This is my third review of a Ulysse Nardin and they all look essentially the same. The only difference between this one and my other UN chronometer is this one has a gold bezel and accents. I'm not usually a fan of gold watches but gold on black looks pretty cool as long as the gold is used sparingly. I sold my stainless steel chronometer to get this one, which strikes the perfect gold/black balance.
It comes on a rubber strap and though I've seen complaints about the interrupted black strap with the branding badge, I think it's cool. If you've read any of my reviews, you also know I have a soft spot in my heart for all things nautical and UN definitely has that historical nautical brand identity.A 180-year legacy of maritime precision
Brand and history
Ulysse Nardin was founded in 1846 by a 23-year-old watchmaker of the same name in Le Locle, Switzerland. The brand built its reputation on marine chronometers, the precision deck instruments that navies relied on for celestial navigation before GPS. By the company's centenary in 1946, UN had accumulated 4,324 performance certificates from the Neuchâtel Observatory and supplied chronometers to over 50 navies worldwide. The U.S. Navy used UN chronometers from 1902 until the 1980s. During the Russo-Japanese War, both opposing navies navigated with UN instruments.
The brand nearly died during the quartz crisis, declaring bankruptcy in 1978. Rolf Schnyder bought the company in 1983 for about $400,000 and pivoted toward complications and innovation. The partnership with astronomer-watchmaker Dr. Ludwig Oechslin produced the Astrolabium Galileo Galilei in 1985, a 21-complication astrolabe wristwatch. Then came the 2001 Freak, the first watch to use a silicon escapement. That decision changed the industry.
Kering acquired UN in 2014 for an estimated €650-700 million. That didn't go well. By 2022, a management buyout returned the brand to independence under CEO Patrick Pruniaux. The 2023 Freak ONE won the GPHG "Iconic Watch" prize, which suggests momentum is returning.
Case and Dimensions
The case is 44mm brushed titanium with black PVD coating. The bezel, crown, and dial accents are 18K rose gold. Titanium keeps the weight down since it's about 45% lighter than steel. With the rose gold bezel, the overall effect is luxury without the heft.
Case thickness is 15mm and lug-to-lug runs around 50mm. Water resistance is 300 meters with a screw-down crown and caseback.
The bezel deserves its own paragraph. Watch geeks love to talk about the satisfaction they get from a good rotating bezel click and this one may be my favorite. Many bezels with a good tactile click are a pain to fully rotate, especially for unidirectional since a single click commits you to the full turn. UN calls this an inverted concave bezel because it curves inward with raised relief numerals. The dive scale runs 0-15-30-45 with emphasis on the first 20 minutes for decompression tracking.
The Dial
I love the baton hands. They're solid with lume fill, an improvement over the skeletonized hands UN used before 2018.
The small seconds complication is well done and the date at 6 o'clock is somehow unobtrusive in a way that most date windows are not. The date aperture sits inside the small seconds subdial, which integrates it into the layout rather than cutting into the dial texture.
But one of my favorite complications is the power reserve and this one is done beautifully. It sits at 12 o'clock as an arc-shaped sector display with rose gold accents matching the bezel. Knowing exactly how much juice is left in the mainspring matters to me, and the execution here makes it a design feature rather than an afterthought.
The dial texture is a fine-grained black that replaced UN's earlier wave patterns. Applied indices with SuperLumiNova fill. Gold hour markers on a black field. If I did ever take this diving I would feel confident in this combination of complications and the reliability of this movement.
The Movement
The caliber UN-118 is Ulysse Nardin's first fully in-house automatic movement, introduced at Baselworld 2012. It runs at 28,800 vph with 50 jewels and a 60-hour power reserve. COSC certified.
The movement's signature technology is DIAMonSIL, a Ulysse Nardin patent that fuses silicon with synthetic diamond through chemical vapor deposition. The escapement wheel and anchor get this coating, which eliminates the need for lubrication and provides diamond-level surface hardness. The silicon hairspring adds anti-magnetic properties and temperature stability.
UN owns Sigatec, a subsidiary founded in 2006 that remains the only facility producing both silicon and DIAMonSIL components at the required tolerances. No other manufacture offers diamond-coated silicon. UN backs this with a 10-year warranty on silicon components.
On the wrist
The rubber strap is comfortable and I like the branding badge interruption that others complain about. It adds visual interest to what would otherwise be plain black rubber. The deployant clasp is titanium to match the case.
At 44mm this is a large watch but the titanium construction keeps it from feeling heavy. The curved caseback helps it sit flat despite the thickness.
Final thoughts
I think this one originally retailed for $17,600 but you can pick one up from Chrono24 for a lot less. I see one in very good condition going for around $10,000. That's quite a deal.
Like Blancpain, UN is one of those brands that drop like a rock in the secondary market. Good for people that are value minded. I picked mine up on a Grailzee auction for $7,000 on July 17, 2025. That was an absolute steal and the reason I prefer reserve-free auctions.
The UN Diver Chronometer offers genuine in-house manufacture credentials with proprietary silicon technology that you can't get elsewhere, from a brand with 180 years of marine chronometry heritage. At secondary market prices, the value equation works in your favor if you're buying to wear rather than invest.
References
- Ulysse Nardin Official Website. Heritage.
- Ulysse Nardin Official Website. Diver 44mm 1185-170-3/BLACK.
- Caliber Corner. Ulysse Nardin Caliber UN-118.
- Monochrome Watches. In-Depth: The Ulysse Nardin Freak, 20 Years of Watchmaking Innovation.
- aBlogtoWatch. New Ulysse Nardin Diver Chronometer Watches For 2018.
- Wikipedia. Ulysse Nardin.
- National Jeweler. Kering Sells Girard-Perregaux, Ulysse Nardin.
