In a watch, one of the most annoying components is the crown. It’s often hard to pull out, requires work with fingernails, and I imagine, if you’re a woman, it risks messing up the manicure or the varnish. Especially if the watch is the last thing that you take out of the drawer, and you discover that it’s stopped and it needs rewinding and setting.
Jade shows how Ulysse Nardin have taken this into consideration (apparently based on a request in 2002 by Chai Schnyder, then chairwoman of the company, from her husband Rolf Schnyder). The crown doesn’t have to be pulled out to set the date and time: the pusher at 4 o’clock selects the crown function, with winding at position 1, quick backwards and forwards date adjustment at position 2, and time-setting at position 3. The indicator at 3 o’clock provides an indication as to which function has been selected. Jade was the first Ulysse Nardin watch for women with an in-house movement, the calibre UN-310, with a silicium escapement and 41 jewels. It is a self-winding movement with a power reserve of about 48 hours. The Jade was first presented in 2013; this model has a new dial design.
Case and dial
The case is slightly oval, 36 by 39 mm in diameter, a graceful composition in rose gold, diamonds and mother-of-pearl. It has lots of feminine whimsy, with incomplete numerals both for the hours and the seconds at the base of the dial: the date window is the most sedate and serious part of the piece. The crown position indicators are in the form of three differently-sized diamonds. In total, there are 78 diamonds, 1.176 carats. The crown is particularly attractive, in rose gold with inset mother-of-pearl beads. The watch has a sapphire caseback revealing the movement.
In the photos below, the UN-310 movement, and the caseback:
Reference
The Ulysse Nardin Jade has reference 3106-125B/591. It is available in Ulysse Nardin boutiques as from now (October 2015), price €25,500.
