Ulysse Nardin

Marcus Hanke
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Back from service ...

Since seven years I have the joy to own the wonderful Ulysse Nardin Planetarium, part of the famous astronomical "Trilogy of Time". This creation by Professor Oechslin is already a modern classic in the history of watchmaking, as well a milestone in UN's company chronicle.

Within these seven years, I did not hide this watch in a bank vault, but wore it very frequently 24 hours a day. Consequently, the case began showing traces of wear:

All this did not disturb me, but then I noticed tiny black particles appearing in the movement. This apparently were traces of solidified lubricating substances, emerging from around the mainspring barrel. I started to get worried, and contacted Ulysse Nardin's after dales service department. They advised me - what else? - to send them the watch, and warned me to wear it longer, since I was risking damage to the movement.

Note the lube particles, originating from somewhere near the mainspring barrel on the left, having dispersed over all the movement

Shortly after they had the watch, I received their cost calculation (*gulp*), which included not only the complete cleaning and service, but also the replacement of the hands, since they were still equipped with tritium-based luminous mass, that had already faded. Finally, a complete refurbishment of the case should also be executed. Altogether, the price indicated was high, but still very fair, given the complicated nature of the movement's mechanism. I know that other companies do charge substantially more for a service on complicated watches.

Six weeks later, I received the message that my Planetarium was ready, and somewhen during August, I personally picked it up in Le Locle. Until this week, I had not even retrieved it from its protective packing, there was the vacation , and many things to look after. Finally, I waited with unpacking the watch until I got my new photography flash unit, since I wanted to try that with a service-fresh and untouched watch. Now here are the results:

As can be seen here, not only the case was polished and refreshed very well, but also the missing black inlays of the Roman numerals were replaced. Unfortunately,it is very difficult to photograph this watch, due to the domed crystal, that is lacking any anti-reflective coating. Somewhere, there is always a bright area that is caught and reflected on the crystal.

The new hands now have SuperLuminova on them.

Also the gold-plated movement is shining freshly again, after a thorough cleaning.

Finally, I took the opportunity to examine the watch under my cheap electronic 200x microscope that I had purchased some time ago, via Ebay. The resulting pictures are of poor quality, but offer a certain fascinating abstractiveness.

Movement details