First trained by his father, Léonard-Frédéric, Ulysse Nardin was apprenticed to William Dubois, one of the leading precision watchmakers of his day. It was in 1846, that Nardin founded the famous watch manufacture at Le Locle, in the Canton of Neuchatel. The first watches made were exported to Central and South America through a Paris intermediary, Lucien Dubois, who was Nardin's only customer for two years. But by 1852, watches were exported directly to Argentina without any European intermediary. In 1860, Ulysse acquired a high-precision astronomical regulator to rate his pocket chronometers. This is the well-known regulator made by Jacques-Frédéric Houriet around 1768 and which the Ulysse Nardin company used continually. In 1905, its gridiron pendulum was replaced by one made of Invar and it is today in the "Château des Monts" museum in Le Locle. From 1904, marine chronometers were supplied to both the Russian and the Japanese admiralties and Japan became one of the company's main customers. In 1905, the company name changed again, this time to "Maison Paul-D. Nardin, successeur d'Ulysse Nardin, au Locle". When Paul-David Nardin died in 1920 the family business continued under the direction of his sons, Alfred (1884-1970), Ernest (1887-1940) and Gaston (1890-1966). The company became "Ulysse Nardin S. A." when its status was changed to a "Limited Liability Company" in 1922. It celebrated its centenary in 1946 and the business continued in the hands of the Nardin family until 1983. The manufacture created by Ulysse Nardin in 1846, became the largest maker of marine chronometers in Switzerland. For more than a century over 50 Navies and commercial fleets relied on marine chronometers made by Ulysse Nardin. Altogether, between 1846 and 1975, 10 "Gold Medals", 14 "Grand Prix" (First Prizes), a "Prize Medal" and a "Progess Medal", 2 "Prix d'Honneur" and 2 "Silver Medals" were awarded in International Exhibitions to Ulysse Nardin and his successors, honoring the company for its achievements in perfecting precision.