Ulysse Nardin

Ulysse Nardin marine chronometer

Ulysse Nardin was born in 1823 in Le Locle, Switzerland.[22] During the long and snowy winters, inhabitants used to produce timekeeping instruments to survive, as they couldn't live from farming alone.[23] Ulysse Nardin first trained as an apprentice horologist under his father, Léonard-Frédéric Nardin, and perfected his skills under the tutelage of Frédéric-William Dubois and Louis JeanRichard-dit-Bressel, two master watchmakers who were experts in precision watches and whose fame extended beyond the mountains of Neuchatel, Switzerland.[4]

In 1846, at the age of 23, Ulysse Nardin founded his own company in Le Locle where its headquarters are still located.[22] Despite Ulysse Nardin growing up in the Jura mountains, he was fascinated by the sea and produced nautical timekeeping instruments. His company became one of the first to manufacture marine chronometers[3][4][24] and high-precision seafaring instruments[25][26] for commercial ships and navies throughout the world.[27] His pocket and marine chronometers became reference products in civil, military and scientific realms.[22]

Ulysse Nardin acquired a high-precision astronomical regulator, built by Jacques-Frederic Houriet in 1768, to rate his pocket chronometers.[28] It is now in a museum in Le Locle. Minute repeaters, complicated watches and pocket chronometers carried the reputation of the company.[26]

At that time, famous horologists were French and English. Ulysse Nardin went to London to challenge the best pocket chronometers makers. At the 1862 International Exhibition in London, Ulysse Nardin was awarded the Prize Medal in the category of "complicated watches and pocket chronometers".[4] The prize was the highest distinction for watchmaking in the United Kingdom. In 1867, Ulysse Nardin obtained the first series of certificates from Neuchâtel Observatory for its marine chronometers.[4] In 1876, Ulysse Nardin died at age 53, and his son Paul-David Nardin succeeded him as the head of the company[3] which continued to expand. In 1889, Ulysse Nardin won a Gold Medal at the Paris Universal Exhibition, was awarded two Swiss patents in 1890, won First Prize at the Chicago Universal Exhibition in 1893, and many more.[29]

In 1902, the company started to deliver marine chronometers to the United States Navy.[30] The brand regularly won Washington Naval Observatory competitions and became the official supplier for the US Navy's torpedo boats.[31][32] The company has since provided timepieces to the navies of the United States, United Kingdom, Russia and Japan.[33] Since the 1870s, over 50 navies and international shipping companies have been equipped with Ulysse Nardin marine chronometers.[9]

In 1975, the Neuchâtel Observatory published the last official edition on the performance of chronometers from 1846 to 1975. According to this report, Ulysse Nardin was awarded 4,324 performance certificates for mechanical marine chronometers out of 4,504 submitted (95%).[3][4][9]

Rolf Schnyder and Ludwig Oechslin

Due to the quartz crisis, Ulysse Nardin faced significant challenges in late 1970s and early 1980s.[9] In 1983, the company was acquired by businessman Rolf Schnyder who, in conjunction with watchmakers such as Ludwig Oechslin, revived the brand.[3][4][34] Rolf Schnyder served as its chief executive and transformed the company into a healthy business.[35] Schnyder and Oechslin would aim to produce complication timepieces using modern materials and manufacturing techniques, creating in 1985 the Astrolabium Galileo Galilei, which soon gained Ulysse Nardin Entry into the Guinness World Record Book.[36][37] Ulysse Nardin has introduced several innovations, including the first minute-repeating wristwatch integrating a Jacquemart.[25][38] In 1996, Ulysse Nardin released its first marine chronometer wristwatch "Marine Chronometer 1846", and first perpetual calendar "Perpetual Ludwig" with a patented GMT +- button, shortly winning the Year 2000 Innovation Prize[39]. These timepieces were designed by Ludwig Oechslin for the 150th anniversary of the brand.

The 21^st century notably marked the introduction of the Freak watch, featuring a 7-day tourbillon-carousel and replacing the classic hands, crown, and dial with the movement of the watch to indicate time. It also became the first watch to use silicon components in its mechanism, a material recognized for its anti-magnetic properties, resistance, and light weight[21]. Throughout two decades, the Freak gained multiple iterations and expanded into a flagship collection of Ulysse Nardin[40].

Following Schnyder's sudden death in 2011,[41] Chai Schnyder, his wife, took over the company[42][43] till it was acquired by the Kering group in 2014.[42][22]

In 2011, Ulysse Nardin acquired a Swiss enameller workshop, Donzé Cadrans,[25][43] that has provided the brand the opportunity to use enamel in its watch dials. In 2012, Ulysse Nardin launched its first automatic caliber, entirely conceived and manufactured in-house: UN-118.[44] One year later, Ulysse Nardin released five new in-house calibers (UN-690, UN-310, UN-170, UN-150 and UN-205).

