Ulysse Nardin - Moonstruck in full view
5 October 2009
Meeting Ludwig Oechslin, Pierre Gygax, Lucas Humair, and four other watchmakers from Ulysse Nardin's talented horological team at the Geneva airport on September 23 was no accident: it was quite planned for everyone to get "moonstruck" together the following day on the Côte d'Azur's sunny coast along with other key members of the Le Locle-based company's team such as owner Rolf Schnyder, PR head Susanne Hurni, U.S. president Patrik Hoffmann, and other key members of the familial Ulysse Nardin team.
Gravity effects
The most logical place for this to take place, of course, was the phenomenal Nice observatory, a research institute steeped in astronomical history and today merged with CERGA - Centre de Recherches en Geodynamique et Astrometrie- to form the Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur.
The Moonstruck model was right at home here, as this newest member of Ulysse Nardin's exceptional astronomical line could almost be considered a scientific instrument itself. The basic premise of Moonstruck—alongside displaying the time—is to depict the effects of gravity on the earth. Gravity, as Dr. Diana Valencia of the observatory explained, is not only created by the earth's most famous satellite—the moon—but also by the sun. Hence, the Moonstruck model simulates the rotation of the moon around the earth - in center of dial - as well as the earth-centric appearance of the sun as it "travels around" the blue planet. Both are simulated by disks making one full rotation every 24 hours. Thus the current moon phase can be determined in relation to any given earth-bound location—a moon phase that would, by the way, be accurate for 70 years were the watch to run continuously for this amount of time according to Oechslin, who not only curates the La Chaux-de-Fonds international watch museum, but also famously provides astronomical complications to Ulysse Nardin.
Thanks to the availability of both displays, a third incredible element can also be shown on the timepiece's mother-of-pearl disk: the trend of global tide dynamics in relation to specific coastlines and oceans. Yet another first for horological pioneer Ulysse Nardin, Moonstruck is the first wristwatch to boast this capability.
In-house development
Moonstruck's Caliber 106 is a true Ulysse Nardin development and displays more typical elements than its astronomical functions: this automatic mechanism with about 50 hours of power reserve gets its timekeeping ability from an escapement and hairspring fully crafted in silicon. Additionally, it is also outfitted with the same GMT +/- function that graces many of Ulysse Nardin's creations: simply pushing the top button on the left side of the case sets the second time zone hand forward in exact one-hour increments. The button located directly below it performs the same task in the other direction.
Moonstruck is available in a limited edition of 500 pieces in 18-karat red gold and 500 pieces in platinum. The case diameter is a stately 46 mm, and the watch is fittingly water-resistant to a full 100 meters.
Technical horology
Ulysse Nardin made its name back in the mid-1980s with astronomical complications conceived by Oechslin that were prompted by Schnyder, who saved Ulysse Nardin from going under in the quartz inundation of the 1970s and '80s. It, however, remains to be stressed that all of the pioneering work accomplished in the more technical aspects of horology that Ulysse Nardin has achieved since 1983 must be attributed to the extreme teamwork and talent of the entire staff, including technical director and engineer Gygax and movement designer Humair. It is this extraordinary interplay of the individuals that make up the content of Ulysse Nardin and allow the company's remarkable timekeepers to continue to have wearers and admirers all over the world become moonstruck on a regular basis.
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