Ulysse Nardin

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A great watch – but no!

Dear watch friends, I’m only checking in now because, as you might have experienced, the site was down for a few hours.

I had the chance to take a close look at the Ulysse Nardin Diver [Air], a watch that fascinates me from a technical standpoint (see also my first thread) – not once, but twice, at my favorite dealer: first last Wednesday, and again yesterday.

I needed that second visit because, well… the spark just didn’t fly the first time.

Yes, the watch is fantastic. It’s incredibly light, brilliantly engineered. There’s a lot to read about it – the advanced materials, the 5000 G shock resistance, and so on.

Readability in normal daylight is okay, but not exactly outstanding.





In the somewhat darker private room I was invited to, the legibility wasn’t great unless the lume indices were active – then it had a bit of a „Panerai feel“ to it.




The design is very technical and it wears amazingly well – no question – but it simply doesn’t speak to me visually.

And then there’s a practical point. I’ve spent quite some time thinking about water resistance, and I’m convinced that for actual watersports – not just swimming in a pool or lake, but waterskiing in the sea, for example – you really need 300 meters of WR to feel safe and equipped.

The Diver [Air], however, is rated to 200 meters and doesn’t feature a protected crown. That made me question whether it could reliably handle stronger water impact.

But the most important point: I always say a watch needs to win me over 100%. It must appeal to me emotionally – and that, of course, is a highly subjective thing.
And that’s precisely where the Diver [Air], despite all its technical brilliance, didn’t quite make the cut for me.

So – I’m passing on it. Not with a heavy heart, actually quite a light one.

Because I found something else. Something I didn’t plan to buy, didn’t expect to love – but I did. And I’m truly happy with it.

More on that in another thread. 😊