium hairspring and escapement wheel (gear). Today Ulysse Nardin owns the company that makes these parts and will soon release a new in-house caliber (known as the Calibre 118) destined to be in more mainstream watches. It will also use a diamond-coated silicium hairspring and escapement for much improved reliability and accuracy in the movement. In the Freak Diavolo the silicium (silicon) escapement for example can easily be viewed moving around with the tourbillon in is marvelous blue color. Many people attribute Ulysse Nardin as not only being the original innovator of using silicium components in mechanical watches, but also heralding in a new era of the material's use which has been adopted by many other very high-end brands.

I spent time in Le Locle where Ulysee Nardin puts together the Freak and Freak Diavolo movements. All in-house made, these calibers are fun to watch being put together. For a brand so reliant of stately practicality and a sense of imperial style, the Freak makes for a slightly ironic Flagship product, which is really unique as an offering by the historic brand. It is an amusing contradiction and sign that the brand doesn't get too fussy with its own self image. In their own words "we are a product driven brand, not a marketing driven one."

One of the quirkier elements of the Freak collection is that the case has no crown. Ulysse Nardin wanted to weird up the watch as much as possible, so all operations of the watch are controlled by rotating the bezel or caseback. To wind the watch you must take the watch off and rotate the caseback counterclockwise. Through the caseback is a window to the large mainspring. You can see whether or not it is tightly wound, which acts as a power reserve indicator. Because it needs to be water resistant, the caseback is a bit stiff to turn, but the fully wound watch does have a power reserve of about 8 days. It is a logical system for winding a movement when there is no crown to operate.

Moving the bezel will adjust the time in both direction. It is normally locked, so you'll need to lift up a small lever located at 6 o'clock. On this model the term "Diavolo" is printed on the lever flap. As you can see the Diavolo makes due just fine without a crown, and the perfectly symmetrical look on your wrist is worth the quirkiness.

One of the most important improvements in the Diavolo over the first Freak is the lack of pinion sticking through the sapphire crystal. Originally, in order to secure the large hands, the Freak had a metal rod that went through the center of the watch. It actually stuck out a bit (though was polished and smooth) through the crystal. It isn't too noticeable, but Ulysse Nardin wanted to engineer it out for the next model. The Freak Diavolo does not contain this pin and is able to secure the movement in other ways. The most noticeable new feature of the Diavolo is the tourbillon. Where the escapement was located in the original model sits a beautiful and complex tourbillon style escapement. It also doubles as a seconds indicator - a function lacking in the original model.

How hard is it to read the Diavolo? Not too bad actually. Sometimes the hour hand gets hidden under the large seconds hand, but it is a small sacrifice for all that you get to see. Ulysse Nardin uses a printed sapphire crystal ring for the hour indicator numerals as well as a smaller sapphire crystal sheet for part for the partial seconds indicator near the tourbillon. With all the levels and elements in the dial, it is a beautiful thing to see. The look of the bezel has to do of course with the fact that you need to turn it. For the Diavolo model Ulysse Nardin opted to use a vulcanized rubber insert in the bezel. It looks cool actually. Please note that the piece I am testing here is part of a small limited edition (not for sale) set of 10 pieces in steel. You can't get these of course, but the ones you can buy are in 18k white gold.

Wearing the Freak and Freak Diavolo is just like any other 44.5mm wide watch. It is a bit tall, but it is really cool. It is also comfortable and looks attractive with the fitted black alligator strap. A watch like this is not only a style statement, but a statement that the person wearing it really cares about watches and mechanics. This is like wearing a horologist badge on your wrist - and I'd brandish it proudly.

Ulysse Nardin is brand run by refreshingly sober people. We continue to mourn the loss of their charismatic late CEO Rolf Schnyder, but the brand is still running stronger than ever with the same team and new CEO Patrik Hoffman. Watches like the Freak celebrate innovation and technical prowess in an industry which continues to innovate even though it is based on several hundred year old technology The rest of their collection mostly retains a more sober dedication to sports, marine themes, and useful complications. The beautiful Freak Diavolo retails for $153,500.

