It’s a trip from the industrial to the very light diving watch, with Ulysse Nardin’s new Diver [AIR], the world’s lightest mechanical dive watch to date. Water resistant to 200m, it weighs a remarkable 51.51 grams.

The new automatic UN-374 which powers the Diver [AIR] was a further development of the Diver X skeletonised UN-372 – redesigned, with material removed from the calibre, to make it lighter. With 199 parts and beating at 21,600 VPH and a power reserve of 90 hours, its escapement uses upcycled silicon from Sigatec, its oversized oscillator is silicon with nickel flyweights, and the anchor and balance spring are also silicon.

With a unidirectional rotating bezel, the Ulysse Nardin Diver [AIR]’s 44mm (14.76 mm thick) case is a mix of titanium, carbon fibre and PA6 (polymide 6 composite). Known for its toughness, PA6 has a high melting temperature and a high modulus of elasticity. It has good wear resistance and low coefficient of friction, as well as resistance to things that hopefully won’t come anywhere near your luxury dive watch watch (chemicals, including acides and organic solvents).

The titanium used in the Diver [AIR]’s movement and middle case is 90% recycled. For this raw material, Ulysse Nardin partnered with titanium producer TiFast and Thyssenkrupp whose name will be more familiar.

The side parts of the case are made from Nylo®-Foil, a blend of 60% Nylo® and 40% carbon fibre, making it even lighter than traditional carbon fibre. The Nylo® is sourced from ocean netting supplied by Fil & Fab, whose name you may recall from Ulysse Nardin’s Diver NET Concept Watch (you can read about it in detail in that article). The netting is recycled and processed with carbon fibre by Lavoisier Composites to create Nylo®-Foil. The lumed bezel insert is made from CarbonFoil, which consists of upcycled carbon fibres from IMOCA boats which have been broken up and compressed into a marble-like pattern.

The skeletonised dial has black hands and rhodium-treated markers, both filled with Super-Luminova.

Coming with two interchangeable fabric straps in orange or white, each weighing less than 6 grams, the feather-light Ulysse Nardin Diver [AIR] has an RRP of CHF36,000 (including taxes). This is a watch with certain dimensions, but with this sort of weight, there are probably going to be people who would not normally wear a watch of this size but because of its lightness, might reconsider.

As well as being a remarkable creation in and of itself, it also shows that the 2020 NET Concept Watch wasn’t just about a single concept, but that some of the philosophy and materials used in it were intended for further development and use in UN’s watches.

[Photo credit: Ulysse Nardin]

Categories: Divers watches, Ulysse Nardin, Watch materials, watches, Watches & Wonders Geneva 2025, Women's watches