Ulysses Nadine explodes

Ulysse Nardin’s Blast introduced a new case, a new movement and a new folding clasp.

Although it has been 9 years since his death, almost every time I sit down and watch Ulysse Nardin’s new watch, I think of the late Rolf Schnyder. He is an important figure in the watch industry and one of the key figures in the resurrection a few years after the quartz crisis. Obviously, the unconstrained Schnyder used technology and avant-garde design to breathe life into the century-old brand, which is known for its conservatively designed watches and ship chronographs. Later, an independent brand Ulysse Nardin became the first Swiss watchmaker to use silicon. Although there were many other watchmakers shortly afterwards, it was the United Nations that demonstrated this approach, even though the watch purists made it clear. New materials do not belong to the “real” watchmaking industry. . Although my own personal tastes tend to favor smaller watches with more conservative styles, I still respect Ulysse Nardin’s actions, in large part because I recognize that Schnyder has laid an impressive foundation.

I say this because today, before the Geneva Watch Day event, we have a new watch launched by Ulysse Nardin. Considering its large size, unusual materials and unconventional construction, it shocked me. , Became what Schnyder wanted. Blast is a 45mm hollow automatic tourbillon, available in four different variants, with a three-day power reserve. In each of these four versions, the movement is framed with a rectangular upper bridge and a two-color double “X”. If you turn the watch over, you will see the X and the rectangle repeat. As you would expect from Ulysse Nardin, the escape wheel, anchors and hairspring are all made of silicon, which is not only good for tribology, but also resistant to magnetic fields.

The movement is the internal UN-172, which is a new type of automatic tourbillon derived from the manual winding UN-171. Moreover, although the power reserve of the new 172 is less than that of the 171, it has the advantage of automatic winding. Now, it is safe to say that a tourbillon watch like this is hardly a watch for daily use, but I think it depends on who wears it like everyone else. Having a stable three-day reserve means you can easily switch it out every once in a while, because it knows that it does not need to be reset for a few days. There is no date, so setting “explosion” is very simple. Nevertheless, in the new mechanical movements that will appear in 2020, I have hoped to provide convenience rather than troublesome power reserve.

In addition to switching to automatic winding (via the micro-rotor at 12 o’clock) and the corresponding power reserve reduction, there are other updates. For example, the tourbillon cage has been redesigned so that the escapement inside it can be seen more clearly.

These fake watches also have Ulysse Nardin (Ulysse Nardin) United Nations certificate, which is awarded after testing the full-case watch, and its rated tolerance is stricter than C.O.S.C. action.

Each of the four versions has a four-part case. The lugs of the case are decorated with contrasting contrast. This part of the design is worth looking at. The lug is affected by the exaggerated angle of the stealth aircraft evading the radar. And because of its multi-piece composition, the box can be made of different materials. They have a multi-layered “stacked” appearance. But this does not cause the watch to look too thick. The thickness of Blast is 13mm, and I think its 45mm diameter works well.

For example, in the rose gold explosion below, the black DLC titanium middle shell matches the gold and lugs directly above and below. The top is a black ceramic bezel, which provides exquisite scratch protection for the gold case. The Ulysse Nardin says that the matt fringes you see on some gold surfaces have been laser applied. On the black titanium surface, the surface treatment is DLC, and the color is PVD.