Introducing The New Blast [Moonstruck] Tributes Ulysse Nardin’s Greatest Trilogy

Less than a month after unveiling the smallest, “simplest” Freak yet, Ulysse Nardin is back in complicated business with the astronomically… astronomical Blast Moonstruck. With a smattering of fine finishing and some practical complications, this watch’s main concern is its geocentric celestial display, placing an engraved Northern Hemisphere betwixt an orbiting Sun and Moon.

The brand’s innate connection with this type of complication goes all the way back to its 1983 re-inception led by Rolf Schnyder and the main character of this story, Ludwig Oechslin. Aside from his studies in theoretical physics and a PhD in philosophy, Oechslin also happens to be quite a decent watchmaker, in an analogy only matched by Top Gear’s description of Eric Clapton as “the local guitarist”. Apart from restoring the Vatican’s Farnese clock and constructing an Antikythera replica, he was also awarded the Gaïa prize in its third year. For context, if the GPHGs are the Oscars of watchmaking, the Prix Gaïa is the Nobel Prize.

As far as his work for Ulysse Nardin goes, he’s best known for being instrumental in developing the original Freak, but his Trilogy of Time, and in particular the Astrolabium Galileo Galilei, remains his most impressive (and thoroughly underappreciated) work.

Originally released in 2022 as a more modern, third-generation tellurium display in Ulysse Nardin’s collections, the Blast Moonstruck follows in the footsteps of the 2009 Moonstruck and the 1992 Tellurium Johannes Kepler, the last piece in the Trilogy of Time. Lucky for you, you can supplement today’s reading with this fantastic in-depth piece from Mr Forster - but allow me to still give you an overview of what this new rose gold model has on offer.

The almost angrily angular case measures a significant 45mm across, with sharply interchanging polished and brushed facets in rose gold sandwiching a DLC-coated titanium midcase. There’s more blackened titanium in the bezel, sitting beneath a top-hat crystal that gives the Blast Moonstruck loads of dimension thanks to an engraved polar projection of Earth’s Northern Hemisphere and the rose gold date ring surrounding it.

Looking down, through the map and onto the dial, you’ll find it backed by an aventurine disc, and flanked by a Sun and Moon whose positions accurately represent reality. In fact, the mechanism correctly positions the illuminated face of the Moon towards the bronzite Sun at all times, regardless of its position on the dial. That would be enough horological goodness for me, but I guess there’s also hours, minutes, and a world timer, if you’re into that sort of thing.

This complicated watch is powered by the in-house UN-106, an automatic-winding calibre with a 4Hz beat rate and 40-hour power reserve. Its circularly-brushed, dark finishes are visible through the caseback, as is the 22k gold rotor, but come on, are you ever going to stop looking at that dial?

Now that knowing the likes of Genta or Journe is no longer reserved for only those deep down the horo-rabbit hole, watchmaking geniuses usually relegated to respect from only those in the know are getting more air time, and I can only hope Ludwig Oechslin is next in line. His own brand, Ochs und Junior (now in its 20th year of operation), is a treasure trove of quirky design and ingeniously simple solutions for complex engineering problems, but his CV speaks for itself, the tellurium complication for Ulysse Nardin being a part of it.

Collecting interest is now leaning towards mechanically interesting watches, so it’s no surprise that the Freak has been Ulysse Nardin’s focal point. Looking deeper, however, will reveal that the brand is far from a one-trick pony, whether it’s manufacturing, finishing, or complication we’re talking about, with the latter being most interesting of all. If we are talking about current tastes in watchmaking, the one caveat for many UNs would be their dimensions - 45mm wide and 15.12mm thick is big no matter how you slice it.

I hope you’ve forgiven me for leaving the square brackets out of the name, as it just feels a little bit “how do you do, fellow kids?”, but it’s the only unserious thing with this watch. It’s a complication few have attempted, especially so in a wristwatch format (Jaeger-LeCoultre needed an Atmos, and Richard Mille made a table-sized table clock), making the Blast Moonstruck a member of a very exclusive club.

Brand: Ulysse Nardin
Model: Blast [Moonstruck]
Reference: 1065-400LE-2A-BLACK/1A
Diameter: 45mm
Thickness: 15.12mm
Case Material: 18k rose gold, DLC-coated titanium 
Dial Colour: Aventurine, bronzite, rose gold
Crystal: Engraved sapphire
Lume: Yes
Water Resistance: 30 metres
Strap: Integrated black alligator leather, DLC-coated titanium and gold folding clasp

Calibre: UN-106, in-house
Functions: Quick-set hours, minutes, date, moonphase, days of lunar month, tide, world time, Sun and Moon
Power Reserve: 50 hours
Winding: Automatic
Frequency: 4 Hz
Jewels: 42 jewels
Chronometer Certified: No

Price: A$179,500 (incl. 10% GST)
Availability: Now
Limited Edition: 20 pieces

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