Written by Mr. Ariel Adams - aBlogtoRead.com, trusted independent watch media.

Ulysse Nardin Alexander The Great Minute Repeater Westminster Carillon Tourbillon Jaquemarts Watch Hands-On

admin — Fri, 06 May 2011 07:04:51 +0000

Woaw that's a long name for a watch! It goes back to my classic statement, the longer the name of a watch, the more the brand wishes for you to take it seriously. I supposed the reason that the name of this watch is so long is because it is a new piece in an ongoing series of tourbillon minute repeater watches with automatons by Ulysse Nardin. The last two in the Minute Repeater Westminster Carillon Tourbillon Jaquemarts collection were the Circus and the Genghis Khan. Now the exploits of Alexander the Great join the family.

What is this collection all about? These are super high-end fun novelty watches. Each has a tourbillon and a minute repeater. When the minute repeater is activated, the little characters on the dial come to like and act as though they are striking the bells. So each time you hear a chime for example, one of the little character swings a sword. Lucky you I took a video so that you can see it in action - otherwise you just don't get it.

This actually brings up the biggest question for me - what on earth is a jaquemart? Well apparently it is the name for a figure that is created next to a bell that automatically rings the bell. Historically these were very large and built on clock towers. Either they were physically able to strike the bell or just served as a iconic image of someone or something striking the bell. These were basically early animatronic beings - the early relatives of what you now see at Disneyland. Miniaturized, these jaquemarts are now on the dial of watches like this from Ulysse Nardin and are hand-engraved in gold. The details are really impressive, and you smile like a 12 year old when seeing them in action.

What the jaquemarts are going on the dial is fighting. Apparently you are seeing the depiction of one of Alexander the Great's battles. He is the fashionable Greek dude in gold and red on the gold. The watch comes in 18k white or rose gold, and the figures on the dial match that color. On this watch the dial is actually done with diamonds. It is very sparkly and looks nice with the characters against it. This dial is man-made and involves a single continuous sheet of diamond crystals. This is also a nod to Ulysse Nardin's newest acquisition that is a diamond producer for its Diamonsil movements (silicon covered in a diamond coating).

Under the figurines is the tourbillon - all part of the in-house made and very complex caliber UN-78 manually wound movement. There are complex movements, and there are complex movements. Seeing the operation of the watch and then looking through the sapphire caseback window shed a bit of light on this fact.

The minute repeater is activated via the slider on the left side of the case. As far as minute repeaters go it is pleasant sounding with good tone. Unlike other minute repeaters with just two gongs, this one has four of them - meaning it can produce more sounds. Having the jaquemarts on the dial "act" out the chimes is the icing on the cake. The watch itself is 44mm wide and will be made as a limited edition. The Alexander the Great Minute Repeater Westminster Carillon Tourbillon Jaquemarts watch will be available as a set of 50 pieces in 18k white gold and 50 pieces in 18k rose gold. Not sure about the specific price but I would say over $100,000.

Technical Data from Ulysse Nardin:

Reference: 780-90 18 ct white gold
Reference: 786-90 18 ct rose gold
Movement: Caliber UN-78, 36 jewels
Power-Reserve: Approx. 70 h
Winding: Manual winding
Functions: Westminster Carillon Tourbillon Jaquemarts Minute Repeater Striking of hours, quarters and minutes Four different chimes (Mi-Do-Re-Sol)
Case: 18 ct rose gold or 18 ct white gold
Diameter: 44 mm
Water-resistance: 30 m
Dial: Man-made diamond dial
Crystal: Anti-reflective sapphire crystal
Case-back: Anti-reflective sapphire crystal
Crown: Water-resistant
Band: Alligator leather strap, with folding buckle
Limited Edition: 50 pieces in white gold and 50 pieces in rose gold

Written by Mr. Ariel Adams - aBlogtoRead.com, trusted independent watch media.

