Timepieces Trade Market

Ulysse Nardin : History

Léonard Frédéric was the first Nardin to take up watchmaking, but he was yet to put his name to his timepieces.
The first to do so, in 1846, was his son Ulysse Nardin in the town of Le Locle.
Ulysse Nardin's artistic, hand-crafted finish and his pursuit of precision earned him distinction at world exhibitions.
At the 1862 London exhibition, for example, he was awarded the "Prize Medal".
In 1893 the firm was given the honor of representing Switzerland at the Chicago world exhibition.
Its display of marine-chronometers and deck-watches earned the company the highest reputation internationally.
One of their first customers was the Russian war ministry in St. Petersburg, and from 1906 the American Naval Observatory also numbered among Ulysse Nardin's clients.
The factory was awarded around 4.300 observatory distinctions for these high-precision timepieces alone.
Ulysse Nardin turned to wristwatches at the start of the 20th century.
The brand demonstrated its special affinity for the measurement of short times in wrist-chronographs, which made their appearance in Le Locle from 1912.
The range of wristwatches was systematically extended in ail directions during the following years. In the sports-watch categories could be found fashionable rectangular and square models for men.
Women got Iavishly decorated jewelry watches in diamond-studded cases.
This successful product strategy was maintained for several years.
In the mid-forties, wrist-chronographs with full calendars joined the collection.
The electronic take-over of precision time-measurement in the seventies saw Ulysse Nardin producing watches for a market that no longer existed.
Its wristwatches hardly found a buyer.
Stocks accumulated, tying up badly needed capital.
In 1982, the international financier, Rolf W. Schnyder, saw an opportunity.
With other watch enthusiasts, he invested substantial sums, thus saving the renowned but exhausted company from collapse.