Ulysse Nardin Stranger – a Music Box on the Wrist

Ulysse Nardin presents a world first: a wrist watch with a music box, called Stranger. Why this name you might wonder? That’s because it plays the melody “Strangers in the Night”. This brilliant masterpiece was created by Dieter Meier, the “Godfather of Techno-Music“ who scored hits under the name Yello, and Dr. Ludwig Oechslin.

Ludwig Oechslin is of course no ‘stranger’ (pun intended) for Monochrome readers, as we know him from the MIH Watch and Ochs und Junior (check here and here and here). But Oechslin has a long relationship with Ulysse Nardin, which grabs back to him developing the legendary Freak, the Trilogy of Time collection – comprising the Astrolabium Galileo Galilei, Planetarium Copernicus and Tellurium Johannes Kepler – and the GMT± Perpétuel, boasting an unusual perpetual calendar with a second time zone that can be adjusted forward or backward. We could go on about Oechslin’s genius, however a recommended read is his biography, as published on the Ulysse Nardin website (click here).

The Stranger emulates a classical music box, but is worn on the wrist and the action of its mechanism can be admired through a sapphire crystal. The melody “Strangers in the Night” can be heard hourly or on call by actuating a pusher. Winding, adjusting the date and setting time  can be done by means of the integral pusher crown. The crown function is activated by a pusher instead of pulling the crown out in the traditional way. After selecting what should be done (winding, adjusting date or setting time), the crown is simply turned forwards or backwards.

The on/off pusher which enables the musical mechanism to be activated or deactivated is located at 10 o’clock. This enables the melody to be programmed to play on the hour or not at all.

Stranger also incorporates silicium technology for the escapement and anchor of its in-house manufactured UN-690 movement. Stranger is being made in a limited numbered edition of 99 pieces in rose gold.

More information can be found on the Ulysse Nardin website and of course we’ll show you photos after our meeting with Ulysse Nardin at Baselworld!