Ulysse Nardin has at all times been the outlier amongst Switzerland’s outdated guard, and the Freak remains to be one of the best argument for that repute. When it appeared in 2001, it broke each rule: no dial, no crown, no arms, and but it informed time. As an alternative of arms, the motion itself rotated to mark the hours, pushed by Dr. Ludwig Oechslin’s radical mechanics and the primary actual use of silicon in watchmaking.
Virtually twenty-five years later, the Freak stays one of many few watches that may nonetheless cease a collector mid-sentence. It didn’t simply change what a watch may seem like—it modified how watchmakers considered their craft. And now, as a part of a yearlong tribute to conventional métiers d’artwork, Ulysse Nardin has turned to enamel so as to add a brand new dimension to its most audacious creation.
The brand new Freak S Enamel editions—supplied in vibrant turquoise blue and deep ruby pink—carry the model’s in-house enamel workshop, Donzé Cadrans, to the forefront. Every rotating hour disc is hand-enamelled on 18k white gold, fired a number of occasions at 800°C, and polished by hand to a mirror sheen. It’s not a dial within the standard sense; it’s a shifting, mechanical part, always rotating, alive with colour and movement. Solely 50 items of every colour will probably be made.
Beneath that artistry beats one of the crucial superior actions ever constructed. The UN-251 caliber spans six gear planes and contains two inclined silicon steadiness wheels related by the world’s smallest vertical differential—47 elements constructed with the identical precision as parts utilized in synthetic hearts. Add the twin DIAMonSIL escapements, a 72-hour energy reserve, and Ulysse Nardin’s patented Grinder® automated winding system, and you’ve got what the model calls “probably the most advanced time-only watch ever created.”
The 45 mm titanium case retains weight down whereas defending 373 parts and 33 jewels. Your entire mechanism sits below a sapphire field crystal, giving an unfiltered view of the Freak’s kinetic structure—half spaceship, half sculpture.
For all its complexity, the Freak S stays pure in function. There aren’t any subdials or problems to distract from its single obsession: to reimagine what time appears like when free of conference.
The Freak S Enamel in pink or blue is priced at 153,000 CHF and restricted to fifty items per colour. It’s a watch for individuals who see horology not as custom, however as riot refined by means of artwork.
MOVEMENT & FUNCTIONS
Manufacture calibre UN-251
Automated motion
Hours, minutes
Flying carousel motion rotating round its personal axis
Two 20-degree-inclined outsized oscillators with silicon steadiness wheels
DIAMonSIL escapements
Vertical differential with ball bearings
Grinder® automated winding system, blades expertise
Frequency 2 x 2.5 Hz, oscillations 2 x 18’000 vph
CASE
Titanium case, locker, bezel, and case again with open sapphire
Perceived top 13.66 mm, total top 16.65 mm
30 metres water resistance
DIAMETER
45mm
POWER RESERVE
72 hours
STRAP & BUCKLE
FREAK [S RED ENAMEL]: white rubber ballistic strap with a titanium folding buckle
FREAK [S BLUE ENAMEL]: anthracite rubber ballistic strap with a titanium folding buckle
