Ulysse Nardin’s next-generation dive watch has three major flex points: it’s a skeletonized dive watch that is water-resistant to 200 meters; it’s made mostly of recycled materials; and it’s the world’s lightest mechanical dive watch. The Diver [Air] is less than half the weight of its predecessor, the Diver X Skeleton, introduced in 2021. The case material goes a long way to achieving the featherweight status: it’s made of a special carbon fiber called Nylo®-Foil, a blend of 60% Nylo® and 40% carbon fiber, making it lighter than traditional carbon fiber. It’s combined with a titanium middle case, which is what ensures the 200-meter water resistance. Nylo® is made from recycled ocean netting, and the titanium is 90% recycled. The bezel insert is made of CarbonFoil, 100% upcycled carbon fibers from IMOCA sailing yachts, chopped and compressed into a marble-like pattern. Even the escapement is recycled. It is produced from an upcycled silicon wafer supplied by Sigatec, a Swiss movement component maker. The automatic UN-374 is new, created by removing as much material as possible, and by using titanium for some of the components to keep it stable and light. UN says it can withstand an impact of 5,000 gauss. The bridges are only a few millimeters wide, and are hollowed out to save weight. The mainspring barrel was reconfigured into a flying arrangement to reduce the mass of the top bridge. It comes with two ultralight, elasticated straps in white and orange
From the article by Paige Reddinger, Oren Hartov, Victoria Gomelsky, Carol Besler, Justin Fenner
