Ulysse Nardin is synonymous with a visionary spirit and iconic designs seemingly beyond human engineering. And the new 2024 Blast Tourbillon Year of the Dragon is just such an example.
ULYSSE NARDIN BLAST TOURBILLON DRAGON - Credit Ulysse Nardin
The Blast Tourbillon is a paragon of the unconventional with a healthy dose of haute horlogerie. Its angular, disruptive style, high-tech movement and iconic X structure typifies Ulysse Nardin’s spirit. To mark the Chinese Lunar New Year, this new creation is resplendent with an interpretation of an old folklore tale with a Dragon symbolically guarding a magical pearl.
The 2024 Ulysse Nardin Blast Tourbillon Dragon displays this mythical creature, hand-sculpted in 5N rose gold, coiling its way around the skeletonised X structure of the watch like it is an integral part of the movement. In 2012, the last Year of the Dragon, Ulysse Nardin previously presented an 88-piece limited edition, the Classico Enamel Champlevé Dragon, featuring an enamel dragon. This creature has now evolved into a 3D creation for the later model.
ULYSSE NARDIN BLAST TOURBILLON DRAGON - Credit Ulysse Nardin
It takes four days to create each dragon for the new watch. Three days of engraving and one to fit the creature into the watch. Then, graduated shades of orange and red have to be applied to give the dragon a mystical 3D look. Every aspect is modelled and rendered with utmost precision, from the scales of its rippling tail to its gleaming whiskers and the individual details of its claws.
The Blast Tourbillon’s manufacture movement, Calibre UN-172, is unorthodox and ingenious. It features a platinum micro-rotor visible at 12 o’clock, a tiny device that delivers up to three days of power reserve.
The rose gold upper case has distinct angular facets and satin-brushed and polished finishes. This is beautifully offset by the bezel and case middle in DLC-blackened titanium, all mounted on an integrated black alligator strap with a 5N rose gold and black PVD titanium folding clasp.
In their own words, “The Ulysse Nardin Blast Tourbillon Dragon embodies in-house innovations, métiers d’art and the magic of the Year of the Dragon. Fusing ancient mythology and cutting-edge horology.”
ULYSSE NARDIN BLAST TOURBILLON DRAGON - Credit Ulysse Nardin
Of course, all this expertise comes at a price, and if you want to secure one of the 88 special watches, you will need to part with just under £80,000.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS - BLAST TOURBILLON DRAGON REFERENCE: 1725-400-2A/1A
- LIMITED RUN - 88 Pieces
- MOVEMENT & FUNCTIONS: UN-172 Manufacture skeleton self-winding movement Flying Tourbillon Hours, minutes, Platinum micro-rotor at 12 o’clock, Balance spring, escapement wheel and pallet fork in silicon 137 components / 25 jewels, Frequency 2.5 Hz / oscillations 18,000 alt/h, 3 days power reserve
- CASE: Rose Gold 5N satin-finish & polished Black DLC titanium middle case and bezel Glassbox, 45 mm
- DIAL: Skeleton dial with double X in black. Hand engraved and micro painted 3D miniaturized dragon in rose gold 5N A pearl in mother-of-pearl adorns the cage of the flying tourbillon
- STRAP: Black alligator strap. Black rubber “velvet” strap. 5N rose gold and black PVD titanium folding clasp
- PRICE: CHF - 95,400 CHF EURO – 101,800 USD 100,600
