HANDS-ON: Ulysse Nardin’s surprise sailing watch – the Marine Regatta
Ulysse Nardin made their name way back in 1846 making marine chronometres – highly accurate ship’s clocks that were an essential navigational tool in the times before radio and GPS. These days the Le Locle-based brand still makes chronometre-style timepeices, but as a celebration of heritage rather than a practical tool. This isn’t to say that Ulysse Nardin has given up on the sea; far from it, as their new Marine Regatta demonstrates. Developed with the support and input of Artemis Racing – the Swedish sailing team the brand sponsors – the Marine Regatta is, as the name suggests, a regatta timer, one of the more specialised complications in horology. For those of you not familiar with competitive sailing, yachts don’t begin from a standing start, but rather jockey for position and aim to cross the starting line as soon as the starting gun goes off (boats are penalised for crossing early). So in the minutes before the race starts there’s a signal that lets skippers know that a countdown period (typically five to 10 minutes) has begun, and that they should head towards the starting line. Which is where the regatta timer comes in. In the simplest terms a regatta…
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In our recently published interview, Arnaud Carrez, Cartier’s Head of Marketing and Communications, said that the Drive represents a different kind of masculinity, one that isn’t defined by “muscles, sport, achievement, performance”, but by “elegance, and style, and refinement.” Looking at the Drive de Cartier Moon Phases, you can see what he means. It’s a confident watch that takes the dressy Drive design and, by adding the eternally romantic moon phase at six, elevates it to the next level of elegance. Introduced at SIHH in stainless steel and pink gold, the Drive Moon Phases took a bit of a back seat to the critically acclaimed Extra Flat, but for me the Moon Phases is the perfect embodiment of what Drive is all about. In gold, it’s a very warm, dressy watch, with a dial full of detail that is pure Cartier. On the technical side, the watch is the same size as the regular Drive at 41mm across and a wearable 12.15mm high. It’s powered by the newly developed in-house 1904-LU. This complication is highly accurate, and only needs to be adjusted every 125 years, which is nice. Power reserve is decent but not outstanding at 48 hours. The moon phase complication…
Vacheron Constantin bucked the trend this year at SIHH. While many of their fellow exhibitors played it safe, bringing out crowd-pleasing steel models and revisiting their greatest hits, Vacheron Constantin walked another path, with a collection focused at the very highest end of horology. Not only did they offer mind-numbingly complex astronomical grand complication and a grand sonnerie model, they also offered some sculptural (yet still super complex) Métiers d’Art options. Oh, and they threw in some handsome new takes on existing models for good measure. Definitely not playing it safe.
While the watches at SIHH change every year, one thing stays reassuringly the same, and that is the drama surrounding them. Sometimes it’s big, like the deregulation of the Swiss Franc. Sometimes it’s small, like a brand being a little too obsfucatory in a press release over the origins of a movement. This year everyone’s tongues seemed to be wagging about a) Moser’s cheesy take on the industry, and b) the Girard-Perregaux Laureato. Feel free to disagree with us, but we think the majority of noise around the Laureato – specifically around its look and legitimacy – is well and truly blown out of proportion, as is so often the case with ‘controversies’ like these. But that’s just the tip of the GP iceberg in 2017, with lots to discuss around other models, too. Watch on!
Le Locle-based Ulysse Nardin made their debut showing at SIHH this year, and we have to say, they brought the heat. We’re used to brands showing us one or two major novelties, but it’s safe to say UN went far beyond that. From technical tourbillons and regatta timers through to stunning dress pieces, vintage reissues and haute horlogerie wonders, the scale and substance of Ulysse Nardin’s offering meant their booth had a real buzz. What does this mean for Australian watch fans? Well, expect to see and hear a whole lot more about UN in the coming months as the brand makes inroads into the local market.