Million Dollar Baby: Hands On With the Ulysse Nardin Royal Blue Tourbillon Watch

admin — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 08:07:04 +0000

At a certain point wealth becomes a mere number. Is there a huge different between a person worth 5 billion or 10 billion dollars? To them yes, but in the scheme of things perhaps not. Once you exceed a certain numerical limit, the figures all blend together like impressionist art — you know what you are looking at but the fine details are less important.

Wearing the Ulysse Nardin Royal Blue Tourbillon, I forget the numbers behind the name. It is a wildly expensive timepiece that is so far out of most people’s reach — the price no longer matters. Diamonds and sapphires cover the 18k white gold watch that comes with a manually wound movement made mostly from sapphire crystal, and carries a price tag of $1,000,000. “Pretty nice” I remark as I model it on my wrist. See the video below as taken by John Biggs, with whom I do the HourTime Show podcast. You can hear me at the ending asking for the price.

I previously wrote about the Royal Blue Tourbillon here (where you can get more technical details). The timepieces is a statement-making watch for both the wearer and Ulysse Nardin as a brand. Without trying to piss off Ulysse Nardin, I am going to go out on a limb and suggest that this watch doesn’t need to cost a million dollars for Ulysse Nardin to make a profit. Instead, it is a sign that they can charge it. Popular among demographic groups with lots of money, the limited edition watch will enjoy sales — I know it.

Aside from being able to admire the large baguette cut diamonds and sapphires, I am impressed by the complex beauty of the flying tourbillion movement. Synthetic sapphire crystal cut in such shapes is prone to breaking during the manufacturing process. After the pieces are cut and remain in intact, they are less brittle. Ulysse Nardin mixes clear and blue sapphire crystals for the bridges of the movement, while creating a sort of “trick” winding system that has a ring around the movement that turns on several gears while winding the watch via the crown. The flying tourbillion looks just great. It is almost suspended in appearance and has a large sapphire in the middle of it. The bubbly hands aren’t super easy to see, buy they are there. This is a watch after all, but not one meant to have visibility necessary for tactical night missions.

The use of baguette cut blue sapphire crystals on the side of the bracelet and case is neat. It adds shape and depth to the design. One thing I really admire about the piece is that it isn’t designed as a crude showpiece for precious stones. Instead, the Royal Blue Tourbillon is designed to look like a relatively ordinary watch, but precious gems are used where metal might otherwise be — and then of course there is the less-than-ordinary movement. Overall the presentation of the watch is clever, and a hard trick to pull off. This watch doesn’t reek of bad taste as you might except a watch utterly covered with diamonds to possibly exhibit. Aside from giving my insurance agent a potential heart attack, I would gladly tote this watch around on my wrist proudly.

Quality is nice, and the exclusive, in-house movement impresses me. Ulysse Nardin might not have the finishing you’d find on a Patek Philippe, but it does have a heaps more character. For a showy watch that is tastefully glitzy, this Royal Blue Tourbillon is a member of a very small club.

Ulysse Nardin Freak 28800 Vh Diamond Heart in Platinum 029 80

US $129,995.00

ULYSSE NARDIN FREAK II ROSE GOLD CARROUSEL TOURBILLON

US $63,995.00

Ulysse Nardin Freak Diavolo 2080 115

US $119,995.00

Ulysse Nardin Freak 2 Rose Gold Watch New 28800

US $59,500.00

Written by Mr. Ariel Adams - aBlogtoRead.com, trusted independent watch media.

Ulysse Nardin Royal Blue Tourbillon Watch

admin — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 20:59:26 +0000

Massive money and massive presence. This Royal Blue Tourbillon by Ulysse Nardin is a no-holds-barred super haute horlogerie watch by a brand not hiding the fact the watch is meant to be a statement. Love it or leave it, this watch is a jaw-dropper. Price is $1,000,000 big ones.

