BLAST FROM THE PAST
For almost two centuries, Ulysse Nardin, the independent and integrated Swiss watch manufacture, has been perpetually reinventing mechanical watchmaking. Always driving, always creating, and always finding new and surprising ways to translate the concept of time into a portable yet captivating object. The objective: to show that it’s only by attempting the impossible that it becomes possible.
Blast was once again a symbiosis of avant-garde design and cutting-edge engineering, and it underscored Ulysse Nardin’s reputation as the creator of the unique and the inimitable. It was a bold, unconventional watch that channelled hundreds of years of watchmaking innovation and experimental design, with architecture that echoed the form of a stealth aircraft and an extreme skeletonised mechanical movement that married high function with a challenging aesthetic.
THE BLAST COLLECTION EXPLODED ONTO THE SCENE IN 2020, SINCE WHEN IT’S BECOME A SYMBOL OF ULYSSE NARDIN’S UNCONVENTIONAL, ENDLESSLY DISRUPTIVE APPROACH TO MECHANICAL WATCH DESIGN AND MOVEMENT CREATION
In keeping with Ulysse Nardin’s pioneering posture, the calibre was built using the advanced watchmaking principles found in silicon technology, introduced into the industry by Ulysse Nardin in 2001 with the Freak.
The new-age Blast teased the eye with the symmetry of a visible micro-rotor at 12 o’clock, a tourbillon at 6 o’clock, and the winding and setting mechanism at 3 o’clock. By integrating the calibre and the case design, it delivered the mystery and theatre for which Ulysse Nardin is known around the world. The Blast was a watch only the creator of the iconic, convention-busting Freak would have dared to conceive.
Now, Ulysse Nardin returns to the Blast with an exceptional eight-piece limited-edition invisibly set with rainbow-coloured sapphires. The Blast [Sparkling Rainbow] is an audacious design that draws on the company’s well of in-house watchmaking savoir-faire and celebrated relationship with métiers d’art and rare handcraftsmanship.
BLAST [ SPARKLING RAINBOW]
The new Blast lights up in a rainbow of invisibly set sapphires.
The new Blast [Sparkling Rainbow] is a limited edition of eight watches that takes the Blast’s uncompromising form and elevates it with a dazzling array of coloured sapphires to create one of the most spectacular watches ever to emerge from Ulysse Nardin’s Le Locle Manufacture. It is decorated with 211 coloured sapphires invisibly set into the case, bezel, crown, dial and clasp, totalling 13.33 carats. Together, these stones transform the Blast, so that as well as being an avantgarde design and technical tour de force, the Blast [Sparkling Rainbow] also becomes a high-jewellery masterpiece.
The watch behind this extraordinary work of art is a 45 mm white gold version of the Blast on an integrated white rubber strap. It features Ulysse Nardin’s independent integrated UN-172 manufacture skeleton movement, a self-winding flying tourbillon with a platinum micro-rotor (visible at 12 o’clock), a silicon escapement and hairspring, and a 72-hour power reserve.
METIERS D’ART : MYSTERY SETTING
In keeping with Ulysse Nardin’s perpetual pursuit of excellence, the Blast [Sparkling Rainbow]’s sapphires were rigorously selected to ensure that each stone would merge seamlessly into the next with sublime insouciance, creating a graceful but spectacular gradient rainbow effect that runs through 360 degrees around the watch’s case, bezel, crown and dial.
The result is so effective that the journey through the rainbow colour spectrum becomes almost imperceptible. What appears simple and natural is realised only through a painstaking, highly disciplined search for the right stones.
Throughout, the stones appear to be set randomly, a look achieved by using 85 different, unique cuts. Furthermore, each stone is invisibly set by hand into the watch, using a rare métier d’art technique known as “mystery setting” that requires a special cut to create the magical impression that the sapphires are floating. The stones are held in place from below by a hidden structure so that no white gold is visible from above. At the same time, the setting allows more light to pass through the stones so that the watch shines and shimmers with beguiling brilliance.
The technique behind this tantalising decoration requires extreme precision and is mastered by only a handful of supremely talented and highly experienced artisans. Even then, the process is so delicate that each watch takes at least four weeks to decorate.
The Blast [Sparkling Rainbow] becomes a further illustration of Ulysse Nardin’s deep savoir-faire and love of traditional handcraftsmanship. And as with many watches that came before, it continues the company’s watchmaking narrative: haute horlogerie with a contemporary twist.
