Ulysse Nardin
Fun fact: According to the Neuchâtel observatory, Ulysse Nardin received no fewer than 4324 certificates for its mechanical marine chronometers between 1846 and 1975, out of the 4504 it submitted.
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What is Ulysse Nardin known about?
Ulysse Nardin is a Swiss watch house founded in 1846 in Le Locle, in the Jura mountains. Ulysse Nardin was born there in 1823 and learned the trade first from his father and then from master watchmakers known for precision watches. At the age of 23 he started his own company, and since 1865 the house has operated from the same building in Le Locle.
Marine chronometers
Although he grew up in the mountains, Ulysse Nardin was fascinated by the sea. His company became one of the first makers of marine chronometers and precision instruments for merchant fleets and navies around the world. From 1902 it supplied chronometers to the US Navy, and according to the last official report of the Neuchâtel observatory, Ulysse Nardin received 4324 certificates for mechanical marine chronometers between 1846 and 1975.
A second life
- In 1862 the house won a Prize Medal at the World's Fair in London.
- After the quartz crisis, Rolf Schnyder took over the company in 1983 and breathed new life into it with watchmaker Ludwig Oechslin.
- In 1996 the Marine Chronometer 1846 and the Perpetual Ludwig appeared, to mark the 150th anniversary.
- In 2012 the brand launched its first fully in-house automatic calibre, the UN-118.
Ulysse Nardin makes most of its movements and components itself, with production sites in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Le Locle and Sion. Wrist-worn marine chronometers remain a speciality, alongside complicated watches for men and women.