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Ulysse Nardin Marine Chronometer 263-22
A marine chronometer is a precise, accurate timepiece that can be
used to determine a ship's longitude. To locate one's position
on the earth's surface, one needs to know one's north-south
coordinate (lattitude) and east-west coordinate (longitude).
For centuries, sailors had a number of celestial techniques to
accurately determine their lattitude. But there was no way to
determing where they were on that east-west line. Dead reckoning was
the method used most often by sailors to "guesstimate"
distance traveled but it was notoriously inaccurate.
Prior to the development of chronometers in the mid-eighteenth
century, ships at sea were pretty much lost once they left sight of
land. Yes, you would eventually arrive at your destination but
your ship might be destroyed against a rocky shore in the middle of
the night since you didn't know how close you were to making
landfall. How do you ration food and water if you don't know when you
will reach land -- tomorrow or a week from now? This problem was
responsible for so much loss of life and destruction of ships that
the English Parliment passed the Longitude Act in 1714 establishing a
Longitude Board to provide monitary rewards to anyone who could
devise a simple, consistent method of determining longitude.
The marine chronometer, which solved the problem, was a huge
technical achievement in its time and the life-long work of an
English tinkerer/craftsman, John Harrison, with no formal training in
making clocks -- a fascinating story in itself. Ziggy
Wesolowski in Military Timepieces calls the quest for an
accurate naval chronometer the Genesis story of the military timepiece.
To determine one's longitude, ships first had to synchronize their
chronometers when they set sail to a standard time at the Royal
Observatory in Greenwich England at Longitude zero. While at
sea, the navigator could compare local time (using a sextant and the
sun's position) with the time at zero longitude (Greenwich time) and
convert the time difference into distance from zero longitude.
But with GPS devices, who needs chronometers? Your GPS tells
you exactly where you are anywhere in the world. The US Naval
Academy in Annapolis, MD, has recently returned celestial navigation
to the curriculum. In a serious conflict between superpowers,
destroying the enemy's navigational satellites will be an early
strategic objective. Without the satellites, your GPS becomes a paperweight.
The Swiss company, Ulysse Nardin, has been making fine timepieces
since 1846 and this watch commemorates their achievements in marine
chronometers. There are several versions of this watch (white
dials, blue dials, Arabic numerals and Roman numerals) but the white
dial with Roman numerals is the most desirable since it most
resembles the original boxed chronometer [click
here]. Listed on the titanium back [click
here] are the 18 gold medals that Ulysse Nardin marine
chronometers have won in world-wide competitions.
Each numbered watch is crafted from 316L stainless steel, 38mm in
diameter with a screw-down crown, water resistant to 200m [click
here]. The high-grade, self-winding, hacking movement has
28 jewels and oscillates at 28000/hr (4hz). The dial has an
up-down indicator that shows the winding reserve of the
mainspring. When fully wound the watch will run for 42
hrs. The crystal is sapphire [click here].
The beautiful screwed-link bracelet is very comfortable and has all links.
This watch has just returned from the Ulysse Nardin Factory Service
Center in Boca Ratton, Florida, where the movement was disassembled,
cleaned, lubricated, and regulated. It keeps excellent
time. The case and bracelet were polished and the watch looks
like new. Comes with the Ulysse Nardin 1-year factory warranty,
the original inner and outer boxes, instructions and polishing cloth [click
here]. A stunning watch and you won't find a nicer example.
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