It may be hard to believe, but even I sometimes feel my enthusiasm for watchmaking waning. Over the past few years, there have been several occasions upon which I found myself jaded to the point of apathy. Dull new releases. Underwhelming events. Tone-deaf messaging. You name it. The laziness of the Swiss watch industry was getting too much for me to take. I thought, in those weaker moments, that it might be time to call time on my obsession with time.
But it turns out, the industry is not quite done with me yet.
Berneron. Toledano & Chan. Space One. Wild, exciting independents who aren’t just upending the apple cart, but baking the scattered Granny Smiths into delicious crumbles for all of us to enjoy (even if only the wafting scent). I’ve grown fonder and fonder of indies as I’ve aged because they are still able (and most importantly, willing) to surprise and delight us. Most old-school brands don’t seem that bothered about true watch enthusiasts, which is a real shame for them and for us.
It’s mostly a shame because imagine — just imagine — what a major heritage brand with money and knowhow for days could do if they decided to get creative. Imagine what weird and wonderful wrist-bound treats we might see if brands with such resources and reputation took a chance on something interesting…
Imagine no more.
Ulysse Nardin Blast [Amoureuxpeintre]
The 42mm anthracite-coated titanium Ulysse Nardin Blast [Amoureuxpeintre] is a novel take on the Skeleton X model. This 29-piece limited edition employs an element of mystery by partially obscuring the movement with a frosted sapphire screen on both the front and the back of the watch.
The degradé effect of this misted glass is ever so subtle but remarkably impactful. The warmth of this piece cannot be overstated, with the anthracite-coated titanium case flowing into a textured grey Alcantara leather strap.
Amoureuxpeintre’s real name is Vsevolod Sever Cherepanov. As a designer and entrepreneur, he has collaborated with many brands before, perhaps most notably Nike for which he was an ambassador for the Russian market. The Kyrgyzstan-born creative brings his guiding philosophy to the forefront of this project. Cherepanov posits that the simple invites deeper inquiry and has attempted to express that with his iteration of the Blast.
Inspired by the frosted screens of office spaces in decades past that reveal the figure moving behind the glass while obscuring detail and understanding, the sapphire sandwich employed here does the same. The movement, with its characteristic and recognisable bridge formation, is visible but simultaneously unknowable. It is tantalisingly close but eternally out of reach.
This is not a milestone moment for the industry. Essentially, even though the frosting and colouration process of the sapphire discs was not straightforward and involved some pretty nifty modern tech, this is a new dial and a slightly streamlined case and crown. And yet, despite how glibly the project can be described, there is something a bit special here. It is a genuinely emotive piece. Everyone I know who has seen it has had a similar reaction. At first, there’s a bit of shock because nobody expected to have anything like an emotional response to it, and yet, time and time again, they do. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly for the long-term reputation of this watch, people itch to try it on. It simply looks like it wants to be worn. It is undeniably edgy, but it is a soft-hearted soul as well, it seems. If Berlin’s Berghain nightclub were a watch, this is the watch it’d be. And that, in all seriousness, is just about the best compliment I can pay a piece that no one saw coming and that no one seems likely to forget in a hurry.
Limited to 29 pieces, the Ulysse Nardin Blast [Amoureuxpeintre] will retail for £28,210 including 20% VAT.
