From the first establishment of the Ulysse Nardin Watch in 1846 to the prevalence of the Chronometer Clock in the era of maritime power, Ulysse Nardin (founder of Ulysse Nardin brand watch) seized this opportunity for Ulysse Nardin. It took him 30 years to rigorously test its own production nautical clocks to the Chronometer in Neuchâtel and Geneva.
The Ulysse Nardin Marine series has always occupied a high position in the product line, and it is not accidental. However, Ulysse Nardin is not only this.
In this year’s new models released by the brand, the Executive Tourbillon Free Wheel is particularly prominent. We also talked about the hollow watch, and the tourbillon also talks a lot, but it is impossible to stop people taking more look at such ingenuity design like the Ulysse Nardin Free Wheel.
Even those who are not iron watch fans know that the flying tourbillon is just a tourbillon fixed from below instead of from above, which is visible at 6 o’clock on the dial of the free wheel.
Other flying parts are gears and separate gear carriers that pass through the dial and generally do not seem to be related to other important parts of the dial. The 18k rose gold version comes with a “slate” dial, while the 18k white gold model features a black honeycomb grid as a dial, which highlights the components on the background.
On that day, a friend said to me that the most surprising feature was the tourbillon bridge on the dial and the 7-day power reserve display at 4 o’clock. This structure looks like a dartboard, which seems to be floating in the air.
This… everyone has something to do! Because this kind of swivel shape of the bridge does not make me feel the heartbeat faster, or is infected.
From the front, how are the parts of the movement that seem to be isolated from each other connected? Obviously, there must be some sort of connection system, and I have inferred that this connection is done by gears placed under the dial – perhaps at the back of the watch we can still see some of the jewels and hands. A portion of the hands drive train can be seen at the position between 9 o’clock and 12 o’clock on the dial. Connecting the tourbillon sub-gear and the reciprocating drive train gear and gear set is not visible. That is the advanced skills experience of Ulysse Nardin.
The tourbillon movement generally includes a main spring, a center wheel, and a third wheel that transmits power, while the fourth wheel is stationary (generally driving the escape wheel on a common movement). The third wheel drive connects the gears of the tourbillon frame, and the gears of the escape wheel rotate about a fixed fourth wheel. However, here I also saw some roulettes and gears between the main spring and the tourbillon, as well as the position behind the dial that directly connected the tourbillon.
Ulysse Nardin is particularly proud of the “Super Box Dome Sapphire Glass” crystal mirror used on their Freedom Wheel, and this thing is really amazing from the official photo. It looks like an aquarium, and the watch parts look like fish. These fish are protected from the outside world and float freely and freely.
Naturally, the overall layout of the dial and the many different parts are also very real from the side. I especially appreciate that this watch looks very light and smart – it doesn’t feel like the giant, but a product made up of very sophisticated components.
The rest is also cool, including a power reserve indicator, arranged at 4 o’clock on the dial, with a 3/4 rotating cam to show how much power reserve is left. The power reserve is shown by the rotation of the cam and the sharp pointer in the “back dart”. Another cool feature is that the extra long 7-day power reserve seems to be supported by a very large main spring or two barrels.
While demonstrating its Wheel of Freedom, Ulysse Nardin is also confident in its own skills. The concept is also very fascinating, precisely speaking, it is an increasingly difficult work in recent years. Although the 44 mm case doesn’t sound too small, when you know how much “content” is loaded in it, it’s very reasonable under the trend of large-size watches.