Historically known for its marine chronometers, Ulysse Nardin and the avant garde go hand in hand. Being one of the most innovative Swiss watchmakers today, Ulysse Nardin has come to be known as an integrated manufacturer of complete watches and movements including some very high-end and complicated calibers. Keeping in sync with that image, Ulysse Nardin’s Executive Skeleton Tourbillon model expresses its characteristic technical performance and bold design in blue ceramic and ultra-light titanium.
Keeping time
At the heart of the refined architecture of the Executive Skeleton Tourbillon timepiece is the UN-171 manufacture movement, its complex mechanics stripped to a bare minimum – an incredible feat of technical savoir-faire. The essential beauty of the inner workings is fully revealed by its bold, aerial design. A design which takes the oversized Roman numerals, sword markers and raised rectangular bridge of the Executive collection and makes them sing with a renewed power.
Nestled in the pure lines of the Executive Skeleton Tourbillon’s mechanical movement is a flying tourbillon, made in-house at the Swiss manufacture and comprising silicium parts. Widely celebrated as one of the most difficult complications to achieve in mechanical timekeeping, the beauty of this tourbillon is fully displayed through the fine tracery of its form. Yet another impressive feature of the Executive Skeleton Tourbillon is the power reserve–extended to a life-saving seven days.
Floating in time
The substantial character of the 45mm Executive Skeleton Tourbillon is deceptive: this piece is in fact ultra-light. One can barely feel the weight of the titanium case with its blue ceramic bezel on one’s wrist. In addition, pioneering silicium parts contribute to its featherlight weight while achieving precision performance. To securely attach this distillation of avant-garde creation to the wrist, the blue carbon effect leather strap is attached to the case by three distinctive claws. On the other hand, not only is the dial minimally skeletonised, leaving the in-house movement open to inspection, but the watch also includes a flying tourbillon at six o’clock.
It’s certainly not the first watch to include both these, but few have managed to pull it off with quite as much flair. And when it comes to watches, who doesn’t like blue!
