Ulysse Nardin Michelangelo – 18K Yellow Gold Moonphase

Reference: 161-42

Model: Michelangelo Triple Calendar Moonphase

Year: 1990s

Movement: Automatic (Cal. 15-7)

Case Size: 29mm x 33mm

Bezel: Integrated 18K Yellow Gold

Bracelet: Integrated 18K Yellow Gold (Fits up to 7.75in)

Dial: White with Mother of Pearl Moonphase & Sub-dials

Metal: 18K Yellow Gold

Weight: 96.6g

SKU: 598

The Michelangelo collection was produced during a pivotal period in Ulysse Nardin's history. The brand, founded in Le Locle in 1846 and built on a reputation for marine chronometers and precision instruments, had faced the structural pressures of the quartz crisis alongside every other traditional Swiss manufacturer. The arrival of Rolf Schnyder as owner in 1983 initiated a dramatic repositioning of the brand, with the focus shifted toward high-complication mechanical watchmaking that would demonstrate Ulysse Nardin's technical capabilities to a new generation of collectors. The Michelangelo collection, introduced in the 1980s and produced through the 1990s, was among the dress watch lines developed during this revival era.

The Michelangelo took its name from the Renaissance sculptor and painter, following the brand's practice of naming complications and collection lines after figures who represented mastery in their fields. The tonneau-shaped case — a curved, barrel-like form that had been associated with formal watchmaking since the early twentieth century — was the defining visual element of the collection, distinguishing it from the round case shapes that dominated the market during the same period. Within the tonneau format, Ulysse Nardin applied the complications that the brand had specialized in: moon phases, triple calendars, and perpetual calendars executed with the precision that the manufacture's chronometer heritage demanded.

For collectors focused on the brand's revival era, the Michelangelo collection represents some of the most specialized and difficult-to-source material in the Ulysse Nardin catalog. The integrated gold bracelet versions in particular were produced in limited quantities and rarely appear on the secondary market in any form. The combination of the tonneau case, the moon phase complication, and the precious metal integrated bracelet creates a configuration that is technically sophisticated, visually distinctive, and genuinely rare — the combination of qualities that defines the most interesting material in the vintage market.