Ulysse Nardin, enigmatic mechanics
With this new Blast Free Wheel Nickel Silver, the watch movement literally puts on a show.
It's undoubtedly a pure pleasure for the watchmaking aesthete: looking at a watch and trying to understand what it displays and how it works. The latest creation from Ulysse Nardin is an excellent example of this. On the textured nickel silver dial (an alloy of copper, zinc, and nickel) of this limited edition of 50 pieces, available for a whopping €128,100, a double flying barrel appears to be suspended without any visible attachment at 12 o'clock. One is exposed, the other hidden, both held in perfect alignment by high-precision micro-ball bearings. The energy thus accumulated gives this watch an exceptional autonomy of seven days, displayed at 4 o'clock thanks to a most atypical indicator: while the index remains fixed, a rotating disc displays three bands (watch fully wound) or a single one (energy almost exhausted).
Other flying mechanisms are also exposed on either side of the barrel: on the left, an intermediate wheel, a power reserve differential, and a reduction gear; on the right, the winding mechanism connected to the crown's winding stem, the winding or time-setting mechanism. The 45 mm white gold case of this Blast is crafted using a complex laser method. The gaze plunges into an "ultra-glass box," sculpted from a single block of sapphire, hollowed out to offer a panoramic view of the mysterious movement, also visible through the flanks.
Within it, a UN-176 flying tourbillon caliber with constant escapement defies the principles of watchmaking construction. At the center of a circular frame is fixed an anchor, held in levitation by two crossed blades four times thinner than a hair, subjected to a force that arches and stabilizes them. Thanks to the silicon technology used in the balance spring and escapement wheel, the jewels in the anchor pivot become superfluous. This innovation was awarded the Prix du Tourbillon at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève 2015.
lefigaro
