Where Does Ulysse Nardin Rank Amongst the Top Watchmakers?

[Eustace Tilley]

They have a few models I really like, as does Jaeger (a brand I am more familiar with). Can someone who knows about watches please comment on this brand and its reputation among aficionados?

 

[sho'nuff]

i know gdl can give you more info here, but from what ive seen they are a premier maker but they are a bit more flashy with alot of yellow gold and some gaudy pieces albeit excellent complications. they have minute repeaters and tourbillons and distinguished enamel-art from a renowned enamel artist on their world view type watches.

 

[TheFoo]

Originally Posted by Eustace Tilley

They have a few models I really like, as does Jaeger (a brand I am more familiar with). Can someone who knows about watches please comment on this brand and its reputation among aficionados?

It's well-reputed and known for being innovative and quirky. They were the first to use silicone in their movements (in the escapement) to reduce friction and have developed a diamond balance spring with superior stability. They are perhaps best known today for the 'Freak' series, which implements these innovations. Their lower-end models use modified out-sourced movements.

Also, they remain an independant entity. Most other big firms competing at the same level (JLC, IWC, Breguet, etc.) are owned by conglomerates.

 

[Eustace Tilley]

Thank you both - very helpful.

 

[15DollarMan]

Originally Posted by Eustace Tilley

They have a few models I really like, as does Jaeger (a brand I am more familiar with). Can someone who knows about watches please comment on this brand and its reputation among aficionados?

I think more pertinent questions would be:


Is UN is among the Top Watchmakers?

Is UN even mentioned when talk turns to Breguet, VC and Patek?

I don't FEEL this brand is among the top brands among the initiated. Certainly it makes an expensive, prestige wristwatch. Then again, so do another dozen brands, just as in the Style Forum universe we could talk about dozens of expensive brands, some with 'history' behind their names that do not really fall into the 'Top' of the industry.

Who would you consider is in the Top Watchmakers Category right now?

Maybe your definition of this group would help the answers be tailored to your tastes, so to speak.

 

[SoCal2NYC]

I would say that someone looking to buy a UN is probably going to be looking at buying something from IWC, Rolex or JLC. They do not have the finesse of Patek or VC. The one thing, like Mafoo said is that they are cutting edge in terms of some technology with silicon and diamonds.

 

[Cantabrigian]

I don't know what it is but something about their non-Freak designs leaves me cold.

Overall I think it's an interesting brand due to their association, more than any other brand's, in my mind with innovation.

 

[Eustace Tilley]

Well, I have always thought of the top as Lange, Patek, and Vacheron, with the Tier II guys as JLC, GP, Blancpain, AP, IWC etc. I was trying to determine if UN is Tier II worthy and it sounds like it is.

I place Breguet nowhere to be honest. They used to be a great watchmaker before their rebirth.

 

[TheFoo]

Originally Posted by 15DollarMan

Is UN is among the Top Watchmakers?

Is UN even mentioned when talk turns to Breguet, VC and Patek?

...

Who would you consider is in the Top Watchmakers Category right now?

To my mind, talk of the 'top watchmakers' is futile and always comes down to abitrary distinctions. In Asia, there are near-offical tiers mentioned in books and accepted by superficially-minded collectors. The top tier is composed of the three P's: Patek, Audemars Piguet, and Piaget (oddly). Rolex is third tier. Why is Piaget first tier and not the more traditionally prestigious Vacheron? Probably because 'three P's' is easy to remember; who knows. In the West, Piaget may be acknowledged to make some nice watches--but it's not a member of what many call the triumvirate: Patek, Vacheron, and Audemars.

But this typical western point-of-view is also flawed. Should the 'triumvirate' be considered superior to Lange, Jaeger LeCoultre, or IWC? Part of what is obscured by rote rankings is that the 'triumvirate' is better distinguished as representing the best of Genevan watchmaking--other regions have their own approaches. JLC is in the Valle de Joux, where most Swiss watchmakers are found. IWC is in Schaffhausen; it is the only watchmaker in the German-speaking region of Switzerland and the design of its watches reflects that. Lange isn't even in Switzerland; it's in Germany and it's watches show a very strong Germanic aesthetic, almost Bauhaus in some aspects.

We should concentrate less on rankings and tiers and simply be more aware of what objectively distinguishes one watch company from another.

Originally Posted by SoCal2NYC

I would say that someone looking to buy a UN is probably going to be looking at buying something from IWC, Rolex or JLC. They do not have the finesse of Patek or VC.

