24 Hours Later: Ulysse Nardin’s Mysterious Blast Amoureuxpeintre
Debuting yesterday after three years in the making, the new Blast Amoureauxpeintre redefines the line, transforming it into an understated monochromatic piece of timekeeping art with a mysterious obscurity that is sure fascinate.
As someone with four solid years of high-school French under his belt, I had to do some language legwork to fully understand the term “amoureuxpeintre.”
It translates as the evocative handle of “PaintingLover,” which not only conjures a lovely vision but is also the artistic moniker of Kygryzstan-born designer, model, and creative director Vsevolod “Sever” Cherepanov, the primary collaborator and visionary source of the fascinating new Blast Amoureauxpeintre from Ulysse Nardin.
Moody, minimalist, and evocative by design, the timepiece aims to connect timekeeping with a much broader world. “Hidden meanings are all around us – you just need to look closer to engage and understand how things truly work,” Cherepanov shared in a press release for the new piece.
And for the Blast Amoureauxpeintre, minimalism engenders an exploration into purity, essence, emotion, and seemingly elusive clarity.
Hide-and-Seek
Limited to only 29 pieces, the new wrist-worn art piece derives from the recognizable canvas of Ulysse Nardin design cues (overall size, three-lug strap integration), plus some elements of the earlier Skeleton X and the experimental Freak Vision’s innovative lightweight balance wheel thrown in for good measure.
That said, the presentation of the Blast Amoureauxpeintre cannot be described as anything other than wholly unique.
While Cherepanov cites the frosted glass partitions of the modern workspace as inspiration for the stark, visible-but-distorted zeitgeist of the dial’s opaque sapphire crystal, it is a version of skeletonization’s signature visibility writ “through a glass darkly.”
The exposed components of the 96-hour power reserve, manual-wind Calibre UN-371 movement could be perceived in an almost X-ray form (with internal bridges as bone structure) under the focused legibility of simple hollowed hour and minute hands with grey Super-LumiNova.
In Cherepanov’s world, the time is exact, but you need to work to clearly perceive everything else.
Details, Details
The 42mm anthracite-colored sand-blasted, PVD-coated titanium case and bezel frames enhance the somber, contemplative nature of the watch itself. Even the crown has been refined by making less prominent the tactile ribbing to a functional but smoother presentation.
A designer-badged frosted sapphire case back mirrors the same visual ambiguity of the top, and a grey Alcantara leather strap, at an almost distressed level of tactile statement, completes the package.
However, for Ulysse Nardin Chief Product Officer Jean-Christophe Sabatier, the abundant artfulness of the Blast Amoureuxpeintre is equally balanced by its horological deftness: “In my nine years at Ulysse Nardin, we’ve developed some of the most technically complicated projects. This watch stands as one of the most intricate, not only in terms of modifying the components around the calibre but also in giving it a unique personality.”
Pricing & Availability
Limited to 29 executions, the Blast Amoureuxpeintre lists for $32,700. Visit the Ulysse Nardin’s website for more information.