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 and became a dominant force in the Neuchâtel chronometer competitions. This one combines a documented First-Class observatory result, a split-seconds complication and a Guillaume balance.
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 First-Class observatory chronometer from the 1943 Neuchatel trials, cased as a split-seconds chronograph and with its original fitted box and a printed extract of its result.
One watch, doing two difficult things at once: keeping observatory-grade time, and driving a split-seconds chronograph while it does so. Ulysse Nardin entered this movement, number 121026, in the 1943 pocket-chronometer trials at Neuchâtel and placed in the first class; the result is set out in The Record below.
It is a Goliath of 64.6mm in Staybrite stainless steel, with a hinged back and inner dust cover. The dial is white vitreous enamel, laid out for timing: bold Breguet numerals, violet-blued poire hands, a thirty-minute counter at twelve, running seconds at six, an outer fifth-of-a-second track, signed Ulysse Nardin, Chronomètre, Locle Suisse and numbered to match the movement.
The split-seconds works from a large button on the case band: one centre hand stops to read an intermediate time while the other runs on, then the two snap back together. Start, stop and reset run through the crown pusher. Every function engages cleanly, and the watch winds, sets and runs well.
There is a small chip to the crystal rim near the seven.
It comes in its original Ulysse Nardin Locle-Genève fitted box, with a printed extract of its 1943 result from the Neuchâtel observatory database.
The marks, the movement and the condition are set out piece by piece in the drawers below; the 1943 placing is set out in The Record.
Room III · The Dial
Reading the dial · tap a number
- 1White vitreous enamelWhite vitreous enamel, signed Ulysse Nardin, Chronomètre, Locle Suisse, with no hairlines, chips or restoration.
- 2Thirty-minute counterThe chronograph's thirty-minute counter at twelve.
- 3Poire handsViolet-blued poire hands.
- 4Split-seconds handsOne centre hand stops to read an intermediate time while the other runs on, then the two snap back together.
- 5Numbered to matchRunning seconds at six, numbered 121026 to match the movement.
- 6Fifths of a secondAn outer fifth-of-a-second track, laid out for timing.
- 7A chip to the crystal rimA small chip to the crystal rim near the seven.
Beneath the case
Open each drawer to look closer
Mark 1
Case number 614289
Struck inside the caseback beneath ACIER STAYBRITE.
case no.
factory struck
Mark 2
Ulysse Nardin shield and ACIER STAYBRITE
The Ulysse Nardin Locle shield with a helmeted head, struck above ACIER STAYBRITE, the material stamp for Firth's Staybrite stainless steel.
metal: Staybrite steel
c.1943
Mark 3
Movement & dial 121026
The same number appears on the movement and on the dial, the pairing the observatory database records, which is what lets us match this watch to the 1943 results rather than merely to the model.
serial 121026
matches extract
- AGuillaume integral balanceNickel-steel, designed to cancel middle-temperature error; named on the observatory record.
- BBreguet overcoil hairspringSteel, with the terminal curve raised over the body of the spring so it breathes concentrically. Paired here with a lever escapement timed to a tenth of a second.
- CColumn wheelThe chronograph is column-wheel, not cam, worked from the crown pusher, with a band button for the split-seconds. All functions engage cleanly.
- DRéglage: Édouard SeitzFine-adjusted by Seitz of Le Locle, one of the house's respected régleurs. The observatory record names him, and the movement carries his work.
Case
Excellent
Polished Staybrite stainless steel, crisp form with only light surface hairlines to the caseback from age. Hinged back and inner cuvette dust cover present and closing well.
Dial
Perfect
White vitreous enamel, no hairlines, chips or restoration; crisp signature, numerals and chronograph tracks.
Movement
Excellent
Clean and running well. Column-wheel chronograph and split-seconds both function cleanly. Guillaume integral balance, Breguet steel hairspring, reglage by Edouard Seitz.
Crystal
Very good
One small chip to the crystal rim near the 7, a replaceable part; otherwise clear and sound.
Crown and pushers
Crisp
Crown pusher, split-seconds button and setting button all act cleanly. Winds, sets and runs well.
64.58
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.
1943 trials, 18th of 66
Chronomètres de Poche, 1re Classe. Score N=7.3, réglage by Édouard Seitz, Le Locle.
- Maker
- Ulysse Nardin, Le Locle
- Model
- Split-seconds observatory chronometer (rattrapante)
- Year
- C.1943 (Neuchatel Observatory competition)
- Case
- Staybrite stainless steel, open face
- Diameter
- 64.58mm
- Movement
- Manual-wind keyless lever; column-wheel split-seconds (rattrapante) chronograph; ancre 1/10-sec escapement; Guillaume integral balance; Breguet steel hairspring
- Dial
- White vitreous enamel; Breguet Arabic numerals; violet-blued poire hands; 30-minute counter at 12; running sub-seconds at 6; 1/5-second outer track
- Complications
- Split-seconds (rattrapante) chronograph; 30-minute counter; sub-seconds
- Serial
- 121026 (movement and dial); case no. 614289
- Country
- Switzerland
- Accompanied by
- Original Ulysse Nardin Locle-Geneve box and Neuchatel Observatory database extract
The Estate Collection
Room V · Acquisition
Price on Request
We’d love to discuss our passion for this piece with you.
Ulysse Nardin
Price on Request
Enquiry
Split-Seconds Observatory Chronometer, Neuchâtel 1943
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