WHITE MAGIC
With this variation, the manufacture from Le Locle whisks us off to a realm where wintry weather metamorphoses scenescapes and influences timepiece esthetics.
We don’t know if Swiss wintertime snow is a source of inspiration but a host of white watches adorn the watchmaking landscape during this period. One of these is called White Blast and was imagined by Ulysse Nardin. With its highly-graphical, highly-geometrical design, this up-to-the-minute-looking timepiece reiterates the delicate nuances of frozen lakes. State-of-the-art engineering nestles in a 45 mm-diameter, 13 mm-thick case which blends together white ceramic and titanium which is gray metallized thanks to a PVD/DLC treatment. Dial-side, these shades and textures center stage skeletonized architecture, an impressive X-shaped tourbillon cage and a raised rectangular bridge.
Just like in the other references of the collection presented in 2020, the UN-172 caliber equipped with a silicon regulating device (escapement wheel, pallets and hairspring) drives the rotations of the hour and minute hands, coated with luminescent material, which hover over blue-hued indexes. To ensure harmonious visual composition, its flying tourbillon beating at 2.5 Hz is positioned symmetrically to the platinum micro-rotor and barrel set on the face of the watch at 12 o’clock. This perfectly-accurate selfwinding movement is also a high performer as it delivers a comfortable power reserve of 72 hours.
Whatever the season of the year, whatever the weather of the day, White Blast is a joy to wear on its comfortable matching rubber strap clasped by a patented three-blade system.
Price: CHF46,000 www.ulysse-nardin.com
By Dan Diaconu