Ulysse Nardin’s Blast collection made its explosive debut in 2020, showcasing the independent manufacture’s prowess in avant-garde design and the highest level of watchmaking. The open-worked design, with its extreme skeletonisation and bold geometry, was matched by its silicon-equipped calibre, a technology the brand has been pioneering since the Freak debuted in 2001. Now, we get another disruptive expression of horological excellence in the form of the Blast Sparkling Rainbow, a design that takes the popular trend of the rainbow gem-set bezel and applies it to the entire watch in stunning fashion.

When wearing the Blast Sparkling Rainbow on the wrist, practically every element of visible metal, including case, bezel and bridges, has been covered with multi-coloured sapphires, using an ingenious invisible setting technique Ulysse Nardin calls mystery setting that allows more light to pass through the stone and ensures that no gold is visible from the top — resulting in a watch surface that looks like a seamless facade of baguette-cut stones, all of them specifically cut to form an intricate, close-fitting mosaic. And make no mistake, it’s a lot of stones. The 45mm watch is decked out with a total of 211 coloured sapphires, weighing in at a whopping 13.33 carats. All this work means that the Blast Sparkling Rainbow isn’t just high horology; it’s high jewellery.

It’s easy to be dazzled by the wall-to-wall rainbow of stones on the dial, but underneath the facade, a very serious heart beats. Artfully exposed to the world is the Calibre UN 172, with a platinum micro-rotor at 12 and a tourbillon cage at six; this movement is fitted with a silicon escapement and hairspring and offers a respectable 72 hours of power reserve. A white rubber strap keeps with the contemporary theme while in no way distracting from the absolutely riotous rainbow that this watch is all about. Having said that, it’s worth noting that the deployant buckle is set with 14 sapphires weighing in at .93 of a carat.

As you can imagine, this level of excellence isn’t going to be cheap or made in large numbers. It’s limited to eight pieces and has a retail of 451,700 CHF.

Tech Specs: Ulysse Nardin Blast Sparkling Rainbow

Movement: Caliber UN-172 Manufacture Skeleton Movement, automatic, 72 hours of power reserve
Functions: Hours, minutes, flying tourbillon
Case: 45mm, white gold case set with 77 invisibly set rainbow-coloured sapphires totalling 5.82 carats, white gold bezel set with 64 invisibly set rainbow-coloured sapphires totalling 3.92 carats, white gold crown set with 8 invisibly set rainbow-coloured sapphires totalling 0.2 carats
Dial: Skeletonised dial set with 48 invisibly set rainbow-coloured sapphires totalling 2.46 carats
Strap: Integrated white rubber strap with white gold deployant buckle set with 14 invisibly set rainbow-
coloured sapphires totalling 0.93 carats
Price and availability: Limited edition of 8 pieces,  CHF 451,700.