Read my full article on the Ulysse Nardin Royal Blue Tourbillon watch here at Haute Living.

Written by Mr. Ariel Adams - aBlogtoRead.com, trusted independent watch media.

Ulysse Nardin Caprice Tiger Watch

admin — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 18:55:05 +0000

Ulysse Nardin offers up a limited edition high jewelry watch that can meow and roar. In 18k white gold, with diamonds all over the case, and even on set on the 22k white gold automatic rotor.

See my article on the Ulysse Nardin Caprice Tiger watch at Haute Living here.

Written by Mr. Ariel Adams - aBlogtoRead.com, trusted independent watch media.

Ulysse Nardin Freak Diavolo Watch First Look

admin — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 07:01:15 +0000

OK people, here is the new "Double Freak," better know as the Freak Diavolo watch from Ulysse Nardin. This is a first look at the watch - and it is strictly a prototype. So you'll see stuff on the the piece here that will clearly be improved, removed, or otherwise changes. Take for instance the black around the bezel that will eventually be black vulcanized rubber. That application on the bezel is for display purposes only. Oh, and you like that little "NOT FOR SALE" reminder on the back of the watch? I wanna see a store try to peddle this one off. The Freak Diavolo isn't a replacement for the original Freak, but rather a different watch. According to Ulysse Nardin, the standard Freak (is it really that "standard?") isn't going to stop being produced. The Freak Diavolo will be a more complex, more expensive watch that features a tourbillon on top, of what is sort of already a type of tourbillon.

You can see the tourbillon at the end of the minute hand (otherwise known as "the Freak" hand). Plus, the tourbillon is a flying one minute tourbillon and the minute hand carousel system is also flying, on the original Freak, it had a small pinion connected to the sapphire crystal that acted like a palette. There is an image of the standard Freak mother model below so that you can compare. The Freak Diavolo is totally a 'flying machine,' and if you liked the original Freak, you will more than likely enjoy the Diavolo. You can compare the two watches to see the style changes on the dial. Much of the watch is the same though. Including the case - which he is 44.5mm wide and in 18k white gold matched to a black alligator strap.

You'll recall that the Freaks are crownless watches. You rotate a ring about the caseback of the watch to adjust the time, while the bezel is rotated to wind the watch. Cool right? The movement contains a high-tech silicium escapement (seen in blue), as well as a silicium hair spring. Ulysse Nardin was/is a big innovator, as it was the first brand to use silicium parts. Laughed at, at first, brands like Breguet and Patek Philippe now commonly use silicium in their movements. The movement here is very accurate according to Ulysse Nardin, and has a long 8 days of power reserve.

You can hate the Freak or you can love it. Personally I am fascinated by it and have utter respect for its complexity and bravery. Few such wild watches are as stimulating and fun to read. The watch does have an hour hand that sits on a sit before the large Freak minute hand. So telling the time isn't hard. Though for my bravado in earnestly desiring to wear this watch, I am faced with the insurmountable hurdle of its price which is destined to be above $100,000. Look for more updates soon on the upcoming Ulysse Nardin Freak Diavolo.

Some basic technical data from Ulysse Nardin:

Power Reserve more than 8 days, slip-spring
Frequency 4Hz (28’800 A/h)
Moment of inertia 8 mg*cm2, adjusting over 4 screws.
Hairspring Silicium, exclusive Ulysse Nardin design.
Escapement right-angle lever, silicium, non lubricated.
Tourbillon 1 revolution in 1minute.
Orbite 1 revolution in one hour.
Winding Manual winding over the bezel on the back of the case. 1 full rotation is equivalent to 12 hours of power reserve.
Time setting forward and backward over the bezel.
Case 18-karat white gold, water-resistant.

Written by Mr. Ariel Adams - aBlogtoRead.com, trusted independent watch media.