Originally Posted by Eustace Tilley

Well, I have always thought of the top as Lange, Patek, and Vacheron, with the Tier II guys as JLC, GP, Blancpain, AP, IWC etc. I was trying to determine if UN is Tier II worthy and it sounds like it is.

I place Breguet nowhere to be honest. They used to be a great watchmaker before their rebirth.

JLC and IWC do not have the finesse of Patek? Patek follows typically Genevan norms of watchmaking; there is much attention paid to bezeled edges and whimsical embellishment. IWC, in contrast, emphasizes precision in its movement design. You'll notice that bridge plates and other components appear to have no bezeling whatsosver. Rather, their edges are perfectly sharp. Surface finishing is precise and impeccable, but austere. Is that better or worse? What's superior in quality, a Mercedes or Jaguar?

JLC is harder to characterize. It's high-end watches match Patek in embellishment and what it loses in purity of design, it gains in the breadth of its offerings. The scope of its available combination of complications is perhaps the widest in the industry.

Despite Richemont's efforts to re-invent IWC's brand image, it offers perhaps the widest price range of fine watches in the industry. At the bottom end, you have the humble Portofino. At the top, you've got the Portuguese Tourbillion and Minute repeater, and the Grande Complication. It's perpetual calendar mechanism is widely considered the most elegant in the industry.

Consider this: the steel Portuguese 5001, containing a relatively simple movement with only a long power reserve and power reserve indicator as complications, costs as much as gold Lange 1815; the gold Portuguese costs the same as a gold Patek Calatrava; the platinum version of the Port costs much more than the platinum versions of either.

At the end, the point is that quality of finishing should be distinguished from style, and the brands of find Swiss watches tend to overlap much more than a ranking would suggest.

 

[itsstillmatt]

UN makes a lot of super interesting, super ugly watches. Their less complicated styles are nice, but not generally my aesthetic.

I don't really like the look of most Pateks or Audemars, but I am not sure why. I love VC, and think their aesthetic is just about perfect. Also a big fan of IWC and JLC. I have no idea which is better or worse.

 

[gdl203]

Very high reputation as a watchmaker. As mentioned above, designs are not for everyone. I think the Freak is an incredibly succesful design. I absolutely love the Sonata and the GMT perpetual. Some of the GMT+/- are interesting and IMO the most practical GMT time changing interface.

Agree with everything mafoo said above too (except for his usual IWC shill of course

)

 

[TheFoo]

Originally Posted by gdl203

Agree with everything mafoo said above too (except for his usual IWC shill of course

)

You can't shill if it's the truth!

 

[raphael]

Originally Posted by mafoofan

It's well-reputed and known for being innovative and quirky. They were the first to use silicone in their movements (in the escapement) to reduce friction and have developed a diamond balance spring with superior stability. They are perhaps best known today for the 'Freak' series, which implements these innovations. Their lower-end models use modified out-sourced movements.

Also, they remain an independant entity. Most other big firms competing at the same level (JLC, IWC, Breguet, etc.) are owned by conglomerates.

Quirky is right. I barely wear my UN and I've had to send it in to Boca Raton twice. Once for the paint in the hands peeling off and another time the chronograph pusher came right off in my hand.

$700 in repairs for a watch that cost $4000 to begin with and I almost never wear.

 

[Montesquieu]

Originally Posted by gdl203

Very high reputation as a watchmaker. As mentioned above, designs are not for everyone. I think the Freak is an incredibly succesful design. I absolutely love the Sonata and the GMT perpetual. Some of the GMT+/- are interesting and IMO the most practical GMT time changing interface.

Agree with everything mafoo said above too (except for his usual IWC shill of course

)

+1. I'm a big fan of both the Sonata and the GMT perpetual aesthetics. They're on my short consideration list for next watch purchase, along with a VC Malte GMT, IWC perpetual, and Lange GMT.

I own a Breguet and JLC reverso GMT today. Having asked myself the same question about reputation and quality of UN, I've concluded that it does belong on a short list based on the innovation of its movements.

 

[tazmaniac]

I live in Switzerland and am greatly interested in watches. I can certainly tell you UN are not very sought after. I recently saw a television report about them opening a boutique in Moscow. The impression I got was that they are very much focussing on the russian market nowadays and they seem to be quite popular there, hence the gaudy designs. Personally, I never liked them.