Watches & Wonders: Ulysse Nardin Breaks The Sound Barrier With The New Blast Hourstriker

Take it from the legendary test pilot. Breaking barriers of sound is no small feat. Science has proven the exact speed of sound to be 343 meters per second in dry air. And to break through this invisible wall in the sky, a jet aircraft must fly over 767 mph or approximately 1,234 kph. And while today's topic is very much "on the ground," it's no less a breakthrough in the world of watchmaking and sound technology.

Ulysse Nardin’s new repeater watch, the Blast Hourstriker, is the latest in its musical watches collection and an evolution of UN’s Classico Hourstriker Phantom, released in 2019. The modern update features a case inspired by the brand’s BLAST collection and boasts some serious watchmaking prowess.
 

The brand’s CEO Patrick Pruniaux and his team of mad scientists…er, I mean, watchmakers…have rethought the entire concept of sound production in a wristwatch form. And in turn, they have created an entirely new calibre that aims to amplify the sound output of the Blast Hourstriker to levels unheard of in traditional chiming watches.
 

Essentially, the Blast Hourstriker deviates from the traditional wire gong and hammer system utilized by repeaters for centuries. Instead, in its place, is a striking mechanism that connects to a very thin titanium membrane via a torsion lever. This technology was designed in collaboration with the French audio technology company Devialet.
 

The new UN-621 calibre promises to alleviate the sound dampening caused by a watch’s case, caseback, and movement materials. In traditional repeating pocket and wristwatches, the gong and hammer's sound can become trapped and therefore rendered less audible. With the Blast Hourstriker, the striking mechanism is now on the dial-side of the watch, which also allows the wearer to admire the mechanical ballet that produces its unique sound.

The wearer has the option of turning the Blast Hourstriker’s chiming functions on and off. The chiming complication can be activated at any time via a button at 10 o'clock and will activate on the half-hour and hour. Once triggered, the hour rack and inertia regulator will start to turn. Then the hammers, located at 12 o'clock, will hit a freestanding gong designed to bypass the movement parts of the watch so as to prevent sound dampening. The result is simply sublime.