My first encounter with Ulysse Nardin's newest dress watch took place in the shop of my local watch dealer. While the pink gold watch with the black dial, which always is one of the most attractive colour combinations that are possible for watches, lookes really stunning, I did not manage to reproduce this beauty in my first series of photographs. These were made in the shop, which was lightened by many small halogen lamps. Well, this is by far the worst possible lighting in a watch or jewel shop: What looked immaculate at daylight, became compromised by fingerprints, dust and tiny scratches, which were mercilessly exaggerated by the point-sized lightsources. I did not like my pics.

Therefore, I returned to the shop and convinced its owner, that it was in his only interest if he handed me over the watch of an afternoon. I could then take it back to my office, which gets its light from a huge window, and take a second series of pictures there. Well, of course I made my most innocent facial expression, and thus I was esteemed trustworthy enough to take a golden watch away with me - another reason why it is good to be a dealer's regular customer.

Of course I did not only take pictures, but I also handled the watch and inspected it closely, so I am glad to present to you a brief peek review.

1. Case, crystal and crown:

The 18k pink gold case is the most apparent design feature of the "Ulysse 1": With a diameter of 40mm and more than 10 mm height, the case is substantial, it can even be described as massive. The prism-like shaped lugs with their significant steps further enhances the impression of massiveness. Restrained elegance clearly was not one of the designers' primary goals. However, these comments should not be taken as critical, on the contrary: The "Ulysse 1" makes a firm statement, and a good one, too.

The domed sapphire crystal features an anti-reflective coating on both sides, which enhances the legibility drastically. Unfortunately, there is no displayback. Instead, the screwed-down caseback depicts Ulysse Nardin's crest. The San Marco lion was more impressive. On the case's side, a golden plaque has the individual number engraved; a design feature that is well-known already from the Marine series. A beauty in itself is the crown, which bears UN's anchor logo in blue enamel. It is screwed down, which helps ensuring a water tightness rated to 50 meters.

2. Dial and hands:

When the casework is already impressive, the dial won't stay behind. Available in silver or black, the black dial offers the most striking combination with the case's pink gold. Currently, Art Nouveau is having a renaissance, and the gaudy numerals of the "Ulysse 1" are particularly attractive representants of this style. The golden hands complement the design perfectly.

Of particular interest is the unconventional power reserve display at 12 o'clock: While standard power reserve displays feature a hand that moves up and down, depending on the mainspring's tension, this new display consists of two parts: When the mainspring gains tension, a round disk, bearing several segments, rotates, until the largest segment is beneath the power reserve hand. The latter is the system's second part, and moves as soon as the mainspring looses tension: When the hand is over the smallest segment, the watch will eventually stop. This system has already been used in an old pocket watch by Ulysse Nardin and is now revived. A somewhat similar system was used by a Patek Philippe watch some two years ago, but there it was very impractical and difficult to interprete.

The date is visible only through a round 'tunnel', which somewhat compromises its legibility, but as long one does not look at it from a too weird angle, the date is visible.

3. Movement:

Behind the movement's designation cal. UN-27 we suspect an old acquaintance in new cloths: At least, this seems not out of question, since the Marine Chronometer and Diver have such a similar configuration with their cal. UN-26 (small second at 6, power reserve at 12). After comparing the technical data of the two movements, however, one realizes that something has changed considerably: While both movements use the trusted ETA 2892-A2 as a base, which UN receives as a kit and upgrades it with parts from several other sources, the UN-indigenous module on top of it is apparently different: The Marine Chronometer/Diver's movement is 5.1 mm high, and has 28 jewels. 21 are in the base movement, 7 in the small second/power reserve module. The UN-27 of the "Ulysse 1", however, is slightly slimmer (4.85 mm), but features 38 jewels, ten more than the UN-26. If 21 of them are in the ETA base movement, incredible 17 must be in the thin module. This high number of jewels suggests a rather complex mechanism for the power reserve indication.

As a novelty in the UN dress watch series, the UN-27 is a certified chronometer, so the watch is delivered with the official COSC certificate.

4. Strap and buckle:

The watch is delivered with UN's usual high-quality crocodile strap. The lug end of the strap is curved, so the strap does not leave an apparent gap between strap and the case. The 18k pink gold buckle also is UN standard. A bracelet is not offered.

5. Conclusion:

The "Ulysse 1" replaces the "San Marco" as the standard UN dress watch. In my personal opinion, I am not entirely lucky about this. While I do think that the "Ulysse 1" is an incredibly attractive design, it also might be too large, heavy and striking for some. Especially when compared with the "San Marco", which was smaller and more sober in its case and dial design, the "Ulysse 1" is clearly polarizing opinions. I could test that during the watch's short stay in my office: From three colleagues, two disliked the watch, claiming it were too "ostentatious". One (female) colleague immediately fell in love with it. However, I have to add that one of those two that gave negative comments found the absolute zenith of horology to be in old Soviet army watches with Raketa movements, that he forgets to wind on a regular base. The other, while wearing a beautiful old Longines Hour-Angle, hates everything made of gold, which is too capitalistic. Maybe this sheds somewhat more light on the result of my tiny poll.

Fact is, that people either love or hate the "Ulysse 1", which is proof for its good design. Good design is polarizing opinions, and there is no worse verdict than that: "Well, not bad!"

And for those that do not want to loose the classic "San Marco", there is still the beautiful "San Marco Gigante", which I hope to present to you soon.