Some watches serve a merely functional, albeit useful purpose in the field, and others transcend the category entirely, becoming more like a work of fine art or high design. The latter certainly fits for the positively jaw-dropping Ulysse Nardin Blast Sparkling Rainbow, a work of haute horology nearly unmatched on the market, with a decidedly over-the-top $560,000 price tag.
An eye-popping 211 colored sapphires total 13.33 carats across the latest Ulysse Nardin timepiece, including gems studding the bezel, crown, case, dial and clasp, elevating the “uncompromising form” of the Blast Collection. The achievement is a remarkable one, and results in just eight extremely limited editions available worldwide.
Of its latest horological masterpiece, the Swiss watchmaker (founded in 1846) says the Blast Sparkling Rainbow is “an avant-garde design and technical tour de force,” not to mention “a high-jewelry masterpiece.” If haute couture could be translated into the world of watches (which Ulysse Nardin certainly proves to be the case), consider the mission accomplished.
The Ulysse Nardin Blast Watch series already serves as an exploration in the limits of watchmaking and craft, and the Sparkling Rainbow edition arrives as the most recent in a string of Blast watch releases. A January offering showcased a minimal timepiece alongside fashion designer Amoureuxpeintre, but the new Sparkling Rainbow veers into a much more colorful plane of view while staying close to the hallmarks of the Blast lineup, which dates back to 2020.
Those specs in terms of mechanics (whether visible or invisible) often include intricate details like a micro-rotor at 12 o’clock, a 6-o’clock tourbillon, and a winding and setting mechanism at 3 o’clock. The goal of the Blast series, the haute horologist notes, is “to show that it’s only by attempting the impossible that it becomes possible.” In a painstaking process for each Blast Sparkling Rainbow timepiece, a team of artisans worked across four weeks to set each of the 211 stones into various elements of the watch by hand via the “mystery setting” process. It’s a rare métier d’art technique as precise as watchmaking itself, an approach that gives the stones a floating effect.
No stone was left unturned in crafting this masterpiece, seemingly. Ulysse Nardin fitted this timepiece with a bold 45mm case on an integrated white rubber strap, while time ticks along through its independent integrated UN 172 manufacture skeleton movement. The movement boasts a 72-hour power reserve and comes complete with a self-winding flying tourbillon and a silicon escapement, a testament to the fact that Ulysse Nardin considers what’s inside the watch as important as its covetable exterior furnishings.
Ulysse Nardin proudly notes that “the Blast Sparkling Rainbow becomes a further illustration of Ulysse Nardin’s deep savoir-faire and love of traditional handcraftsmanship,” all the while carrying on “the company’s watchmaking narrative: Haute horlogerie with a contemporary twist.” To explore a new frontier in the world of watchmaking, learn more about the Blast Sparkling Rainbow online at Ulysse Nardin.