In 2014, Ulysse Nardin was acquired by the French luxury group Kering,[3][4] which took a 100% stake in the watch brand.[42] In 2017, the company appointed Patrick Pruniaux, a previous executive of Apple and Tag Heuer, as its new CEO.[45][33] In 2019, Ulysse Nardin has released three new calibers (UN-230, UN-371 and UN-631), notably debuting its Freak X collection, a smaller and lighter version of the traditional Freak.[46]

In early 2022, Kering Group announced the sale of Ulysse Nardin in a management buyout led by the Chief Executive Officer. The transaction was structured to allow Pruniaux, along with a group of private investors, to take control of the Swiss luxury watchmaker. This move was part of a strategic realignment by Kering to focus on its core luxury fashion and accessories segments. The buyout was positioned as an opportunity for Ulysse Nardin to enhance its operational independence and continue its tradition of horological innovation.[47]

The company still occupies its original headquarters in Le Locle,[33] one of the main watch production hubs in northwest Switzerland[48] and has three manufacturing plants in: La Chaux-de-Fonds (R&D and movement production site), Le Locle (Donzé Cadrans site, which belongs to Ulysse Nardin but also produces enamel dials for other companies) and Sion (Sigatec site, which produces micromechanics components in silicon).[49][50]

While marine wrist chronometers are still a specialty for the brand, it produces luxury complicated timepieces with high sophistication[33][26] for men and women.[51]

The company sells its products through a network of distributors and several mono-brand boutiques around the globe, as well as through retailers in Europe, America, Middle East, Asia, Africa, Australia, China and Russia.[49][52][53]

Ulysse Nardin introduced the Freak wristwatches in 2001.[3][37] The first timepiece of this collection was the "Laboratory on the wrist" Freak watch. The model contains a revolutionary 7-day carrousel-tourbillon, and has no (true) dial, crown or hands.[62] The movement contains silicon escapement components, and would rotate on itself to indicate time.[4][62] The watch model was named "Watch of the Year" in innovation category in 2002.[3][4] This use of silicon parts in a mechanical movement was an industry first.[49][42] In 2005, the brand launched the "Freak Diamond Heart" watch, featuring a patented escapement made from synthetic diamonds.[63] In 2007, the company presented a new material, Diamonsil,[25] which combines silicium and synthetic diamonds.[64][44] It eliminates friction and removes the need for lubrication of the escapement. The brand also launched the "Freak Diamonsil" watch, using this nanotechnology for the escapement.[44] The same year, the brand released "Innovision 1" watch, featuring 10 innovations.

In 2017, the brand presented ten innovations, gathered within a new Freak watch, named "Innovision 2".[65] One year later, the company launched the "Freak Vision" with three patents out of "Innovision 2": patented "Grinder" winding system, constant power escapement and balance wheel in silicium with micro palets.[66]

In the past years, the brand maintained its focus on the Freak collection, completing it with the Freak Out and Freak Vision models, introduced in 2017.[62][67]

The current Freak collection from Ulysse Nardin showcases 3 models, that have equally gained recognition by the watchmaking community.

Freak ONE: Unveiled at Watches and Wonders 2023[68], this model pays homage to the original 2001 Freak with an updated design, capturing the Grand Prix of Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) in the "Iconic" category later that year[69][70]

Freak X: presented in 2019, it serves as a more accessible version of the Freak, targeting a lower price point, smaller sizes, and simplified mechanics, such as a winding crown.[46]

Freak S: the most mechanically advanced within the Freak series, the Freak S incorporates a double oscillator and one of the smallest vertical differentials in the industry, which averages the rates of the two balance wheels[71]. Initially released in aventurine in 2022, the series was expanded in 2024 with the introduction of the Freak S Nomad[72].

The first major advancement of the company after quartz crisis was the launch of "Trilogy of Time". This collection incorporated three different astronomical pieces starting in 1985 with the release of the Astrolabium Galileo Galilei, named after Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei.[73] The Astrolabium displays local and solar time, the orbits and eclipses of the sun and the moon and the positions of several major stars. It was named by the Guinness Book of Records in 1989 as the world's most-functional watch (with 21 distinct functions).[3][4]

Dr. Oechslin then followed the Astrolabium up with two other astronomical watches: in 1988 the Planetarium Copernicus (named after the stargazing theaters called planetariums and of astronomer Copernicus) and in 1992 the Tellurium Johannes Kepler (named after the Latin 'Tellus' meaning Earth, a Tellurian and astronomer Johannes Kepler).[3] The Cloisonné dial of the Tellurium takes fifty-four processes, twelve baking operations and more than fifty hours of work by a skilled craftsman to transform a draft sketch on a small metal disc into a unique work of art - each and every Tellurium is unique.[73]

More recently, The Ulysse Nardin Blast Moonstruck was released in 2022 as part of the brand’s heritage in astronomical watches. This model, inspired by the "Trilogy of Time" series, incorporates complex displays of celestial phenomena, such as the movements of the sun and moon relative to Earth[74].

• 
  Planetarium Copernicus
• 
  Astrolabium Galileo Galilei
• 
  Tellurium Johannes Kepler

• Randy Johnson, American former baseball player[75]
• Michael Jordan, American basketball player[76]
• Mohammed Salah, Egyptian football player, playing now at FC Liverpool[77]
• Tony Parker, French basketball player
• Yuvraj Singh, Former cricket player[78]
• Luis Enrique, Spanish football trainer[79]
• Evgeni Plushenko, Russian former figure skater[80]
• Mike Piazza, American baseball catcher[81]

• Larry King, American TV host[82]
• Will Smith, American actor and rapper[83]
• Mads Mikkelsen, Danish actor[84]
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• Andrew Tate, former kickboxer and influencer[88]
• Nicolas Cage, American actor[89]
• Anna Chapman, Russian media personality and former agent[90]
• Burak Yeter, Turkish DJ[91]

• Jeff Bezos, founder, chairman & CEO of Amazon[92][93]