Ulysse Nardin Executive Tourbillon
Free Wheel recalls ‘mysterious’
watches and clocks of the past.
This newest version of the Ulysse
Nardin Executive Tourbillon Free
Wheel has a white gold case framing
diamond-like osmium crystals.
The Ulysse Nardin
Executive Tourbillon
Stars and Stripes on
the wrist
WHY A TWELVE-YEAR WARRANTY?
We chose twelve because it matches the oscillator rate (12 Hz), and we
will make twelve pieces. We already have a five-year warranty on all of our
watches. In fact we were the second company in the industry to offer this,
after Rolex.
On every silicon component we already offer a ten-year warranty across
the board. This shows that we are confident about this technology.
HOW DO YOU BALANCE THE CLASSICAL WATCHMAKING TECHNOLOGY
WITH THESE FUTURISTIC METHODS AND MATERIALS?
WHAT ARE THE PRIMARY CHALLENGES TO TAKING
THIS TO SERIAL PRODUCTION? We do this the variety of product lines we offer. We have our Marine
collection to really connect with our historical roots, our Classical lines and
of course our Freak collection to encompass our new technology, and with
this type of balance we can talk about many things. This company we have a
lot of freedom to consider different materials and new technologies. Ulysse
Nardin offers a wide selection, from elegant to modern, and with basic to
very high technology, which you don’t find in other brands. New or
experienced buyers will find something of interest.
This is quite a challenge because we had to calculate all of the dimensions
of the blade structure. The crossing point for the beams is triangle compo-
nent, and without this structure the amplitude would be very small and
could not work with the standard escapement. We wanted it to work with
our constant force escapement. This escapement is the same one we have
on the Freak Vision.
The idea was to replace the conventional balance wheel and hairspring. Unlike
the Defy Inventor from Zenith, which occupies the whole surface of the watch,
this is something using the similar size space as a more conventional watch.
The freak was the right watch to use for this because it is our laboratory
on the wrist. But in the future maybe we can integrate this oscillator into
more common calibers. ANY TEASERS FOR UPCOMING DEBUTS?
Look for something new in the Executive Tourbillon Free Wheel (above),
which originally debuted two years ago. This was also my baby. At first
nobody wanted to attempt this design, which I devised as a tribute to the
mysterious watches and clocks of the past.
It has been quite a big success. The idea is to have some components on
the dial and some of the wheels under the dial. The energy comes from 12
o’clock with barrels and goes under the dial, and returns to the tourbillon
at 6 o’clock. This is why I consider it like the mystery clocks because you
don’t see where the energy is coming from. For the power reserve indicator
and we had the gear train on the left, then we go back under the dial and
showed indicator across the dial on the right.
50 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | FALL 2019