Ulysse Nardin Moonstruck Watch

admin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:19:24 +0000

This is the newest celestial watch from Ulysse Nardin. Announced about a year ago, I wanted to wait until closer to when you might be able to get one before discussing it. I believe that it is the most polished and refined of their celestial watches yet - even though it is not the most ambitious in terms of the information it displays. You can read about at least two other Ulysse Nardin celestial information watches I discussed here, and here. A celestial watch in short is a timepiece that provides information about something happening off of Earth. This usually involves something about the placement of the sun, moon, or planets in the solar system. Once in a while you get other information that is related such as equinoxes and other such periods.

I've had trouble reading more celestial watches because A) I am not used to reading information like that, and B) because I am not an astronomer. The pictured Ulysse Nardin Moonstruck is different actually. It uses a friendly visual system to indicate to you what you are looking at. Right there in the middle of the watch is an image of Earth. Right away you get a good idea of what you are looking at, and that the indicators around it relate to the perspective you would have while being on Earth. As such, you have two main celestial indicators on the dial - the moon and the sun. As to the moon, it is a bit more complicated. It not only shows the relative position of the moon around the Earth, but the phase of the moon as well. Therefore, there is a small orb on the dial of the Moonstruck watch. It spins on its own axis revealing the phase of the moon, and it also spins on a disc around the large Earth disc in the middle of the dial. To combat the fact that a true moon phase cycle is actually 29.53124 days long (not the 29.5 days you typically see), Ulysse Nardin has instituted a gear system in to the watch so that you really only need to adjust the moonphase indicator on the Moonstruck watch each 120 years or so.

Now it gets really cool. Notice the disc that has the little sun image on it. This also revolves around the Earth on the watch. The position of the sun is actually placed properly so that you can imagine light shining from it to the moon. Thus the "lit" side of the moon orb will always face the sun disc. See what I mean? Thus, the moon orb on its disc is made to turn so that the lit section always faces the Earth and the sun is placed properly as it would be in relation to the Earth to show you how its light is lighting up the moon from our terrestrial perspective. Sorry if any of this is getting complicated. Study the images a bit and it will all be clear!

So the sun moves around the Earth each 24 hours, showing you the relative position of the sun around the Earth. Remember that the view of the globe is from its "top." Other functions on the watch include a GMT indicator disc (and hand) as well as a date hand (the date indicators are placed in gold on the blued bezel). Least we forget the hands for the actual time. For the hour and minute hands, they are bold and lume covered. The sapphire crystal has gold lines applied to it for each of the 12 hours so that telling the time is not that hard.

The GMT disc gets a little complex, because it moves as well. It does this to show the time around the globe, and can also be used in conjunction with the sun placement indicator disc. Part of Ulysse Nardin's in-house made and designed UN 106 automatic movement (inside the watch) is their special GMT + / - system that allows the GMT hand to move in either "direction" so that you don't need to go around in a full instance to get theÂ desired second time zone indication that you want. This is done via pushers on the side of the case. For a bit more about the creation of the movement and the people behind it, you can ready my colleague Elizabeth Doerr's discussion on World Tempus here. By the way, follow in Ulysse Nardin's tradition of upping the technical ante of its movements, the caliber UN 106 movement uses plenty of silicium (such as for the escapement and hairspring). This means such parts don't require lubricant.

There are other aspects to the Moonstruck watch's indications that I haven't quite gotten into. These include being able to determine things like the tides or seasonal data that understanding the position of the sun and moon in relation to the Earth can indicate. These aren't explicit functions of the watch, but the layout allows for you to determine this information with a little skill. If you want to invest in one of these limited edition watches, no doubt you'll study up on these things. By the way, the watch itself is 46mm wide and comes in a limited edition of 500 pieces in 18k red gold, and 500 pieces in platinum. The watch is fitted to a custom alligator strap with matching gold or platinum clasp. The Ulysse Nardin is undeniably a cool watch. It is also a very pretty watch. Wearing it will not lead you to looking like a rich nerd like some of the other luxury celestial watches. Price? Around 50,000 euros for the gold version.

