Jade is one of the few women’s watches to have been designed with specific consideration for female users. According to legend, it was Chai Schnyder (at that time chairwoman of Ulysse Nardin) who asked her husband Rolf Schnyder (then president and CEO) for the crown function selector and indicator back in 2002. Its main characteristic is the fact that you don’t have to pull out the crown to change time and date. The pusher at 4 o’clock is pressed to change function, and the time-date-winding functions are shown by an indicator on the dial, with diamonds showing the three positions (winding on the right, date in the middle, time on the left). Changing the date is simplified by the movement that enables quick setting both forwards and backwards.

The watch movement has an escapement and balance spring in silicium, which ensures that the watch is not affected by magnetic fields. The UN-310 movement is self-winding, running at 28,800 vibrations per hour, with a power reserve of about 48 hours. The rotor is mounted on oil-free ceramic ball bearings to increase durability.

The design is something of a classic, with a slightly flattened oval shape (36 x 39 mm), and the swirling lines of numerals that expand and contract in size, and are interrupted in their sequence, continued by lines on the mother-of-pearl dial base or by diamond-set curves. In total there are 78 diamonds, for just under 1.2 carats total weight. Pusher and crown are in stainless steel, and the crown has an attractive pearl-set design.

The case is water-resistant to 30 metres and has a sapphire crystal revealing the movement. The watch is mounted on a satin strap with folding buckle.

Price and reference

The Ulysse Nardin Jade in stainless steel, reference 3103-125B/591.3, costs 12,900 euro, Swiss francs or dollars. Click here to read about the 2015 rose gold variant.