New: Ultramarine Morse UTC – new Swiss brand with a twist

A new brand, Ultramarine introduces their first watch – the Morse UTC, with a few surprising tricks up their sleeve.

 

Ultramarine Morse UTC

 

 

First, the new watch is a UTC watch, which looks rather typical for watches of this genre. But what is interesting is that the founder and designer, Lionel Bruneau has decided to make the watch entirely in Switzerland, and being totally transparent with who their suppliers are. The cases are made at Bouille in Neuchâtel, dials at Fehr in La Chaux de Fonds, hands at GMG in Le Locle, hand sewn straps at Schweizer & Schoepf in La Chaux, buckles at Cornu also in La Chaux, and Sapphire glasses at AB Saphir in Courgenay.

 

 

And the movement is the Eterna Cal. 39 with 65h of power reserve.

 

 

Engraved on the back of the Ultramarine Morse : “Intégralement ouvré en Suisse” with its acronym « I.O.E.S. » on the dial. Which translates to English as “Entirely made in Switzerland”.

 

 

Furthermore the sale of the watches are at a price inspired by Fair Trade. They even publish their manufacturing cost, which for the Morse UTC is € 950, and the selling price for the first 100 pieces is € 1,300 excluding tax. The first 100 pieces are offered on a subscription basis by reservation on the Ultramarine website with a 10% deposit . The next 200 will be on sale for € 1,600. And the Morse UTC is a limited edition of 300 pieces.

Also, Ultramarine will donate 10% of its profit to NGOs committed to the conservation and protection of marine life.
Ultramarine offers a 3 year limited warranty, for parts and labor, and the Morse UTC is expected to ship first quarter 2019.

 

So who are they?

The name was selected because Lionel thought it to be appealing as it is a combination of two pleasant words with meanings he associate with. And in French, les territoires ultramarins, means overseas territories, represented by the blue.

 

The Ultramarine logo takes on the silhouette of the Great Albatross : with a wingspan of 3.50 meters (11.5 feet)
the Albatros is a sensational traveler able to navigate distances up to 800 kilometers per day (500 miles)!

 

Ultramarine Morse Technical specifications

 

• Entirely manufactured in Switzerland (in Neuchatel, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Le Locle and Grenchen).

• Diameter 40mm (without the crown), height 12mm, lug to lug 48mm, lug width 20mm.

• Stainless steel 316L polished case (brushed or fine matt finish on demand, free of charge).

• Sapphire crystal glass front and back, inner A/R coating in front.

• Movement Eterna Cal. 3914A with date, UTC (GMT) on 24h, small second.

• Power reserve 65h, 28.800 vph (4 Hz), automatic and manual winding, 29 jewels.

• Hand-sewn leather strap, with stainless steel buckle and engraved logo.

• SuperLuminova : BG W9.

• Water resistance : 100 meters or 330 feet.