During our conversation with the brand’s CEO, Matthieu Haverlan, in Geneva, we learned some interesting things about Michael Jordan, Gymball 3000, and more.
It was Friday, September 5th of this year. Geneva Watch Days were in full swing, the city filled with people who love and respect timepieces, the weather was beautiful, and Dušan and I were walking from meeting to meeting. After a few small obligations that morning, we had lunch by the lake while waiting for the clock to strike 3 PM, when we were scheduled to head over to the Ulysse Nardin offices. A brand you often read about on this site and on my platforms invited us this time to their premises to discover their novelties.
To be more precise, one novelty for the public and three more timepieces that remain under embargo until the end of this year. A minute before 3 o’clock, Matthieu greeted us in the ground floor of the salon and invited us upstairs to the first floor, reserved for meetings and VIP clients. Matthieu remembered us well, especially Dušan, who had done an excellent interview with him for the Sat na Ruci YouTube channel during last year’s edition of Watches & Wonders.
From then until today, Ulysse Nardin has become a different brand. Still firmly in the segment of luxury timepieces, but far more popular than a year ago when we sat down with him in Palexpo. The first step toward greater recognition among a wider audience came at this year’s W&W – the world’s lightest diving watch, the Diver Air. This titanium watch weighs only 51 grams, with a diameter of 44mm. The greatest basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan, bought this watch and wore it all summer. In doing so, he helped Ulysse Nardin gain even more visibility, especially on Instagram, where the audience is massive.
Not long after, Matthieu – an eloquent speaker who makes us journalists feel equal and welcome in his presence – managed to secure a collaboration that, quite unexpectedly, launched Ulysse Nardin across social media. In the watch world, we all know the Freak and what it represents. But for the broader public, this model is unfamiliar. Matthieu struck a deal with French pastry chef Amaury Guichon, who has 17.6 million followers on Instagram alone, to create a Freak made entirely out of chocolate. That move changed everything. The video, across all Amaury’s platforms, was viewed by over 300 million people. Every third person who follows me sent me that video…
After that, and after Jordan’s appearance with the Diver Air, everyone was talking about Ulysse Nardin. Matthieu made brilliant moves, introducing the brand to a wider audience beyond watch connoisseurs. Now things are getting serious for a company that produces around 20,000 watches annually.
Ulysse Nardin watches can be found in Maestro Jewelers in Belgrade.
The novelty shown at Geneva Watch Days was the new Ulysse Nardin Freak X Crystalium, which we reported on in real time. On the wrist, it looks quite unusual and very distinctive, shimmering with an almost otherworldly character.
Later in our conversation, Matthieu revealed that he will soon be in Belgrade – more precisely, on September 22, 2025 – with the Gumball Rally, which starts in Istanbul and finishes in Ibiza. Matthieu will be in a Lamborghini Revuelto, alongside none other than Mr. JWW, a well-known British YouTuber and expert on luxury supercars. Ulysse Nardin has been a long-time sponsor of this event, and Matthieu is one of the rare CEOs who actively participates in all the activities his company supports. He personally shows up at watch sales with celebrities, travels to sponsored events, and often takes part himself, presenting novelties directly to journalists, even though he manages a team of around 60 people. This man truly loves his job.
To wrap up our meeting, he shared an exciting piece of news: the upcoming epic boxing match between Canelo Álvarez and Terence Crawford, who is moving up a weight class for this fight. Crawford will be wearing an Ulysse Nardin timepiece on his wrist in Las Vegas. He is not a brand ambassador. Matthieu emphasized several times that neither he nor the brand believe in direct ambassador relationships. Many brand-celebrity partnerships in the watch industry feel forced and artificial, he said. Instead, he and his company follow a “friends” policy. Anyone who buys Ulysse Nardin becomes a friend of the brand. Crawford will wear the watch before the fight simply because it was his personal decision. Just like Jordan recently became a collector.
The term “collector” is used for someone who owns two or more watches from the same brand and shows an interest in continuing to acquire new releases. Along with the Diver Air, Jordan purchased two additional novelties, which I am not allowed to disclose. These are among the pieces I mentioned earlier that remain under embargo. Jordan, like Dušan and me, had the chance to see them – and was impressed. He immediately ordered both pieces, which have already been delivered, but which he will not wear in public until they are officially launched. One will be released in October/November, and the other in December. The December release is something beyond imagination – a spectacular finale to what has already been a highly successful year.
I don’t know how Matthieu and his team will top 2025 in the future. But I am sure the will. Even he was surprised by this level of success, despite knowing what strong products they had been preparing over the past 12 months. Yet when you meet Matthieu, it becomes clear why Ulysse Nardin is thriving. He’s the kind of CEO you want for your company – a visionary, yet approachable and relaxed in conversation with everyone. Thank you for your time, Matthieu. See you in Belgrade!
