Ulysse Nardin Year of the Serpent & Dragon Enamel Dials

GLau shares his journey of acquiring the Ulysse Nardin Year of the Serpent watch, creating a 'serendipitous' pair with his existing Year of the Dragon timepiece. His post offers a detailed comparison of the enamel dials, highlighting the intricate craftsmanship and artistic nuances that distinguish these limited-edition pieces.

Hi All,

Following my last post about 10 months ago on the serendipity of getting my Ulysse Year of the Dragon watch (link below), another serendipitous event happened again for the Year of the Snake !!  Photos of the brothers are attached.

ulyssenardin.watchprosite.com

As someone born in the Year of the Dragon, I was happy and content to have this unique watch with a nice number out of 88.  Upon researching more on the enamel work by Donze and the Serpent watch, I liked the Serpent more and more.  Thinking more about the snake being referred to as “small dragon” by Chinese culture, I found a reason (actually more of an excuse) to get the Serpent.  Upon calling my AD, there were only a few pieces left.  Serendipity:  AD later told me a few days later that the same number out of 88 was available for me!!  Without hesitation, I told my AD to get it.

Got this younger brother of the Dragon a few days ago and the close inspection process is still continuing with the loupe.  Below are some observations:

• Each of the leaf in the background has very fine lines running from one end to the other
• The small spaces between the leaves have small dots in them (just like the ones in the head, arm,legs and tail of the Dragon) and to me they represent the pebbles on the ground
• The Snake is 3D in that the motif has the upper body (with smaller scales) and underbelly with bigger scales
• The head of the Snake has several colors and different shading for the same color, and likewise scales behind the head are the same, whereas the scales of the Dragon contains the same color and shade
• The mouth of the Snake is red and has very fine lines running from one end to another, whereas the Dragon contains pinkish dots
• Both the Snake and Dragon are fierce but I find the Snake more fierce because of the shaped eye vs round eyes for the Dragon
• The Snake has nostrils and the Dragon does not
• The Snake contains 1 more color (7 in total=brown, green, blue, red, black, white / pink, and gold wire) than the Dragon (6 in total=orange, yellow, blue, pink, black and gold wire)
• The Dragon itself is more colorful and jumps out more because of the orange and yellow colors on the body
• The brown color (for the leaves) as the background of the dial for the Serpent watch matches the rose gold case better than the blue enamel (without details) of the Dragon
• The colors of the Dragon match the rose case better than the Snake (green, blue predominantly)
• Overall, the Snake has even more intricate details than the Dragon (which I did not think could be outdone)
• More respect gained for UN's email work

I love both equally (same as my twins).

I cannot wait to see the Horse watch in the metal for the coming Chinese New Year.  I might be tempted again !!

Wondering if another serendipitous event will occur for the Year of the Horse.  If this happens, then I need to get the Year of the Goat (or another Zodiac) so that each twin can have 2 watches eventually.

Thanks for reading and appreciate your thoughts and comments on these two enamel dials and what you like or dislike along with reasons.

Gordon