Additional Information Since the days of the Bourbon kings in France, blue was considered a royal color, and its use was subject of exact regulations and restrictions. Today, in more democratic times, a private-owned company like Ulysse Nardin does not have to ask for royal grant to use blue as the main color on its watch dials. However, it is only a gesture of awareness for tradition, that finally, the blue-theme is crowned with a magnificent timepiece, worthy of a king's attention: the Royal Blue Mystery tourbillon.

'Mystery' watches have a long tradition, and their popularity is the result of a watchmaker's ability to hide the mechanism's complexity, so that the spectator has to ask himself 'how does the energy reach the watch hands?'. Consequently, parts made of transparent, or 'invisible' material have been a classic component of such 'mystery watches'.

In the case of the Royal Blue, the mystery is to see the tourbillon seemingly floating in the watch, without any apparent connection to the hands. The trick is relatively simple in theory, but complicated in realization: the bridges and plates are made from synthetic sapphire. The Royal Blue is not the first tourbillon showing this design approach. However, it is the first sapphire watch with a flying tourbillon, meaning that the tourbillon cage is attached to the movement only on one point on its rear, while the axis is turning freely, without any support on the front.

Another first is the coloring of the sapphire bridges. The Royal Blue now allows its sapphire parts, at least some of them, an appearance we normally connect with sapphire: they appear in a beautiful, shining blue, while still keeping their transparency. The front cover bearing of the tourbillon cage is also made of darker synthetic sapphire.

The watch itself is result of an already traditional co-operation, which brought us watches like the Triple Jack, the Circus and the Hourstriker. Ulysse Nardin and Christophe Claret teamed up again to create the Royal Blue.

Regarding the watch's overall design, some elements are typical for UN, such as the hands, which were originally designed for the Sonata by Rolf Schnyder himself. Others are not so typical, such as the ring of diamonds inside the bezel. The twelve natural sapphires serve as hour markers.

The watch is offered with a folding clasp. However, folding clasps made from platinum have a problem: The material is hard and doesn’t have the elasticity to make a clasp snap closed and hold it firmly. Accidental opening is quite frequent. Therefore, the UN clasp offered with the Royal Blue is made from two materials: The folding machanism is made from 18k white gold, while the parts visible from outside are made from platinum. This system has proved to be very good and secure, and other high-end brands are using it, too.

Flange set with 12 sapphires.