Scientific Cellular Innovations (SCI), the company that worked with luxury watchmaker Ulysse Nardin to create its Chairman smartphone, has gifted Chai Schnyder, wife of the watch brand’s late chief executive Rolf Schnyder, with her own custom-designed model.
Chai Schnyder, president of the board of directors at Ulysse Nardin, was gifted the steel smartphone by SCI co-founder Bobby Yampolsky and its chief operating officer Paul Williams.
The phone has red accents, inspired by the Chinese Year of the Dragon which is both the current calendar year and the same sign of the Chinese Zodiac as Chai Schnyder was born under.
Yamplonsky said: “Chai Schnyder exemplifies passion, a sense of pride and determination to continually raise the bar in the world of luxury watch making.
“We could think of no better way to thank Ms. Schnyder for all she has done for Ulysse Nardin and the industry as a whole than with this special Chairman.”
Chai Schnyder’s late husband Rolf Schnyder acquired Ulysse Nardin in 1983. Prior to his death in April 2011 he held the role of president and chief executive at the brand. Now his widow is working to continue promoting the brand’s core values of “expert craftsmanship, heritage and timeless style”.
She said of the smartphone: “The Chairman is a stunningly beautiful phone that continues to catch my attention every time I set my eyes on it.
“For me, it has a great character with its substantial feel when held by the hand and a look that mesmerizes [while] its up-to-the-minute technology makes it easy for users of other smart phones to convert; while the keypad makes it so convenient for a quick call. The Chairman is a marvelous work of functional art.”
