By Dhananjay Pathak
Ulysse Nardin has a deep rooted association with the sea and that is showcased through the brands Marine watch collection. This collection comprises of watches which have been inspired by the marine chronometers clocks of the past, which were highly accurate specialized clocks used on ship decks and were helpful in finding longitude at sea. Earlier this year the brand added a new member to its marine collection in the form of the Marine Torpilleur, and that is now being followed up by the Ulysse Nardin Marine Torpilleur Military giving a glimpse of the brands preparation for SIHH2018. This watch drops the classic and relatively dressy look of the Marine Torpilleur in favor of a more casual and field watch oriented appeal. Let’s have a closer look.
High legibility and supreme accuracy are one of the few key attributes of a marine chronometer and the Ulysse Nardin Marine Torpilleur Military looks like a winner on both these fronts. Let’s start by talking about the dial first. With the dial of this watch the brand is going for a much cleaner look as compared to the slightly crowded dial of the Marine Torpilleur. Roman numerals have now been replaced Arabic numerals and that along with the removal of the power reserve indicator at 12 give the dial sense of airiness, which should make for a more pleasant experience in reading the time. The Arabic numerals have also been coated with super-luminova which would make it possible to read time in even low light conditions and is certainly a paramount attribute of a military watch. There is a large subsidiary second’s dial at 6 which has also been sanitized like the rest of the dial by excluding the date window and also replacing the “Chronometre watch” text signifying that the watch is accurate within COSC specifications with just two characters “C.W.”. One of my favorite details on this dial is the serial number below the 60 second marker on the oversized seconds dial, which has been rendered in red giving the otherwise plain dial some pop of color.
The watch comes in a rather large 44mm case, and although the bigger case size holds true to the spirit of marine chronometers it would also mean that it would be a tad difficult for people with smaller wrists to pull this one off easily. The case has also been bead blasted giving it raw and industrial look and also present is the fluted bezel which can be seen doing the duty on quite a few other watches from the brand. On top of the watch is a sapphire crystal, whereas the brand has opted for a closed case back on this model which has been deeply stamped with the image of a Torpilleur boat. This I feel is a strange move, as the UN-118 movement which powers this watch is rather a nice looking movement and can be seen in its full glory on the original Marine Torpilleur which also features a similar water resistance of 50 metres. The UN-118 is an automatic self-winding movement which operates at a frequency of 28800 bph, is COSC certified as indicated by the ‘C.W.’ text and offers a nice power reserve of 50 hours.
The Ulysse Nardin Marine Torpilleur Military is an interesting watch that in my opinion adds some diversity to the brands marine collection and makes for a compelling option for someone looking to own an Ulysse Nardin with all the signature bells and whistles but with a distinctive military style dial. The watch would be available in two different variants: An eggshell white dial with blackened hands and tan leather strap. And a black dial with orange Arabic numerals, super-luminova coated hands and a black leather strap. Both the variants would be produced in limited quantities of 299 pieces each and the watch would retail at a price of 7900 CHF.
