History of Ulysse Nardin
Ulysse Nardin’s story started in 1846 when a young visionary watchmaking apprentice in Le Locle, Switzerland, decided to strike out on his own. Ulysse Nardin began by making precision marine chronometers. By the 1860s, his name was well known worldwide for highly complicated watches, such as minute repeaters and pocket chronometers. Unfortunately, Ulysse Nardin died prematurely at the age of 53 years old.
His son Paul-David Nardin took over and soon won a Gold Medal at the Paris Universal Exhibition for his pocket and marine chronometers. Paul-David lived up to his father’s reputation for technical innovation. By the 1900s, he had fitted nine pocket chronometers with tourbillon escapements and was awarded three Swiss patents for his inventions. By 1975, Ulysse Nardin had 4,324 watchmaking awards, 2411 special prices for marine chronometers, of which 1069 were first prices, 14 awards, and numerous international patents.