Pre-Baselworld: Ulysse Nardin “Stranger”


Earlier this week, Ulysse Nardin released the Stranger timepiece which emulates a classical music box and plays “Stranger in the Night” every hour, or on call. The timepiece is signed by Ulysse Nardin’s partner and musician, Dieter Meier. It will be produced in a limited of 99 pieces.

The Stranger is housed in a 45 mm 18K rose gold case and is powered by caliber UN-690, a self-winding movement with 64 jewels and a power reserve of 48-hours. Ulysse Nardin has incorporate silicon technology for the escapement and anchor of its in-house manufactured UN-690 movement. Functions include hours, minutes and small seconds.

“To set the time, the crown function is activated by a pusher instead of pulling the crown out in the traditional way. This masterpiece enables the owner to adjust the time with exceptional ease.

The melody ‘Strangers in the Night’ can be heard hourly or on call by actuating a pusher. Several different functions can be set by means of the integral pusher crown including winding, advancing or retarding the date and correcting the time. To do so, the crown is simply turned forwards or backwards. The on/off pusher which enables the musical mechanism to be activated or deactivated is located at 10 o’clock. This enables the melody to be programmed to play on the hour or not at all.”

The dial features Roman numeral hour markers, a small seconds display at 6 o’clock and a visible music box mechanism on rotating disc with 10 blades. The dial is protected by an anti-reflective sapphire crystal and the case back is solid with a medallion engraving. Delivered on a leather strap with a rose gold folding buckle.

Development of this timepiece took five years. And judging from the photos and description, it looks like it was worth the wait. (Ref. 6902-125)

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