Ulysse Nardin Brings Signature Colors To New Heights With Blast Tourbillon Blue And Gold

As Swiss watch brand Ulysse Nardin continues to evolve under new leadership (the brand was sold by Kering Group to independently owned Sowind SA last year), it returns to its rich roots and its pursuit of visionary watchmaking prowess – a powerful combination. The brand has, over the course of the past five years or more, focused its product line up to be more in keeping with consumer demands, changed up distribution and more. With those shifts, new collections and grand evolutions of beloved series have emerged. Such is the case with the new Blast Tourbillon Blue & Gold just released today.

The first Blast Tourbillon was released just about three years ago at Watches & Wonders Geneva 2020. But the new 45mm Blast Tourbillon Blue & Gold incorporates Ulysse Nardin’s signature blue with a rich 5N rose gold — a natural for a brand whose roots in marine watches is long and storied. Interestingly enough, this color combination has not been used for the Blast before. The haute horology watch is crafted in multiple materials: a central case of sandblasted blue PVD titanium, an upper case of satin-finished and polished rose gold, a blue PVD titanium bezel, and a blue PVD titanium sapphire case back.

The watch is devoid of a dial so that the skeletonized movement is the star. It also incorporates some other Ulysse Nardin signatures, such as a rectangular plate (reinterpreted from the brand’s Executive collection) in blue and double “X” (which stands for the brand’s “Xploration” Motto) motif also in blue. The blue rubber strap with velvety finish and rose gold PVD titanium clasp completes the sophisticated look beautifully.

The highly technical haute horology watch houses the Manufacture caliber UN-172 with skeletonized automatic movement. It offers a flying tourbillon (that compensates for errors in timekeeping due to the effects of gravity on the watch when it is in certain positions on the wrist), hours and minutes and is equipped with state-of-the art balance spring, escapement wheel and pallet fork made of silicium.

The 137-part movement offers 72 hours of power reserve and boasts a platinum micro-rotor at 12:00. The tourbillon escapement, located at 6:00 on what would be the dial side of the open-worked movement, is set into an X-shaped cage using only one bridge and giving the appearance of floating in air – hence the name flying tourbillon. The watch is water resistant to 50 meters and retails for $67,000.