Ulysse Nardin Goes Back To Astronomical Watches with the Complex Moonstruck Worldtimer
Ulysse Nardin’s history is deeply linked to Marine chronometers, yet there’s another speciality, rather forgotten, that the manufacture masters (and which is not that far from Marine watches), the astronomical watches. Some may recall the mid-1980s Trilogy – Astrolabium Galileo Galilei (introduced in 1985), Planetarium Copernicus (introduced in 1988) and Tellurium Johannes Kepler (introduced in 1992). This year, UN introduces yet another astronomical watch, the Moonstruck Worldtimer, combining the movements of the moon and sun in relation to the Earth, as well as a map of the tides and (novelty) a world-time display. You say complex, we say exciting.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock you probably know that the new, updated Sky-Dweller from Rolex is one of *the* watches of 2017. And if you’ve read our in-depth review – you should, if only for the pictures – chances are good that you know why. However, we understand that not all of you have the time for a thousand words of pros and cons (though they’re mostly pros), so being the helpful people we are, we’ve put together this short, snappy video that gives you the executive summary. We run through everything you need to know about the changes to the case and dial, as well as what’s stayed the same.
Editor’s Note: We’ve done over 1400 posts at Time+Tide, but I reckon I could count on one hand the number of stories that have featured employees whose title doesn’t start with Chief, Head, President or Vice. After speaking to Paul Gray, Boutique Manager of Bremont’s flagship store in Royal Exchange London, for a lazy afternoon at our HQ, I realised what we’ve been missing all this time. It’s the view of a company from within. The comments on culture, internal leadership and founder mythology that actually make for very interesting listening. When Paul Gray first picked up a Bremont watch in 2009, he was not struck by a lightning bolt. He did not quit his job at Jura – where he worked with brands like Sinn, Nomos, Bell & Ross among others – and beg to join the then fledgling brand. Jura were, in fact, keen on working with Bremont, but Paul was straight up perplexed. “They kept saying, check out that Martin Baker watch. I looked at it. It was a nice watch, a tough little watch, but I wasn’t getting it. What is it about it?” “But then, you put it on your wrist, you feel it, you look at it, and…
Last year, Seiko’s mainstream, mid-tier mechanical line, Presage, went global, with a collection of dressy options (including a particularly outstanding chronograph). This year Seiko expanded Presage in a big way, turning one of the most popular Japanese domestic models (JDM), the SARB065 – AKA the Cocktail Time – into a fully fledged collection. The Presage Cocktail Time consists of a range of three-handed options and a few more complicated offerings, all starring dials that pack a punch as potent as the drinks for which they’re named. We’re going to explore the broader family in a bit more depth soon, but we thought it was well past time to crack open the collection. So today we’re looking at the SSA346, a 40.5mm rose gold-toned number with well-integrated power reserve indicator that doesn’t break the flow of the dial in the slightest. There’s also a neat date subdial at six. But of course, the complications aren’t the point here — the focus is firmly on the dial, with its beautiful pressed, radial guilloché-esque pattern. Honestly, the dial alone is enough to get this watch over the line, but the fun doesn’t stop there. There’s a pleasingly domed Hardlex crystal and the rose gold coated case…