Ulysse Nardin Goes Shark Hunting With Three New Diver Chronographs

Last week, maritime-focused Swiss watch manufacturer Ulysse Nardin launched the latest expansion to its Diver collection, the revamped Diver Chronograph 44mm. This latest update to the collection comes on the heels of the release of the Diver X and Lady Diver watches, which debuted last month, and the 2018 release of the time-only Diver 42mm and 44mm watches, marking a continued effort by the brand to expand the appeal of its sportiest family to a larger, luxury-focused audience.

The new Diver Chronograph 44mm is available in three colorways: black and titanium, blue and rose gold, and a novelty blue, red, and titanium “Hammerhead Shark” special numbered edition leading the trio. The 44-mm case is thickly built, with screw-down chronograph pushers and crown on its right side, and a brand-signature, inverted concave unidirectional rotating bezel filled with a rubberized material and meant to optimize underwater functionality and readability. The dial of the watch features thick, applied rectangular hour markers, with printed minute markers in between. At the 3, 6, and 9 o’clock positions are subdials for 30-minute and 12-hour chronograph counters and running seconds, respectively, while the 6 o’clock subdial also features a subtle, round date indicator. Passing over the dial are two large, paddle-like hands determining the hour and minute, while a simple pointer is used for the chronograph seconds.

The new models each use the in-house caliber UN-150, an automatic movement capable of a 52-hour power reserve. The titanium and rose gold editions both include a sapphire caseback window showcasing this movement, while the limited-edition Hammerhead model opts for a solid caseback featuring the engraved image of the shark for which it’s named. Each of these watches fasten to the wrist with a Ulysse Nardin-signed rubber bracelet.

The most prominent of the three new Divers is clearly the Diver Chronograph 44mm Hammerhead Shark Limited Edition model, which besides using a different colorway and caseback, also adds a special numbering plate on the side of its case, and the outline of a hammerhead shark on the rubber strap. With this model, Ulysse Nardin continues a trend of naming its special-edition dive watches after iconic sharks, having previously released the Diver Great White 44mm and the Diver Blue Shark 42mm. It’s also a continuation of the Le Locle-based manufacturer’s use of the special, blue-and-red Hammerhead colorway that it has also used on previous watches — and which it will likely to continue using for future special editions.

The Hammerhead model will begin in pricing at $11,900 and will be limited to 300 numbered editions, while the non-limited titanium model will be priced at $11,500 and the rose gold, also non-limited, at $38,500.