Ulysse Nardin Diver NET Vendée Globe

As the 10th edition of the world’s largest solo, non-stop, unassisted round-the-world sailing race gets underway, Ulysse Nardin announces the most sustainable watch the company has ever made.

The independant Swiss watch maison Ulysse Nardin, that has been disrupting haute horlogerie since 1846, is excited to introduce the Diver NET Vendée Globe, a maverick watch created for the freaks of the high seas, the yachtsmen and women who take part in the brutal Vendée Globe.

Ulysse Nardin, the pioneer of precision that built its name supplying accurate, reliable marine chronometers to the world’s navies in the 19th century, will serve as an Official Partner and the Official Timekeeper of the Vendée Globe for the second time, having first performed the role in 2020-21. The Vendée Globe is contested once every four years.

The 300-piece limited-edition Diver NET Vendée Globe is inspired not just by the race and the courageous men and women who compete in it, but also by the company’s vision to produce sustainable watches that highlight the fragility of the world’s oceans and the impact of global warming.

The boundary-pushing watch contains an incredible catalogue of recycled and upcycled materials, including recycled steel, upcycled carbon fibre and recycled fishing nets. More disruptive still, the movement’s escapement is produced from upcycled silicon. Together, these pioneering, environment-first elements make the Diver NET Vendée Globe the most sustainable watch ever to emerge from Ulysse Nardin’s historic Le Locle manufacture.

The Everest of the Seas

Only just over half the contenders who take part in the Vendée Globe complete the challenge. To cross the finish line, these freaks of the high seas must Endure months on the water, overcoming the elements and stretching their minds and bodies beyond the limit.

Backstory

The Vendée Globe is a wild and difficult journey undertaken only by dreamers, mavericks and people who believe the impossible can be made possible. Since it was first held in 1989, only 200 sailors have taken part in the Vendée Globe round-the-world race, and only just over half of those – 114 in total – have finished it. Because the race is solo, non-stop, unassisted and contested without any third-party technical or race support, skippers must have immense skill, resilience and determination, and perhaps a little luck, too.

The race is known as “the Everest of the Seas”, although far more people have now scaled the world’s highest mountain than completed the Vendée Globe, making it arguably the ultimate test of human endurance. Racers must overcome extreme weather, freezing temperatures, giant waves, exhaustion, loneliness, (all but inevitable) damage to their boats and perhaps also illness and injury if they are to complete the 45,000-kilometre (24,300-mile) course.

For company, they have only their boats. The rules state these monohulls must measure 18.28 (60 feet) in length for a 4.50-metre draught. They have huge sails that help them achieve a maximum downwind speed of almost 40 knots, making them the world’s most powerful monohulls led by a solo skipper.

This year marks the 10th edition of the Vendée Globe. A record 40 skippers will start the race, which begins on 10 November 2024 in the bay of Les Sables d’Olonne on the Atlantic coast of western France. The course will take them south to South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, across the Indian and Pacific Oceans and past Australia’s Cape Leeuwin and South America’s Cape Horn, before returning them north to the finish line back at Les Sables d’Olonne. The race distance is theoretical: many sailors will cover more than 50,000 kilometres (31,000 miles) as they zig-zag across the seas in search of the best conditions.

How long will it take? Hard to say. It’s expected that the winner will cross the finish line in January, after at least 70 days without stepping foot on dry land. In 2017, Armel Le Cléac’h won the race in a record 74 days. Skippers must finish the race within the time achieved by the last competitor to complete the course in the 2020-21 edition of the race, set at 116 days, 18 hours, 15 mins and 46 secs.

It’s hard. Brutal, even.

Diver NET Vendée Globe

Ulysse Nardin’s new watch is a beautifully crafted maverick, featuring a wild catalogue of upcycled and recycled materials that make it the most sustainable watch the company has ever made.

The watch 

For an impossible race, an impossible watch. For this 10th edition of the Vendée Globe, Ulysse Nardin, the disruptive independent watchmaker, has created the Diver NET Vendée Globe. This convention-defying watch is based on the Ulysse Nardin Diver, a high-performance dive watch that builds on the Swiss company’s unique maritime heritage, which began almost 180 years ago.

It comes with 300 metres of water resistance, a uni-directional rotating bezel for timing dives, lumed detailing, and a clearly visible running seconds hand that indicates the watch is operational.

The Diver NET Vendée Globe pushes design and technical boundaries to become the most sustainable watch the company has ever made by using state-of-the-art upcycled and recycled materials such as CarbonFoil and NyloFoil. Only 300 pieces will be made.

As well as being highly sustainable, some of the elements tell the story of the race and the partnership between Ulysse Nardin and the Vendée Globe. For example, the recycled fishing nets used in the watch’s flanks, lugs and case back were sourced directly from Les Sables d’Olonne where the race will begin. The nets were collected by an independent fisherman called Florian, who passed them to the French recycling company Fil & Fab, Ulysse Nardin’s long-term partner.

Ulysse Nardin is passionate about sustainability and aligns with the Vendée Globe’s “One Globe, One Ocean” mission, using the race to raise awareness of ocean conservation and focus the world’s attention on the continuing threats of climate change and pollution.

Technical specifications

Ulysse Nardin Diver NET Vendée Globe

Reference: 1183-170LE-2A-VG/0B (red strap)

Reference: 1183-170LE-2A-VG/0A (grey strap)

Limited edition of 300 pieces

Case

• Material: 95 per cent recycled steel container and NyloFoil (recycled fishing nets and upcycled carbon fibre) case flanks and lugs
• Bezel: CarbonFoil (upcycled carbon fibre)
• Case back: NyloFoil (recycled fishing nets and upcycled carbon fibre)
• Diameter: 44 mm
• Thickness: 14.81 mm
• Water-resistant to 300 metres

Dial and hands

• The grey sandblasted dial is decorated with a red and blue X to echo the official colours of the Vendée Globe.

Movement

• Caliber UN-118 Manufacture
• Automatic movement
• Hours, minutes, small seconds, date, power reserve indicator
• Antimagnetic silicon and DIAMonSIL escapement from upcyced silicon wafer
• Number of parts: 260
• Number of jewels: 50
• Frequency: 4hz, oscillations 28’800 v/h

Functions/Indications

• Hours, minutes, seconds
• Date: Secreted into the small seconds indicator at 6 o’clock is a round date window. The dates are all in blue, with the exception of the 10th, which appears in red to mark the 10th edition of the Vendée Globe and the race departure date of 10 November 2024.
• Power reserve indicator at 12 o'clock

Strap and buckle

• Red strap made partly from recycled fishing nets
• Grey strap made from recycled fishing nets
• Both with scratch closing

MSRP

• CHF 13'500 (8.1% VAT incl.)
• EUR 14'400 (21% VAT incl.)
• GBP 12'540 (20% VAT incl.)
• USD 14'200 (VAT excluded)

For more information, please visit ulysse-nardin.com