The explorers, athletes and artists associated with Ulysse Nardin are adventure-seeing and intrepid men and women who answer only to their own fierce ambitions. They are real-life heroes who embody the philosophy of the brand; heeding the call to create their own destiny from dreams, ambitions and courage.
These fresh affiliations are not only further proof of the brand’s desire to foster independent voyagers but also an invitation to explore your inner Ulysses and design your own odyssey.
Fred Buyle
Fearless Free Diver
Underwater explorer, Buyle has spent most of the last three decades beneath the surface of the seas capturing images in the watery depths with just a camera, available light and one breath of air.
Sunlight, water, air. Fred Buyle is using his underwater photography to change the way we see the seas. Thanks to his bold exploration, we can marvel at the icebergs of Antarctica from an orca’s point of view, swim with sharks, and look up from 60m below the surface at the sun shining through the water.
Without disrupting the fragile marine environment, Buyle uses his artistic background to capture little-seen animals of the deep on film, tagging them for biologists in the process. Able to reach 60m on one lungful of air with his camera, his images are taken with natural light and one breath of air. Belgian-born Buyle is specialized in capturing images of sharks in their natural habitats, without a protective cage, diving freely with iconic species such as hammerheads, tigers and even great white sharks.
Ben Thouard
Ben grew up in the south of France where the waves are small. His father was a sailor and taught him everything about the ocean. Rocked by waves and wind, he received an education in close connec-tion with nature and especially the sea. Coached by his older brothers, he quickly fell in love with surfing and spent every moment possible in the ocean.
He discovered photography at the age of 15 and started shooting his friends who surfed. After learning photography basics in Toulon, Ben then studied in a photography school in Paris, He managed to achieve his dreams of travelling to Hawaii and shooting images. During the next couple of years, he traveled the world alongside professionals in search of photogenic landscapes and waves that has never been surfed before.
In the last years Ben has risen to the top of game being the one of the leading photographers based in the tropical paradise called French Polynesia. Magazine covers, advertising campaigns, award winning images from the water and around it have led to global success and acknowledgment from his peers and many happy clients worldwide.
Ben now dedicates a lot of his time shooting Waves and Ocean images that are displayed in Art Galleries. He recently released his first solo book “SURFACE”, a 184 page, hard cover, coffee table book that includes some very new and unseen images.
Sebastian Copeland
Sebastian Copeland is a photographer who uses his artistic work to communicate messages of urgent global significance. Sebastian’s images have been seen around the world and his books are a reference for modern explorers as well as for those merely curious about the extreme climate; the cold, dry and windblown, least inhabited continent on Earth. On the centennial 2011-2012 season of the South Pole, with partner Eric McNair-Landry, Sebastian spent more than his fair share of time in the field, witnessing this marvel of time untouched firsthand. He led the first East/West transcontinental crossing of Antarctica by skis and kites via two of its poles, setting three world records over the 4100 kilometers during an expedition through the polar desert that lasted a grueling 82 days. Sebastian is planning a new expedition to cross the Arctic Ocean in 2021.
Alessia Zecchini
Born in Rome in 1992, Alessia began free diving when she was just thirteen. At 16 she took her first formal course in apnea diving at the Apnea Blu Mare Society but, according to federal rules, had to wait until she was 18 before officially entering into competition.
She is the current world record holder in Constant Weight Apnea (CWA) an astonishing 113 meters (“the deepest woman in the world”) and Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (CMAS) world record holder in Dynamic Apnea having reached 250 meters. She has won 16 Gold Medals in the World Championships and holds twenty-five world records in almost all the disciplines of freediving. A “talisman” Ulysse Nardin LADY DIVER on her wrist, Alessia plunges to the depths beneath the waves, Xploring the wonders of the ocean like the modern-day Ulysses she is.
Alex Caizergues
Faster than the wind!
With an impressive list of achievements to his name across all board sports, Caiz-ergues currently holds the World Sailing Speed Kitesurfing record, with a run averaging 107.3 km/h, or 57.98 knots (over 500m). He is the first to surpass 100 km/h on the water by sail power.
Through sheer determination and perseverance, Alex has carved out a career for himself, a life, in the world of board sports. He is first and foremost a lover of adventure, both as an athlete and as a person: adventure is what drives him and gives him the strength to push past any limits. Given this, it was only natural for Alex to join the growing armada of Ulysse Nardin’s adventurers. Ulysse Nardin sets its sights on modern adventurers, on the Ulysses of today, on those who love to break the rules, cast off their moorings and swim against the current.
Mathieu Crépel
French Snowboarding Champion
World Champion snowboarder and French athlete Mathieu Crépel was invited to take part in the Arctic Challenge at the tender age of 15. He went on to win the Crystal Globe competition, becoming the first of his nationality to earn a half pipe world title. At the 2007 World Championships in Arosa, Switzerland, he became the first person ever to land a switch backside 1260 in competition, distinguishing him from all other snowboarders in history. He also represented France at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games. Mathieu Crepel is a real-life « waterman »: aware of Nature, water cycles and the seasons, his passion for surf has become as important as snowboard and he now splits his time between mountain and ocean, snowflakes and waves.
Sébastien Destremau
French-Australian sailor and navigator
French/Australian skipper and navigator Sebastien Destremau, winner of the 1998 Sydney-Hobart race – considered by some to be the most difficult sailing race in the world – decided to try an even greater challenge in 2016; the Vendée Globe, the supreme challenge of the sport’s most daunting around-the-world solo race. Overcoming technical troubles, lack of food and even a cracked hull, he accomplished his goal, crossing the finish line 124 days later at Sables d’Olonne to a conquering hero’s welcome. The five-time world champion has also represented France at the Olympic Games.
Dan Lenard
Ulysse Nardin is proud to endorse a new “Ulysses” in his transatlantic crossing. Dan Lenard, co-founder of the renowned Italian yacht design firm Nuvolari-Lenard, has embarked on a journey aiming at raising awareness about the oceans’ worsening situation.
