SJX Watches
Review: Ulysse Nardin Blast Hourstriker
One of Ulysse Nardin’s more obscure models, the Blast Hourstriker is one of the brand’s most interesting watches from a technical perspective. It’s equipped with an in-house, self-winding tourbillon movement plus a hour-striking mechanism on top. And concealed on the back is an amplification system developed with the help of Devialet, the French maker of high-end speakers that was coincidentally founded by a member of the Nardin family that once controlled the eponymous brand. Initial thoughts The Ulysse Nardin (UN) Hourstriker caught my attention in 2019 when the brand debuted the Hourstriker Phantom, the first model featuring the Devialet amplification system. Comprised of both a novel gong fixture and soundboard, the Devialet system arguably ranks alongside the inventions in the Patek Philippe “Advanced Research” Minute Repeater ref. 5750P and Audemars Piguet Supersonnerie as one of the most notable striking innovations on the market today. And the backstory of the Devialet system is surprisingly appropriate: one of Devialet’s co-founders is Emmanuel Nardin, an industrial designer who’s a descendant of Ulysse. The Hourstriker Phantom. Image – Ulysse Nardin The Hourstriker Phantom was short-lived and quickly replaced by the Blast Hourstriker. Even though the Blast Hourstriker is a substantially upgraded watch, most enthusiasts are probably unaware of it, probably because it resembles less complicated models in UN’s catalogue. In the Blast Hourstriker, t...