Marcus Hanke shares a detailed account of his Ulysse Nardin Planetarium's service experience after seven years of continuous wear. This post offers valuable insights into the longevity of high complications and the meticulous process of factory servicing.
Since seven years I have the joy to own the wonderful Ulysse Nardin
Planetarium, part of the famous astronomical "Trilogy of Time". This
creation by Professor Oechslin is already a modern classic in the
history of watchmaking, as well a milestone in UN's company
chronicle.
Within these seven years, I did not hide this watch in a bank vault,
but wore it very frequently 24 hours a day. Consequently, the case
began showing traces of wear:
Many
fine scratches became apparent on the yellow golden case, and, within
the last year, some of the black inlays of the engraved Roman numerals
on the bezel disappeared:
All
this did not disturb me, but then I noticed tiny black particles
appearing in the movement. This apparently were traces of solidified
lubricating substances, emerging from around the mainspring barrel. I
started to get worried, and contacted Ulysse Nardin's after dales
service department. They advised me - what else? - to send them the
watch, and warned me to wear it longer, since I was risking damage to
the movement.
Note the lube particles, originating from somewhere near the mainspring barrel on the left, having dispersed over all the movement
Shortly after they had the watch, I received their
cost calculation (*gulp*), which included not only the complete
cleaning and service, but also the replacement of the hands, since they
were still equipped with tritium-based luminous mass, that had already
faded. Finally, a complete refurbishment of the case should also be
executed. Altogether, the price indicated was high, but still very
fair, given the complicated nature of the movement's mechanism. I know
that other companies do charge substantially more for a service on
complicated watches.
Six weeks later, I received the message
that my Planetarium was ready, and somewhen during August, I personally
picked it up in Le Locle. Until this week, I had not even retrieved it
from its protective packing, there was the vacation , and many things
to look after. Finally, I waited with unpacking the watch until I got
my new photography flash unit, since I wanted to try that with a
service-fresh and untouched watch. Now here are the results:
As
can be seen here, not only the case was polished and refreshed very
well, but also the missing black inlays of the Roman numerals were
replaced. Unfortunately,it is very difficult to photograph this watch,
due to the domed crystal, that is lacking any anti-reflective coating.
Somewhere, there is always a bright area that is caught and reflected
on the crystal.
The new hands now have SuperLuminova on them.
Also the gold-plated movement is shining freshly again, after a thorough cleaning.
Finally,
I took the opportunity to examine the watch under my cheap electronic
200x microscope that I had purchased some time ago, via Ebay. The
resulting pictures are of poor quality, but offer a certain fascinating
abstractiveness.
Movement details
The
planets' names are perfectly hand-engraved into tiny golden plates,
that are inset into the galvanized rings. The high quality of these
details is clearly revealed by the microscope.
I am really glad to have back my favourite timepiece!
Regards,
Marcus
