Ulysse Nardin Macho Palladium 950: Heavy Metal Horology
- Palladium is a white precious metal with the heft of gold and the look of platinum.
- Unlike white gold, palladium never needs to be re-plated.
- Ulysse Nardin launched the Macho Palladium 950 as the first series production palladium watch.
- The palladium case and full palladium bracelet create super premium feel on the wrist.
Ulysse Nardin goes its own way. That’s nothing new for the Le Locle maverick. Under its late patriarch Rolf Schnyder, visionary watchmaker Ludwig Oechslin, and engineering wizard Pierre Gygax, the company has launched “Trilogies,” “Freaks,” and outrageous automata.
But the new-for-2007 Macho Palladium 950 was a departure even by the outré standards of Ulysse Nardin. Composed entirely of 95% pure palladium, an exotic precious metal, the “Macho” represented the first watch to be serially manufactured in this extravagant material.
A member of the platinum group of metals, palladium retains the blinding white sheen, immunity to tarnish, and hypoallergenic qualities of the famed “king of precious metals.” Unlike most white gold used in the luxury watch industry, palladium does not require periodic rhodium re-plating; most white gold is a milky yellow substance coated with rhodium.
A second major benefit of palladium is the absence of nickel alloying and plating elements. In addition to rhodium plating, many white gold alloys employ large components of nickel in order to whiten them and disguise the natural yellow tones of gold. This type of white gold is borderline unwearable for the roughly 16 percent of the population that suffers from nickel allergies.
Tech aside, how does the Macho Palladium 950‘s high-class mass feel on the wrist? Like money. Lots of it.
Eyes closed, this Ulysse Nardin wears like a hardcore precious metal “power watch.” More than a palladium case, the Macho Palladium 950 is a solid ring of its namesake metal: case, bracelet, and clasp. The watchmaker’s treatment of the material is more than a novelty; UN positively glorifies the palladium with a complex contrasting pattern of finishes.
A mass of white metal this epic might become monolithic and overbearing in the hands of a less nuanced sensibility than Ulysse Nardin‘s. But the company that somehow pulled off the otherworldly 2001 Freak is an old hand at managing excess. Consider the Macho’s bracelet as “exhibit A.”
From flank to flank, the three-link design alternates between brushed shoulders, polished outer link, brushed inner link, polished outer, and brushed flank; the entire interior facet of the bracelet is brushed. A double-deployant clasp of matching material completes the Macho Palladium‘s aesthetically and ergonomically stellar binding.
More than an artistic polemic in palladium, the subversive oval profile of the Macho represents a second life for the case developed for Ulysse Nardin‘s landmark “UN 160 Anniversary” model. Given the tooling expenses associated with that model’s cambered oblong case and crystals, many observers of haute horlogerie wondered how UN might attempt to recoup its colossal investment in bespoke tooling for such a small model run.
And that tooling must have been achingly expensive. Not only is the case unusual, but it is fabulously complex. Stepped lugs, compound curves, contrasting finishes, and unique cambered crystals (they trace the curve of the wrist) amount to a masterpiece in any material. Rendered in palladium, this watch becomes a class of one.
The Macho Palladium 950 served to reduce the UN 160 tooling expenses from “disastrous” to merely “ridiculous.” Rather than step back from the white and rose gold of the 160, Ulysse Nardin took a leap forward with an audacious new alloy.
Moreover, all variants of the Macho received unique dial treatments to set them apart from the 160 and forge a unique identity for the “Palladium” lineup.
Macho Palladium 950 dark dials are the ultimate option for visual impact.
The original UN 160 featured a delicate blue metallic arrangement with Geneva waves, but the Macho packs a punch worthy of its name. The polished palladium bezel envelops a black lacquered outer dial with applied indexes; a step in the dial descends to an inner metallic blue plate with soleil burst radiating from the center.
A charmingly quirky “railroad” minute track acts as a partition between the inner and outer steps of this multi-layer arrangement. Macho‘s magnified date window and silver small seconds dial at six o’clock provide the lower anchor of a vertical axis capped by the power reserve dial at 12 o’clock. The use of these vertically stacked elements provides a visual counterpoint to the horizontal run of the oblong case. Again, UN knows nuance, and it shows.
While this watch is all about style, the Macho Palladium 950‘s mechanical elements deserve special recognition.
UN’s caliber 278-70 is based on the highest grade of ETA-2892A2, here in COSC Swiss chronometer specification. COSC testing subjects movements to a third-party evaluation of mechanical integrity and chronometric precision.
Most manufacturers are content to boast that their movements pass the COSC regimen (fewer than one percent of Swiss movements are certified), but UN here takes the unconventional measure of providing an excruciatingly detailed copy of each movement’s individual chronometer certificate with exact timing results from every phase of the COSC test.
It’s one matter to claim a watch is “within spec,” but Ulysse Nardin is proud to proclaim the margin by which their chronometers surpass test requirements.
In addition to its aesthetic role in the dial composition, the power reserve gauge of the Macho Palladium 950 embodies elements of heritage design and mechanical novelty. Ulysse Nardin herein resurrects a complication first fitted to a 1912 pocket watch; both the gauge hand and the disc bearing the reserve calibration move independently. When the watch is wound, the calibrated disc advances. The needle recedes as the movement discharges.
This variant of the Macho features the most striking permutation of the model line’s dial and band combination. Dark dials and white metals are a classic power pair, and the full platinum bracelet completes the effect. A Macho Palladium 950 with full bracelet and two-tone dark dial is a brass-knuckled knockout blow to the rods and cones.
Its originality and impact must have left Audemars Piguet and Hublot stylists asking aloud, “why didn’t we think of that?”
The Macho Palladium 950 is available from watchuwant.com in this choice configuration. This example presents in showroom condition and sports a full suite of Ulysse Nardin factory equipment: boxes, manuals, and documentation.
A materials science pioneer and true rarity, the Macho Palladium 950 also radiates an effortless “cool factor” among non-enthusiasts. In the end, it doesn’t take a chemist to adore this heavy metal hero from Ulysse Nardin.