Forgotten Heroes - Rolf Schnyder

In the next episode of "Forgotten Heroes" I would like to introduce you to the person thanks to whom not only was the well-known Ulysse Nardin manufacture saved from complete oblivion, but thanks to taking it over and running it for many years, it became one of the most recognizable Swiss companies, occupying one of the most interesting stands at Baselworld for many editions.

The company owes its name to its founder, who was born in 1823 in Le Locle, Switzerland, and like many others in those times, when it was impossible to make a living from agriculture alone, he earned extra money by producing parts for timepieces, so after completing an apprenticeship with his father and other masters of the trade, at the age of just 23, he founded his own company, which is still based in Le Locle and still proudly bears the name and surname of its founder. The company quickly became famous for producing marine chronometers and pocket watches.

In 1902, it became the official supplier of ship clocks to the US Navy. Of course, the company also produced wristwatches, using various suppliers of movements, such as Valjoux, A.Schild, FHF, as well as its own movements.

Of course, much, much more could be written about the history of Ulysse Nardin , but this is an article devoted to a hero who not only saved the company, but also led it for over 25 years as its president, i.e. CEO.

And everything would be so beautiful if not for the negative hero of our stories, the quartz revolution. The relentless and merciless roller of change literally crushed many Swiss manufacturers, some disappeared forever, some only left names, which were the basis for building new companies, some survived thanks to our heroes.

Ulysse Nardin as a company fell into stagnation and as a result, only a parts warehouse (mainly for marine chronometers), the name and a few (it is said two) employees remained. This is what was left at the end of the 70s of over 130 years of tradition of the UN brand.

The company would probably have shared the fate of many others, if not for a twist of fate and coincidence, and of course the hero of our story (along with the manufacturer of Swiss tights Fogal and a musician, co-founder of the band Yello, whose album Stella I highly recommend) who decided to buy the company, having, as it turned out, a good idea for its restart, as it is nicely called today.

Rolf Schnyder was born in 1935 in Zurich, where he lived the life of a typical Swiss child and teenager, but he always longed, as he himself admitted, for adventure and travel. Time has shown that the realization of his dreams was a great success, and his biography could be a gift to several people.

At the age of 21, he moved to Geneva, in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, to improve his language skills, and also worked in the advertising department of Jaeger le Coultre.

He also spends six months in London on business. In 1958, he comes across a press ad from Dielthem, a company that distributes Swiss watches in Thailand, looking for a manager. Of course, he doesn't hesitate for a moment, applying for the position, and of course he is accepted.

At the age of just 23, he was sent to Bangkok to distribute watches in Thailand. The untamed nature of the conqueror and explorer made itself felt very quickly, as in 1968 he founded a Swiss factory in the Far East producing watch parts, which he exported to… Switzerland. He sold his shares in this factory, Cosmo, in 1973.

However, he does not stop there, building a factory in Manila and a shield factory in Kuala Lumpur, and he himself remembers his Asian period as the best adventure of his life, the descriptions of which are more associated with the exploits of Tony Halik than with the business biography of an entrepreneur. In Malaysia, he also builds a house in the traditional style, called Precima House, after the factory.

This exotic adventure, which he longed for as a child, allowed him to discover places that most Europeans did not have the opportunity or possibility to know.

During his business trips around Thailand, he also learned the language, and remember that these were times when this part of Asia was not popular, and tourist traffic and hotel facilities were at a much lower level than they are today.

He floated down the River Kwai on a raft he had built himself, which was described in the Swiss press, he camped in a tent on the beaches of Phuket like scouts at a camp, he traveled through war zones in Vietnam and Laos, and he witnessed the events of the so-called Cultural Revolution in China, and the photos from this expedition were published by the American Life.

He played rugby in Bangkok, organised trips for tourists wanting to see the temples of Thailand, sailed around Fiji, Bora Bora and Tahiti, competed in water skiing in Hong Kong, traded antiques and visited Cambodia, China, Japan and many other countries that for the average Swiss are only the subject of world geography lessons.

Finally, as a regular visitor to Sant Moritz, the mecca of Swiss winter sports, where he takes part in the famous Cesta Skeleton Run, he accidentally learns about the nearly bankrupt Ulysse Nardin factory, which is up for sale.

He discusses the purchase literally in between meetings with his friend, Balthasar Meier (the head of the aforementioned tights factory) and despite the very unfavorable market for mechanical watches and the terrible state of the Ulysse Nardin company, the decision to buy is made very quickly. In the same year (1983), the aforementioned gentlemen and the musician Dieter Meier become the owners of UN.

What's next? The company has neither a team capable of production, nor any designs on the table, nor ready-made mechanisms. From a practical point of view, to enter the market not only with a bang, but at all, there is literally nothing.

Rolf believes, rightly so, that it is necessary to present a watch that will be something that will totally surprise the industry and customers, and on the other hand will refer to the roots, i.e. travel, marine chronometers, determining position using the stars…

Using his business contacts, Rolf visits various workshops and factories in search of an idea for a watch with which to reinvent and promote Ulysse Nardin.

At the same time, it is also looking for contractors, because it realizes that there are no resources in the company itself.

He meets amateur watchmaker Ludwig Oechslin, who created an astronomical clock with a pendulum, and warmly encourages him to design such an astrolabe, but in the form of a wristwatch. Ludwig succumbs to Rolf's power of persuasion and vision and quickly constructs the first prototypes, then, on the initiative of another friend of Rolf, Ernest Thomke, they jointly engage a designer from ETA, thanks to which the mechanism is created at a truly astronomical pace, and in 1985 the first Ulysse Nardin is ready under the new owners, the Astrolabium Galileo Galilei model.

The watch immediately delighted the industry, which vied with each other to call it the greatest discovery and sensation, a novelty in a conservative industry, or the most unconventional watch in the world.

Complications of this model include indications of solar and local time, lunar and solar eclipses, and the position of some stars.

Later, two more models were created, creating the famous trilogy that is clearly associated with the brand, which also included the Planetarium Copernicus and the Tellurium Johannes Kepler, all created by Ludwig Oechslin, of course.

The entire set of these three watches can be purchased for just under a million zlotys, if anyone is interested.

The triumphal march of Ulysse Nardin begins, and after the fall of the USSR, Schnyder, noticing the growing potential of Russia at that time, directs its expansion mainly to those markets, also adapting the specificity of the models, related for example to decoration, to the expectations of the local clientele.

A great example is the Genghis Khan model, which costs between one and two million, the watch has a tourbillon and carillon complication along with moving figures on the dial.

In 2001, the famous Freak was created, which in various versions is produced to this day, constituting one of the most recognizable UN models.

In 2003, in recognition of his contribution to watchmaking, he received the Gaia “Spirit of Enterprise” Award from the Musee International d'Horlogerie for his achievements and commitment in the field of entrepreneurship.

He then receives the "Lifetime Achievement Award" from the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Geneve.

And already in 2006, the Swiss business magazine Bilanz included Schnyder on the list of 100 most important figures in the watch industry.

In just over 20 years, Ulysse Nardin, in which Schnyder holds an 80% stake, had achieved an annual turnover of over 180 million Swiss francs, and Rolf himself was declared one of the 300 richest people in Switzerland.

His fortune was estimated at 250 million Swiss francs.

Sadly, on April 14, 2011, Schnyder, after a short illness, died of acute pancreatitis at the age of 75, leaving behind his wife and three children.

Supposedly his wish for his 75th birthday was to be able to turn back time and do it all over again.