Monday, June 28, 2021

Ulysse Nardin

Copyright By Bruce Shawkey

First, the pronunciation. It's you-LEESE-nahr-DAN. Many people pronounce it you-LISSEE-nahr-din, like the legendary Greek king of Ithaca, or the novel by James Joyce. Pronounce it correctly, and you'll increase your cred with fellow watch collectors!  

Follow along with as I present this abbreviated history of Ulysse Nardin. The full report on this company is available via the link at the end of this article.

    The company was founded in 1846 by Ulysse Nardin (Fig. 1), born 1823 in Le Locle, Switzerland.

Ulysse Nardin

Showing an early interest in watches and watchmaking, he first trained with his father, Leonard-Frederic, the first watch specialist of the Nardin family, who worked on watches for many manufacturers in the Neuchatel region. He acquired a special skill for minute repeaters and alarm watches.

    Ulysse soon displayed a strong passion for his father's work. In these years of the mid-19th century, the art of watches was enjoying a strong expansion: chronometers, high-class watches with alarms and various complications had achieved a popularity unthinkable only a few years earlier.

    In 1839, Ulysse began to work as an apprentice with Frederic-William DuBois, who specialized in marine chronometers and astronomical clocks. A few years later, in 1846, Nardin began to use his own name for the watches he produced. In 1876, Ulysse Nardin died at age 53, and his son Paul-David Nardin, succeeded him as the head of the company which continued to expand.

    Along with pocket watches, the Ulysse Nardin company created exclusive marine chronometers that soon be-came legend. Nardin marine chronometers would eventually become the timepiece of choice for the Navies of more than 50 countries worldwide. Today, they are among the most prized marine chronometers among people who collect them.

    The earliest Nardin wrist watches I am able to find were produced in the 1910s. Like many of that time, they look like converted pocket watches. (below)


Early Nardin wristwatch

Early Nardin wristwatch











There is precious little information on the company's early years producing wrist watches. Most records were lost or destroyed during the 1960s and '70s when the company was falling into ruin. All we have left are early catalogs from the company and from auction houses. They tell a story of both common and innovative case designs.

Circa 1928, 18kt white or yellow gold. Watch on the right has articulating lugs

The golden age for Nardin wristwatches (as with most manufacturers) was the 1930s through the 1950s. During this golden-age period, we see case designs with marvelous design and sculpting. This is why many are drawn to this brand, because of the case architecture which is dramatic without being ostentatious or gaudy.


l to r: circa 1930, luminous dial, hands, available 14kt yellow and pink gold, or 18kt yellow or white gold; asymmetrical, hooded lugs, circa 1939, circa 1930, two-tone 18kt gold; circa 1939, stepped bezel and recessed crown, 18kt yellow or pink gold



The period of the mid 1950s—early ‘60s were an interesting time for Nardin. The company was trying to make inroads into the lucrative U.S. market. Their strategy to a large extent involved selling through jobber and mail order catalogs. One such company was "HAGNS" which offered an extensive line of Ulysse Nardin watches. I was fortunate enough to find a few loose catalog pages, and offer a few images for your perusal. Model names were very likely made up by the catalog company. The Nardin factory, to my knowledge, always used Reference numbers to refer to their models during this period , not model names. Many more pictures from the HAGNS and other catalogs are shown are shown in the full report available in PDF format via the link at the end of this article. 


Various '50s models with original catalog prices

The arrival of the quartz age in the early- to mid-1970s delivered the final blow to the company. The descendants of the company's founder perhaps did not realize the consequences that such innovations would bring about in this field. In the early l980s, the company was put up for sale.

The Rebirth of Ulysse Nardin

In 1983, Rolf W. Schnyder, along with several investors, bought the company and transformed it into a profitable business again.Now, gone were the days of catalog sales. Ulysse Nardin would become Schnyder's vision of Haute Horlogerie.

Most of the movements -- especially the complicated ones -- would now be manufactured inhouse, according to the company. About the only tradition that has been carried on is that the company is still headquartered in Le Locle, where it was founded. The watches that Ulysse Nardin has produced since 1983 have been as much (or perhaps more) works of art as they are timepieces. There is hardly a "Nardin" from this new generation that cannot be easily identified even from afar.

Schnyder died in April of 2011 at age 75. But his legacy of creating a "new" Ulysse Nardin lives on. Since 2014, it has been a subsidiary of the French luxury group Kering. Nardin’s CEO is Patrick Pruniaux, a veteran of the Kering group with an interest in watches since his teens.

Prices start in the $7,000 range for something in a basic timekeeper up to $20,000 and beyond for something complicated. The price for the limited edition Blast Hourstriker 45mm with tourbillion movement isn't even listed, being supplied only on inquiry!

It is not my intention to go into all the current models in this abbreviated article. Nor do I elaborate on the current models in the expanded article. This is something beyond the scope my interest and beyond the pocketbook of the average collector. My interest is in VINTAGE (pre-1983) Ulysse Nardin. And I offer just a glimpse of modern Nardin models only to illustrate the vast difference between vintage and "new" watches. The vintage Nardins are not cheap, but they are a frickin' bargain compared with post-'83 models and that is one reason they are highly collectible!

Here is another article I wrote on Ulysse Nardin:


Ulysse Nardin got its start in 1846 manufacturing ships' chronometers. This is before they started making pocket watches, and way, way before they made wristwatches. Many chronometer collectors highly prize Nardin chronometers for their rarity and accuracy, even after all these years and decades. Die-hard Nardin chronometer collectors even know the correct pronunciation of Ulysse is "u LEASE."

Here's 1928 ad for Ulysse Nardin watches from Jewelers Circuler Keystone magazine:


Here are a couple of ads from the 1950s for Ulysse Nardin watches:



Here are addition images of Ulysse Nardin watches:


1955