I · The Maker/II · The Object/III · The Dial/IV · The Record/V · Acquisition
Room I · The Maker
Ulysse Nardin, founded in Le Locle in 1846, built its name on marine and observatory precision timekeeping. This split-seconds chronograph was entered at the Neuchâtel Observatory in 1937, fine-adjusted for the trials by the régleur Henri Gerber.
The complication · try it
Two hands, one axis
One centre hand stops to mark a split-second; the other keeps running. Press again and it flies back to catch up.
Ready
Press the crown to start.
Running handSplit hand
The Object
A documented 1937 Neuchatel Observatory competition watch: a sterling silver Ulysse Nardin split-seconds chronograph with a Guillaume balance, still running and splitting exactly as it should.
The most compact of the observatory pieces in this collection, and the one in silver: an open-face split-seconds chronograph of 54.7mm, entered by Ulysse Nardin in the 1937 pocket-chronometer trials at Neuchâtel. An extract from the observatory's chronometer database accompanies it, recording a mean daily rate of +1.52 seconds and a mean daily variation of 0.35 seconds.
The dial is white enamel in excellent order, signed Ulysse Nardin, Locle & Genève and marked Chronomètre, with bold Breguet numerals, a blued steel poire hour hand and slim minute hand, a thirty-minute register at twelve and constant seconds at six carrying the movement number. Two centre hands run together, one of them lacquered oxblood red; press the button and one stops to take a split while the other carries on, then flies back to rejoin it. Both the chronograph and the split work correctly, and the watch winds, sets and runs as it should.
The sterling silver case is Ulysse Nardin's own, numbered, and it wears its age openly: an even patina and the handling marks of nine decades, with nothing hidden and nothing polished away. The dial and the movement are the reason the watch exists, and both remain in the condition the trials demanded.
Of the four Neuchâtel chronometers in this collection, each has its own year, its own metal and its own result. This is 1937's, and the silver one.
The marks, the movement and the condition are set out piece by piece in the drawers below; the trial entry and rating are set out in The Record.
Room III · The Dial
Reading the dial · tap a number
- 1Signed ChronomètreWhite enamel in excellent order, signed Ulysse Nardin, Locle & Genève and marked Chronomètre.
- 2Thirty-minute registerThe chronograph's thirty-minute register at twelve.
- 3Split-seconds handsTwo centre hands run together; press the button and one stops to take a split while the other carries on, then flies back to rejoin it.
- 4Constant secondsConstant seconds at six, with the movement number 16074 repeated on the dial.
- 5Breguet numeralsBreguet Arabic numerals inside an outer chronograph seconds track.
Beneath the case
Open each drawer to look closer
Mark 1
Case no. 381558
Struck inside the case back, beside the 0.925 mark, the Swiss bear and Ulysse Nardin's Le Locle shield.
case no.
factory struck
Mark 2
Swiss silver control mark (0.925)
The standing bear, the Swiss federal control stamp for silver, applied by a cantonal assay office after the metal was tested. Sterling silver is 92.5% pure; the hallmark confirms it, independent of the case-maker's own declaration.
sterling silver 0.925
Swiss federal mark
Mark 3
Movement no. 16074 / secondary 54714
16074 on the movement and the dial is the number the observatory recorded; +54714 is a second number stamped on the bridge.
serial 16074
matches extract
Mark 4
Seated in its own case
The movement fitted in Ulysse Nardin's own numbered sterling silver case.
sterling silver
- AGuillaume integral balanceNickel-steel alloy engineered to eliminate middle-temperature error. Its presence here is not incidental: a Guillaume balance was specified precisely because the watch was built for the observatory, not the retail counter.
- BBlued Breguet overcoilThe terminal curve of the steel hairspring is raised over the body of the spring so it breathes concentrically. Bluing relieves internal stress. Paired with the Guillaume balance this is the competition horologist's preferred combination.
- CColumn wheelThe chronograph operates on a column wheel rather than the simpler cam mechanism, the correct specification for a split-seconds complication at observatory grade. Both the main hand and the rattrapante engage cleanly.
- DRéglage: Henri GerberFine-adjusted by Henri Gerber of Le Locle, named as régleur in the observatory record.
Overall
Very Good, fully functional.
Case
Sterling silver, honest surface hairlines and patina throughout, no dents or splits. Three-part case; the snap back and inner dust cover both open and close correctly.
Dial
White enamel, excellent
No cracks or chips; a few faint age specks near the centre and minor enamel wear at the 6 o'clock edge.
Movement
Clean and complete, running well. Column-wheel split-seconds chronograph, Guillaume balance, blued Breguet overcoil. Chronograph and split-seconds both function correctly. Winds, sets and runs correctly.
Crystal
High-domed, excellent, light surface marks only.
Crown
Silver crown and bow, honest wear, functions correctly.
54.73
This watch
25.75
€2 coin
A €2 coin is 25.75 mm. This case is more than two and a half times its area.
Room IV · The Record
Supplied with the watch. Click to enlarge.
Neuchâtel 1937, 24th of 24
Entered at the Neuchâtel Observatory in 1937 in the first-class pocket chronometer category for chronographs with counter and split-seconds. The extract from the observatory chronometer database records a mean daily rate of +1.52 seconds, a mean daily variation of 0.35 seconds and a classification of N = 23, twenty-fourth of the twenty-four watches in its category.
- Maker
- Ulysse Nardin, Le Locle & Geneve
- Model
- Split-seconds (rattrapante) observatory chronometer
- Movement
- Manual-wind column-wheel split-seconds chronograph; Guillaume balance; blued Breguet overcoil; lever escapement 1/5 sec; no. 16074
- Complications
- Split-seconds (rattrapante) chronograph, 30-minute register, constant seconds
- Case
- Sterling silver 0.925, open face, no. 381558
- Diameter
- 54.73mm
- Dial
- White enamel, signed, marked Chronometre, Breguet numerals, blued steel poire hour and slim minute hands, oxblood split hand
- Country
- Switzerland
- Date
- 1937
- Provenance
- Documented entrant, 1937 Neuchatel Observatory chronometer competition; regleur Henri Gerber
- Serial
- Movement 16074 (secondary +54714)
The Estate Collection
Room V · Acquisition
€13.000
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Ulysse Nardin
€13.000
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Split-Seconds Chronometer, Neuchâtel 1937
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