The Vendée Globe Sailing Race is a test of endurance for sailing enthusiasts. Commemorating the Département of Vendée, in France, where the race commences and ends – it is a solo, non-stop race around the world and that too without assistance. Founded by Philippe Jeantot in 1989, the race takes place, once every four years.
Antarctic nature photographer Sebastian Copeland is a polar explorer and environmental activist. He has led numerous expeditions in the polar regions, just to photograph and film endangered environments.
Ulysse Nardin is known for their iconic models that include marine chronometers and sports chronographs. Their extensive range of avant-garde dive watches have always impressed us. This time around we are looking at three new limited-edition watches that have been worked upon with Vendée Globe long-distance sailing race and Antarctic explorer and nature photographer Sebastian Copeland.
Let’s look at Diver X Antarctica, Diver X Cape Horn and Diver X Nemo Point.
The Ulysse Nardin Diver X Antarctica
Capturing the beauty of the of the South Pole and its icy atmosphere, the Ulysse Nardin Diver X Antarctica is a timepiece that takes inspiration from the frigid landscape. Consulting with Sebastian Copeland, who has been fortunate enough to spend a considerable amount of time on the Antarctic continent, we have a watch that reflects the timelessness of this place.
Sporting a 44 mm titanium case, and with a unique bezel, we have a watch that hosts an accent of ice blue at the 12 o’clock zero mark, along with signature ribbed Ulysse Nardin bezel insert from white rubber.
The caseback is a tribute to Antarctic exploration and features an etching that showcases the coordinates for the South Pole. It shows us 90-degrees south latitude and no longitude reading. It also shows us an etched map of the route that goes past Antarctica, by the Vendée Globe sailing race.
The Diver X Antarctica is water resistant to 300 meters, and hosts a bead-blasted gray dial treatment. It also has white hands and ice blue highlights on the 12 o’clock power reserve indicator and the 6 o’clock small seconds.
Under the dial is the automatic movement – Caliber UN-118 manufacture, giving us 60-hours of power reserve.
The Diver X Cape Horn and The Diver X Nemo Point
Marking the official partnership with Vendée Globe race, these two watches take their inspiration from the Atlantic and Southern Oceans or the ‘Everest of the Seas.’ The locations are the Cape Horn off the southern tip of South America and Nemo Point in the South Pacific – also seen as the ‘middle of nowhere.’
All three watches are limited edition – 300 pieces – and like the Diver X Antarctica, these two timepieces have a 44 mm titanium case and offer 300 meters water resistance. The Diver X Cape Horn sports a black DLC coat, with the bezel crafted from a carbon composite insert. Giving the black vibe some relief is the yellow spotted at the 12 o’clock zero marker.
The Diver X Nemo Point is more basic with brushed and polished surfaces, but to shake things up a little, the entire bezel is rubberized in a deep navy blue coating. The blue with titanium color scheme gets some respite via the red zero marker at 12 o’clock.
Like the Diver X Antarctica, both these watches host similar limited-edition casebacks – the etching of the race route with respective latitude and longitude coordinates of their locations.
Powered by the in-house UN-118 manufacture movement, the watches range between $8,900 and $9,900.