It was a good thing that my Ulysse Nardin "Marine Diver" was one of the early watches from the production series, when I received it more than a year ago. This particular model is part of UN's program in unchanged form, and it has become a very good seller since. Therefore I hope, that you watch-lovers won't consider it outdated, when I present to you my

I.) General impressions:

I received my Marine Diver in November 2001, and it very rarely has left my wrist since. This should somewhat anticipate the bottom line of this review.

The watch is available in two dial varaints: A black dial, which looks ver sportive, and a silver/white one, which I eventually chose. I was very happy I did this, because I am everything other than a sportive guy, thus a true sports watch would look a bit, hhmm, over-ambitious on me. What I wanted was a sportive watch that at the same time looked fashionable, elegant; well, different. This already excluded the well-known 'hardcore divers', as the IWC Aquatimer, or the Rolex Sea-Dweller from my list. These are just too professional, sober. Ulysse Nardin's diver was a proponent of a rather new line, that of a "dressy diver", as one could say, which has been supplemented since by others, such as the "Sea Hawk" by Girard Perregaux, and the L.U.C. Diver by Chopard.

Generally, the UN Marine Diver leaves the impression of high quality - and value. It certainly never gets underrated. Besides its substance, it has a very unique design, following UN's successful resurrection of the classic marine chronometers, with their oversized second hands and the power reserve display at 12 o'clock. Consequently, anybody familiar with watches from Ulysse Nardin would recognize the Marine Diver immediately as a UN, even if he did not know about thast particular model before.

II.) Casework, crystal and crown:

As already indicated, the watch has substance. With a diameter of 40 mm, and a height of about 13 mm, it is not a small watch. And it is heavy. However, these attributes are common for sports, and even more for diving watches.

Despite its fashionable appearance, the Marine Diver is solid enough to compete with professional diving instruments: Rated watertight to 300 meters, it naturally features a screw-down crown and a unidirectionally turning bezel, bearing the appropriate markings. The bezel already is one of many highlights: It is not necessary to have a bear's claws to turn it, while at the same time it is resistant enough to prevent any unwanted changes. Its rim offers a good grip, but is not sharp and leaves the shirt's cuffs alone. With soft clicks, it is turned smoothly, and this haptic joy is surpassed maybe only by the bezels of a Blancpain or a Rolex.

At the beginning, I feared that the bezel's unique wave structure would attract dirt, but this has not happened. The only minor reason to gripe is the luminous dot, which should be larger to be clearly visible in the dark.

Also typical for Ulysse Nardin is the small plaque on the case's side, bearing the engraved serial number. Fastened with two small screws, it adds a classic, if not historical design element, and reduces the macho factor of the watch.

The massive lugs, which are 20 mm apart, have absolutely no sharp edge and make wearing the watch a very comfortable experience. This is further enhanced by the massive caseback, which has its central part made of titanium. The material prevents any allergic reactions on the skin, even when sweating a lot, and it is only logical that all other metal parts that come into contact with the skin, such as the clasp, also are made of titanium. The disk is engraved with the locations and years of those international exhibitions, where Ulysse Nardin received gold medals for its achievements. All cities' names are written in the respective local language, another indication for the high level of care for details taken by Ulysse Nardin.

Anti-reflective coating on both sides makes the flat sapphire crystal vanish nearly completely, so that the view on the dial is unobstructed by annoying reflections. Especially the black-dialled version will gain from this, since reflections are much more apparent against a dark background. Coatings on the crystals of sports watches have been subject to hot debates in the past. Many claim that the coating is more easily damaged than the crystal, resulting in many scratches, even abrasions, which cannot be repaired. Basically, these people are correct, since the metal oxides of the anti-reflective coating are much softer than the synthetic sapphire of the crystal. Additionally, it is impossible to repair any damages to the coating. However, after a year, even very close inspection does not reveal more than one tiny scratch, which is completely invisible for the casual spectator. I have other sportive watches with crystals coated at the front side, one of which I own for more than four years, but even this one does not have more than a few, very small and inconspicuous scratches in the coating. In my opinion, the advantages of an anti-reflective coating more than outweigh its disadvantages.

III.) Dial and hands:

With apparent lack of respect, the Marine Diver's dial has been dubbed "golf ball", due to the small depressions, resulting in a very unique surface structure. Some don't like it, I do. It gives the watch a very own face, and with the right lighting, it also causes that well known optical illusion, making the spectator uncertain whether the small points are risen or depressed. The surfaces of the small second's and the power reserve's subdials are more conventional, with tiny concentric rings in the former case, and being flat in the latter.

