Ulysse Nardin pays tribute to HMS Caesar, the Royal Navy seafarer, with a watch that features the HMS Caesar in all of her splendor, its regal red flag drawing the eye in to view the intricacy of the cloisonné dial. This special timepiece combines great mechanical features with the lost art of enameling.
HMS Caesar, an eighty-gun ship of the Royal Navy was launched on November 16, 1793. The ship, named after Julius Caesar, was designed by Sir Edward Hunt, and built at the Plymouth Dockyard. It became known as a fierce fighting ship, most notably remembered as one of six British ships in the famous 1801 Battle of Algeciras Bay, between an allied French-Spanish fleet and the British near Gibraltar.
In the Battle of Cape Ortegal in 1805, Sir Richard Strachan in the HMS Caesar defeated and captured a French squadron. And, in 1809, the HMS Caesar, with Captain Charles Richardson as commander, engaged in an attack on a French squadron while blockading the harbours of the Atlantic coast. The HMS Caesar emerged victorious in her many voyages. After being converted to a depot ship in 1841 and proudly sailing for 28 years, the HMS Caesar was demolished in 1921.
The Ulysse Nardin timepiece shows HMS Caesar, with her stately sails blowing proud against a backdrop of deep blue sky and resting on the greenish blue sea. In the process of emailing, a variety of colors and tones ― opaque, transparent or translucent ― are derived from the proportions in which the elements are mixed in order to get amalgams, the composition of which is often a secret. Each segment is divided by a gold wire segment that prevents the liquid powdered enamel to flow into other melting chambers. Over 500mm of fine gold wire is needed to make the cloisons, a practice that requires 50 working hours and 26 processes to complete each cloisonné dial.
The HMS Caesar joins other original and exquisite timepieces in Ulysse Nardin's Cloisonné collection, and is available in a limited edition of 30 pieces each, in 18-karat white or rose gold, and measuring 40 mm in diameter. The self-winding watch is powered by the UN caliber 815 movement that has been COSC Chronometer certified and has a power reserve of 42 hours. Of course, no seafaring timepiece would be worth its salt if it was not water resistant – the awe-inspiring watch is to 50 meters.
