Description
Ulysse Nardin has brought back the Moonstruck, one of the most celebrated astronomical complications in its modern catalogue, and rebuilt it inside the contemporary Blast case. The new Blast Moonstruck is a 20-piece limited edition in 18k rose gold with a black DLC-coated titanium case middle and bezel, and it compresses an entire working model of the Earth-Moon-Sun system into 45mm of wrist. At roughly US$116,000 (£87,530 / €102,600), it sits firmly in high-complication territory — and it earns the price with mechanics rather than decoration.
Under a domed sapphire crystal, a three-dimensional representation of the Earth's Northern Hemisphere floats above an aventurine dial. Around it, the manufacture UN-106 automatic calibre drives five linked astronomical indications: a high-precision moonphase accurate to one day in 40.3 years, the days of the lunar month, tidal coefficients, a worldtimer, and the apparent positions of the Sun and Moon around the globe. Nothing is displayed in isolation — the whole dial behaves as a single geocentric planetarium.
Design
The Blast case architecture keeps its signature angular X-shaped structure, here in polished and satin-brushed 18k rose gold framed by a black DLC titanium case middle and bezel for contrast. The deep blue sparkle of the aventurine dial stands in for the night sky, with the rose gold Northern Hemisphere globe rendered in relief at the centre. The domed sapphire amplifies the sense of depth, while oversized pushers flanking the crown handle the patented one-hour worldtime adjustment. A black alligator/rubber strap with a rose gold and DLC titanium folding clasp finishes the watch.
Specifications
- Model: Blast Moonstruck, limited edition of 20 pieces
- Case diameter: 45mm
- Case materials: 18k rose gold with black DLC-coated titanium middle and bezel
- Crystal: domed sapphire
- Water resistance: 30m
- Dial: aventurine with three-dimensional Northern Hemisphere globe
- Movement: in-house UN-106, automatic, 338 components, 42 jewels
- Escapement: silicon escapement and hairspring
- Power reserve: approx. 50 hours
- Complications: high-precision moonphase (one day of deviation in 40.3 years), days of the lunar month, tidal coefficients, worldtimer with patented ±1-hour pushers, Sun and Moon position display
- Strap: black alligator, rose gold and DLC titanium folding clasp
- Price: £87,530 / €102,600 (approx. US$116,573)
- Availability: July 2026, limited to 20 pieces
What's Exciting
Plenty of brands make moonphases; almost nobody builds a working celestial model. The UN-106 doesn't scatter five complications across subdials — it links them so that the moonphase, lunar calendar, tides and the Sun's apparent path all fall out of the relative positions of Earth, Sun and Moon on the dial. That is Ludwig Oechslin's school of watchmaking: replace abstract indications with a mechanism you can read the sky from. Add a moonphase that only drifts a full day every 40.3 years and a genuinely useful pusher-operated worldtimer, and this is one of the most intellectually satisfying complications launched in 2026 — a reminder that Ulysse Nardin's astronomical heritage is as deep as anyone's in the industry.
History
Ulysse Nardin's astronomical credentials date to the 1985 Astrolabium Galileo Galilei, recognised by Guinness World Records as the first astronomical wristwatch, and the subsequent Trilogy of Time developed with the watchmaker, astronomer and mathematician Dr Ludwig Oechslin. The original Moonstruck of 2009 translated that expertise into a geocentric moonphase-and-tides watch that became a cult favourite among complication collectors. Seventeen years later, the Blast Moonstruck moves the concept into the brand's modern Blast case line — joining the Blast Hourstriker and Blast Tourbillon as the collection's flagship complication and reasserting the manufacture's claim to serious astronomical watchmaking under the Sonceboz-based independent era of the brand.