See Ulysse Nardin watches on eBay here.

See Ulysse Nardin watches on Amazon here.

Ulysse Nardin Maxi Marine Rose Gold and Blue Rubber Strap with Deployment buckle

US $2,799.99

Ulysse Nardin Vintage Rare Poker Dial Casino Timepiece Gold Plated LNIB

US $1,800.00

Ulysse Nardin GMT Big Date 42mm

US $5,300.00

Vintage Ulysse Nardin Xfine wristwatch movement 21 mm

US $124.99

Vintage Ulysse Nardin lady movement and dial to restore

US $99.99

MENS ULYSSE NARDIN MARINE CHRONOMETER GOLD RUBBER WATCH

US $14,995.00

Written by Mr. Ariel Adams - aBlogtoRead.com, trusted independent watch media.

Ulysse Nardin El Toro Watch

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:46:48 +0000

Struck by the Moonstruck? Ulysse Nardin Moonstruck watch that is. I don't even know if I have published my article on the Moonstruck watch yet. I am shamelessly behind on publishing articles. I will get to the Moonstruck watch soon even though that is a model from last year. The El Toro is sort of a follow up model. It uses the same case and dimensions. Though the dial and complications are all different. Ulysse Nardin has created a pretty cool luxury watch here. It feels modern by not too strange. Very characteristic of the brand, though still novel. The El Toro watch features a GMT hand as well as a perpetual calendar - with w two digit year indicator. Comes in an gold or platinum case. For more information, prices, and my assessment of this piece, read my full article about the Ulysse Nardin El Toro watch at Haute Living here.

Ulysse Nardin Maxi Marine Rose Gold and Blue Rubber Strap with Deployment buckle

US $2,799.99

Ulysse Nardin Vintage Rare Poker Dial Casino Timepiece Gold Plated LNIB

US $1,800.00

Ulysse Nardin GMT Big Date 42mm

US $5,300.00

Vintage Ulysse Nardin Xfine wristwatch movement 21 mm

US $124.99

Vintage Ulysse Nardin lady movement and dial to restore

US $99.99

MENS ULYSSE NARDIN MARINE CHRONOMETER GOLD RUBBER WATCH

US $14,995.00

Written by Mr. Ariel Adams - aBlogtoRead.com, trusted independent watch media.

Ulysse Nardin Chairman Smart Phone: Hybrid Phone + Watch

admin — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 07:14:24 +0000

Really, it is about time we started to see something like this. First of all, forget that this is going to be a very expensive fashion phone, despite whatever technical achievements it may make. The argument still stands that mobile phone technology is progressing faster than is prudent to make any one large investment in a phone. Alternatively, making a large investment in a watch is safer, because it will still be technologically relevant in a few years - a mobile phone will not be. So unless Ulysse Nardin has a plan around that, this product is still only going to be for a niche market. What really excites me however is a glimpse at an idea I have been preaching for a while now - use of a rotor to generate electrical energy for a mobile (always moving) device.

Lets step back and recall the first luxury phone, the Vertu. Still going strong I hear, Vertu's market was supplemented by the Tag Heuer Meridiist line of luxury phones. I don't have data to comment on how well that phone is doing. Next in line for name brand luxury phones is the Ulysse Nardin 'Chairman.' The official announcement will be at Baselworld later this month, but a few details have been made public in addition to the teaser image above. Like Tag Heuer, creating a mobile phone is not Ulysse Nardin's line of work. Both companies partnered with knowledgeable companies to design and create these uber-phones. For Ulysse Nardin, that partner is SCI Innovations (I could not find a website for them, so I can't tell you more for that entity). The Chairman phone will be a smart phone, which I suppose is a good thing given what you'll be spending on it. No doubt the phone will be unlocked, GSM based, and run a third-party operating system. For the OS, I have a feeling some skinned version of Symbian or Window Mobile will be use. My hope is that sufficient hardware is shoved in the expensive phone so that it all runs smoothly.