Also the inscriptions and the manufacturer's logo are located on slightly raised areas. The printing of the numerals and lines is razor sharp. The dial's colour is something between silver and white, with a soft shimmer on it. To sum up, the dial is perfectly finished, and invites to study it up close again and again.

A real highlight in the strict meaning of the word are the hourmarkers, which are large and thickly covered with Super Luminova. Together with the luminous mass on the hands, this ensures perfect legibility in all adverse lighting conditions; untypically for Super Luminova, I should say, since most other watches using this luminous substance are not very 'bright': Being rather faint from the beginning, they keep their luminescence only for a few hours, until they finally fade. Not so the Marine Diver: After a slight charging by a lightsource, markers and hand glow like a flashlight, offering perfect legibility even after ten hours of darkness.

The hands are blued by heat and thus nicely complement the blue printing and the borders of the markers. Above the bright dial they offer perfect contrast.

IV.) Movement:

The cal. UN-26 is based on the well-known ETA 2892A2 movement. Ulysse Nardin is not buying assembled movements from ETA, but only the 'kits'. Afterwards, several parts are modified or improved parts supplied from other sources. After assembly of the base movement, it is sent to the Swiss chronometric institute, the COSC, for testing and certification. If the movement passes the tests, it returns to UN as a certified chronometer, and finally receives a module developed by UN, which adds the power reserve display and changes the movement's central sweep second into the small second. Immediately recognizeable is the modular construction by the date window at six o'clock, which displays the date in a 'tunnel' through the module. In spite of that construction, the date is quite well legible from most angles. The movement is completely rhodinized, and well finished, and it would be nice to see it through the caseback. Maybe Ulysse Nardin once will offer a displayback as an option.

V.) Strap and clasp:

The conspicuous rubber strap was introduced together with the Marine Diver, but is now available also for all other watches of the "Marine" series. What differentiates UN's strap from other rubber straps, are the two large links, screwed between the rubber parts, and made from massive titanium. Both wear the engraved manufacturer's logo with the name and the anchor. These are the parts that get scratched most quickly, and especially the one on the wrist's outer side looks pretty worn soon. Due to the scratches, people tend to think that titanium is a soft material, which is not true. Titanium reacts quickly with oxygen, resulting in a thin layer of oxide. This oxide is soft and gets scratched easily. After some time, the bare titanium within the scratches will oxidize, too, making the scratches disappear. Therefore, I switch the sides of the strap sometimes, so that the worn titanium link gets the safer position on the wrist's inner side. A month or two later, the scratches have vanished. This cannot be done with the twin folding clasp, which is also made from titanium, and consequently shows small scratches. This does by no means affect its functionality, however.

The strap itself is made from solid rubber, which shows absolutely no wear. Disadvantage of the strap is the fact, that it can be adjusted to different lengths only by cutting it, making it longer is impossible. Fortunately, UN offers the longer strap parts separately, so it is not necessary to buy the complete strap together with links and clasp. The decent smell of vanilla is said to be common to all rubber straps. Many customers like it, for myself I am not so sure about it. Exclusive eau de toilette will be effectively sabotaged by the strong whiff of vanilla, emerging from the cuff, especially after the watch had rested undisturbed beneath it for some time. During the months, however, the vanilla scent has mostly faded and is now nearly impossible to smell.

Together with the anti-allergic titanium parts, this rubber strap is the most comfortable strap I have, and makes wearing the Marine Diver a real pleasure.

VI.) Accuracy:

I must confess that the times, when I checked each of my watches against a radio controlled clock daily, have passed. I stopped writing journals with accuracy tables, leaving watches in different positions for 24 hours, and thinking about how to improve their accuracy. I am completely satisfied, if I need not to reset the watch more often than once a week, which happens if it is wrong by about half a minute. The Marine Diver never did abuse my patience, since it consistently looses a bit less than four seconds per day. While only barely within the official chronometer limits, it is perfectly sufficient for me, and I am convinced it could be adjusted to better values. But would this be worth the effort? No, not for me.

VII.) Conclusion:

The Marine Diver is my favourite everyday watch, it is sturdy and dressy at the same time, pleases my eyes (and my nose, due to the vanilla scent of the strap!), and, above all, it is for my exclusive use. My wife would very much like to wear it, but if I adjust the strap to her wrist, I could never return it to its former length. Therefore, I don't let it go. Sorry, Darling!