Stroke of Genius: The Science and Spirit Behind Award-Winning Watchmaker Ulysse Nardin

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Since the manufacturer’s earliest days more than 160 years ago when its founder, Ulysse Nardin, began making marine chronometers from a mountainous location in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, the watchmaking powerhouse has continually proved that challenges present intriguing opportunities worthy of exploration. And it is these explorations that have resulted in Ulysse Nardin’s unprecedented inventions in horology. Here, science, innovation and imagination are its muses and technological advancement combined with stellar artisanship is its beacon.

Embodying this philosophy, cultivating it and bringing it to life through every Ulysse Nardin timepiece, are President Rolf W. Schnyder and Dr. Ludwig Oechslin. A masterful meeting of the minds, they are the visionaries and pioneers behind the Ulysse Nardin name as we know it today.

“I found Dr. Oechslin to be a true scholar (with a doctorate in theoretical physics and the history of science) who had a passion for watchmaking and an uncanny genius for transforming radical ideas into the most innovative mechanisms,” recalls Schnyder.

Going against the mainstream current of Swiss watchmaking, the duo joined forces in 1983, when Schnyder purchased the company and sought Oechslin’s expertise and free-thinking approach to timepiece engineering and design. Schnyder was astounded by a wall clock astrolabe Oechslin had built after restoring the Farnesian clock in the Vatican museum and requested that Oechslin reduce the astrolabe to a wristwatch. Thus, the Astrolabium Galileo Galilei, the first watch from Oeschlin’s Trilogy of Time series, was born, returning the revered watchmaker to the spotlight and securing an entry in the Guinness Book of Records. Schnyder knew then that Oechslin had the energy he needed to take the Ulysse Nardin name to an unsurpassed level of ingenuity, originality and quality.

Working toward the same goal, Schnyder, and his tour de force dream team, consisting of executive vice president Pierre Gygax and chief engineer Lucas Humair—two exceptional leaders in the company who oversee the production facility--and Ulysse Nardin’s highly proficient, seasoned watchmakers, have catapulted the vertically integrated brand to a new dimension, positioning Ulysse Nardin as the king of innovation.

However, for this company, standing at the forefront of the industry wasn’t a rarity. In fact, throughout its history, it was commonplace. 

From the time when Ulysse Nardin opened its doors in 1846 in LeLocle, it has been the recipient of 4,300-plus awards in watchmaking--eighteen of them gold medals--and has received the greatest number of patents in mechanical watchmaking. As well, Ulysse Nardin was honored by Revolution magazine in 2007 with its highly prestigious “New Technology” award for InnoVision—a spectacular specimen of a watch that showcases its groundbreaking use of silicium (a mineral-based material ideal for mechanical watches), as well as ten additional technical feats. This creation gives a proud nod to Ulysse Nardin’s remarkable FREAK, one of the most clever and artistic timepieces ever developed and the first to use silicium. Introducing Ulysse Nardin’s Dual Ulysse Escapement in silicium—an invention spearheaded by Gygax and Humair—the FREAK ignited success. Ultra minimal in appearance and boasting no true case, crown or hands with the movement pivoted to indicate time, the FREAK showcased Ulysse Nardin’s scientific knowledge and progressive engineering like no other. It rocked the Swiss watch community and the world. Once again, Ulysse Nardin had surpassed its contemporaries and surprised the most discerning watch critics and collectors. 

Other landmark achievements by Ulysse Nardin include the completion of Oeschlin’s Trilogy of Time, with the addition of the Planetarium Copernicus and the Tellurium Johannes Kepler, as well as winning the “Innovation Prize” four times. This accomplishment is unmatched by any other watch manufacturer. Honored were the FREAK, the Genghis Khan, GMT + Perpetual and the Sonata. Another monumental moment was when Ulysse Nardin became the only watch manufacturer to be invited to participate in the three hundredth anniversary celebration of the Kremlin in Moscow. Its “History in Time” exhibition in the Armory Museum featured over one hundred exquisite examples of its inventions. 

Steadfast in its journey to remain in the lead, Ulysse Nardin strides forward, looking to its own universe—its leadership, master craftsmen and dedication to the art of creating mechanical timepieces—to plot its course. Whether being the first to utilize novel materials, such as silicium, diamond-coated silicium or polycrystalline; forge an unconventional relationship, like its joint venture with Mimotec, the microparts technology company collaborating with them on the application of silicium in watchmaking; or bringing forth fresh design sensibility paired with superior technology, Ulysse Nardin surpasses form and function. It remains on a quest for more—more information, more inventiveness and more beauty. It is passion that guides its ingenious mind and momentum.

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