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Despite living in a digital era, the technical capabilities and innovations of mechanical watches continue to grow. There’s something about the craftsmanship and precision of high-end mechanical watches that will forever be appealing to collectors in the space, and Swiss luxury watchmaker Ulysses Nardin has illustrated that point beautifully with its latest astronomical timepiece.
The aptly named Blast Moonstruck is arguably the best-looking and most complicated addition to Nardin’s stellar Blast collection. It features an elegant black ceramic and black DLC-treated titanium case with a dial that contains a bulbous 3D sapphire globe with micro-engraved landmasses. An 18-carat gold rose ring that is engraved with the 31 days of the month circles the dial’s inner globe, and the ring itself is surrounded by a number of rotating rings that track multiple timezones, along with containing apertures for the sun and moon.
From a mechanical standpoint, the watch is awe-inspiring. The Blast Moonstruck is able to track the moon’s phases, the position of the sun and the moon around the globe, and the days of the lunar month. It even has a world timer and tidal chart. Despite all of these complications, the layout of the dial is still fairly easy to read and surprisingly simple, with only two hands to keep track of. In fact, the goal for this watch was for it to be easily legible for people with zero understanding of astronomy, which the brand accomplished in spades.
Powering the watch is Ulysse Nardin’s UN-106 Manufacture movement, which has a 50-hour power reserve. Other features of the watch are a 50m water resistance — a surprisingly high number for watch with this intricate and complicated of a movement — and a black alligator leather strap with a rubber base. The Blast Moonstruck retails for $79,100, and interested parties can find a retailer through Ulysse Nardin’s website.
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