Wristwatches · Wristwatch
Ulysse Nardin Mono Pusher Chronograph 18kt Yellow Gold, 1930s
- Maker / attribution
- Ulysse Nardin (maker)
- Date
- 1930s
- Historical period
- Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
- Country of origin
- Switzerland
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Materials / technique
- yellow gold
- Dimensions
- Case 33 mm
- Stock no.
- W-2690
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Bulang & Sons (W-2690)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Ulysse Nardin Mono Pusher Chronograph 18kt Yellow Gold (English)
View the source record (dealer listing) ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction
Record summary
Catalogued by Bulang & Sons (dealer), Copenhagen (stock number W-2690), this is a wristwatch by Ulysse Nardin, made in Switzerland, dated 1930s. The Atlas places it in the Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking period (1900 – 1945) of its Wristwatches collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: yellow gold. Recorded dimensions: Case 33 mm. The record is illustrated with 6 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Dealer description — Bulang & Sons
This is wonderfully sized Ulysse Nardin yellow gold chronograph in a 33mm mono pusher case. Established in 1846, Ulysse Nardin SA emerged from Le Locle, Switzerland, to become a renowned manufacture of marine chronometers and complicated watches that were extensively used by naval forces around the globe. The original black dial is in stunning original condition, with gold accents including the base 1000 tachymeter scale, Arabic hours and two sub dials. The hands are delicate in yellow gold with an interesting big arrow on the minutes sub register. The Ulysse Nardin text is in white. The case has a delicate winding crown and one olive-form pusher at two o’clock. The watch has been fully serviced by our watchmaker and comes on the pictured Bulang and Sons leather strap. It feels like vintage chronograph season here at Bulang and Sons! Please check out our world-class selection and get in touch discuss any of them! Specifications: - Ulysse Nardin Chronograph - 33mm yellow gold case - Serial 390xxx dates to the 1930s - Black two-register chronograph dial - Manual wind Valjoux 23 movement - Pictured leather strap - Fully serviced by our watchmaker
Historical context
Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
The wristwatch displaces the pocket watch; waterproof cases, self-winding and grand complications.
The wristwatch overtook the pocket watch. Military use in the First World War, aviation, water-resistant cases (1926), automatic winding (1923–31), rectangular Art Deco designs and early chronographs and calendars defined the period.
Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Industrial Revolution
Atlas type guide
Chronographs and split-seconds watches
A chronograph is a watch with an additional seconds hand that can be started, stopped and returned to zero independently of the timekeeping. Louis Moinet built an early example in 1816 and Nicolas Rieussec a recording 'chronographe' in 1821; Adolphe Nicole's heart-shaped reset cam (patented 1862) made the modern return-to-zero possible. Split-seconds (rattrapante) chronographs add a second hand that can be stopped for intermediate times; flyback chronographs restart instantly.
Chronographs were essential tools for doctors (pulsometer scales), artillery (telemeter), engineers and sport. In wristwatches, Valjoux, Venus, Lemania and later the automatic chronographs of 1969 (Zenith El Primero, the Chronomatic Calibre 11 group and Seiko 6139) are milestones.
What to look for
- Push-pieces on the case band or a single button in the crown (monopusher).
- Subsidiary registers for minutes and hours; tachymeter, telemeter or pulsometer scales.
- Column wheel versus cam control visible in the movement.
- Calibre markings of specialist makers (Valjoux, Lemania, Venus, Landeron).
Dating clues
- Pocket chronographs with heart cam reset: after 1862.
- Wrist chronographs: from c. 1910; two-button designs from the 1930s.
- Automatic chronographs: from 1969.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
Read next:Flyback chronographChronograph
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