It is one of the most beautiful timepieces of the year. It is the Quadrato Dual Time Perpetual. Technically and stylistically, Ulysse Nardin demonstrates its mastery over time with this perpetual calendar, which also features a double time zone and a large square case (42 mm x 42 mm with a thickness of 13.7 mm).
Let’s look at this technically first. In this automatic watch (45 hours of power reserve), equipped with a 68-jewel UN-32 Calibre movement, we find the famous device developed by Ludwig Oechslin for correcting the hours, by jumping ahead or back. To advance or retard the hour hand, one simply presses one of the two pushbuttons, (+) or (-), situated at 5 o’clock or 7 o’clock. (One push equals one hour.)
This very simple yet remarkable mechanism is completed with a 24-hour hand shaped like an arrow that can be alternately used as either the ‘home time’ or as a second time zone, depending on the wearer’s choice.
Added to this device is the perpetual calendar mechanism, which is directly synchronized with the hour hand. The display for the large date, day, month and year change automatically as a function of the adjustments made with the (+) or (-) pushbuttons. However, this perpetual calendar can also be moved ahead or back thanks to a rapid corrector device integrated into the crown. This is, to our knowledge, the only watch in the world that allows such a correction, and with such simplicity. (Three different patents protect these mechanisms.)
This remarkable movement is enhanced by the resolutely ‘retro’ look of its square case, crafted in pink or white gold. Its particular shape is accentuated by the square 24-hour scale (which begins at 6 o’clock), and by the square window showing the small seconds, as well as the perpetual calendar displays. The classic appeal of the colours and surface treatments (black grained dial or white silvered dial), raised indexes, and large hands, hollowed in the centre, all offer surprisingly good time readability.




Source: February - March 2006 Issue