he new Ulysse Nardin collection Blast has been in work for almost 2 years and is playing off the transparency of its new powerful automatic silicium tourbillon nested in a bold, X-shaped cage, which beats inside at a frequency of 2.5 Hz. Light penetrates the open-worked body of the watch like a laser.

Some Ulysse Nardin emblematic codes have been included – the rectangular frame, the 3-horned signature fixing the strap, the smooth, colored bezel, the verticality of the movement with the barrel at 12 o’clock and the flying tourbillon at 6 o’clock.

The Ulysse Nardin designers have restyled and rebuilt the watch horns making them strong and geometric like the sharp wings of a stealth aircraft as it slices through a storm. Smooth yet muscular, the horns are aerodynamic and imposing, much like the sharp rocks that jut out of a volcano.

Each triangle has a different finish, the surface of the horns alternating between polished, satin-finish and sand-blasted veneer. The result is a shock to the eye and the effect otherworldly, like the lunar landscapes of black, cold magma that surround a volcano and glisten under the light of the moon.

As with Freak X, Skeleton X and Diver X, Blast wears its “X” prominently and with pride. Indeed, the “X” has become an underlying theme progressing transversally throughout all Ulysse Nardin collections and has affirmed its presence in all four Blast models. Its shape-within-shape-within-shape geometry is a visual delight: an “X”, framed in a rectangle, both inside a circle.

The watch is powered by the recently fashioned UN-172 movement (an evolution of the UN-171 movement) and has a three-day power reserve. With an automatic tourbillon for the first time within the Ulysse Nardin Skeleton collection and a new tiny yet powerful platinum micro-rotor – visible only from the front of the watch at 12 o’clock – Blast was 18 months in the making, from conception to creation.

Every part of this new marvel was cleverly thought, from the triple-toothed round bezel to the double “X” that clamps the movements together in a “secret-agent style” sandwich, to the self-deploying buckle which releases effortlessly in just one click. Thanks to a new patented 3 blade system that opens in a synchronized manner it snaps open like a couple sharing a dynamic and erotic tango dance.

Blast is available in four distinct models, each with the new manufacture UN-172 movement with an automatic tourbillon and the new self-deploying buckle. Several strap options are possible: structured rubber, leather, velvet and some other specific option.