So leave all that information to be answered when it eventually will later this month. Like I said, the part that gets me excited is finally using motion to help power the phone. Even though the details are really thin, I have a feeling this is what we are going to see. In the mid 1990's Seiko released the Kinetic movement. It used a similar system of an automatic movement (with a rotor), but to charge a battery instead of winding a mainspring. For me the idea is simple, but genius in its execution. You use the motion generated by the user of the device to help generate power to operate it. The bane of all mobile phone users is the battery. It is no secret that battery technology is pitifully behind what our devices need. We continue to develop devices that (attempt) to consume less battery power because we cannot seem to get batteries that hold more power. I will leave that too the scientists behind it, but consider a device that sidesteps the issues by generating its own battery life.

That being said, I don't know how they will do it. The Seiko Kinetic movement works because the power necessary to operated a watch is minuscule compared to that which is required to operated a modern smart phone. I sincerely hope that this feature of the Ulysse Nardin Chairman phone is more than a mere novelty that helps charge the battery in a mostly symbolic manner. If the system operates as I hope it will, it could change the landscape of mobile phones forever - giving the power to charge a phone to the user just by moving it around regularly like we already do.

Not passing up the opportunity to point out the "green" angle of the watch, it is true that widespread adoption of such technology will help us reduce our energy consumption as the participating phones will be able to power themselves. Ulysse Nardin claims that the kinetic rotor system was developed by them, which is fine. I don't really care whose idea it was as along as it works.

The Chairman line of smart phones will initially be in a limited edition of 1846. The images above show that the rotor will be viewable as a showpiece element of the phone. Each phone will be hand assembled using similar high quality guidelines as Ulysse Nardin watches. The design of the phone uses materials such as gold, carbon fiber, and likely other metals for the case of the phone. No point in further speculating as all will become clear soon. Lastly, Ulysse Nardin hypes the phone as a "hybrid" for its combination of watch making principles and mobile phone technology. A fair statement by marketing, though marketing nonetheless. For me, I look forward to hearing about the energy charging system and how it works.

UPDATE: This doesn't change my thoughts from before, but it turns out that the Chairman phone will have two batteries. One of them will be powered by AC (plugged in), and the other will be powered by the kinetically charged rotor. We will have to see how much juice the second battery can dish out.

UPDATE 2: The phone is finally revealed and there is more information. We can see that the new operating system is pretty looking on the nice lookingÂ multi-touch screen. There is also a finger print reader for unlocking the phone and possible for some screen navigation (as some Japanese phones do). The phone has a 5 megapixel camera, WI-FI, Internet browser, email client, and the background of the screen is modeled after the Ulysse Nardin Quadrato Dual Time watch. Check out the gallery below for more images.

See full image gallery here at Engadget.com.

Learn more about the Ulysse Nardin Chairman phone at the dedicated website here.

See Ulysse Nardin, Tag Heuer Meridiist, and Vertu items on eBay here.

Ulysse Nardin Maxi Marine Rose Gold and Blue Rubber Strap with Deployment buckle

US $2,799.99

A F 800 silver continental pocket watch enamel gilt spares repair o o vertu

US $33.08

Ulysse Nardin Vintage Rare Poker Dial Casino Timepiece Gold Plated LNIB

US $1,800.00

Ulysse Nardin GMT Big Date 42mm

US $5,300.00

Sothebys Magnificent Silver gilt Objects Vertu Rosebery Rothschild 11 Feb 1999

US $49.99

Vintage Ulysse Nardin Xfine wristwatch movement 21 mm

US $124.99

Written by Mr. Ariel Adams - aBlogtoRead.com, trusted independent watch media.