Tag

Freak

Browsing
The Watches

Ulysse Nardin Launches Freak One Ops 

Ulysse Nardin dresses its Freak One in khaki and black to unveil the Freak One Ops, a military styled version of its groundbreaking flying carrousel movement watch.

The new Ulysse Nardin Freak One Ops.

This newest Freak retains the same specifications and black DLC case of the Freak One that the watchmaker debuted earlier in 2023. That watch (recently named winner of the Iconic Watch Prize at the 2023 GPHG) combined several favorite Freak designs from the past. These include the notched bezel of the original 2001 Freak, the open gear train seen on the 2013 Freak Cruiser, plus the high-legibility of the 2018 Freak Vision.

Here, Ulysse Nardin offers a more casual version of the earlier design. Instead of the earlier watch’s luxurious gold-finished bezel and movement we see a carbon bezel, a khaki green palette and a sunray patterned barrel cover, creating a stealthier version of the watch.

As noted, the 44mm Freak One Ops maintains all the Freak One’s ‘no hands, no dial and no crown’ technical features, anchored by the highly-visible UN-240 self-winding movement with a 90-hour power reserve.

The movement’s flying carousel, silicon balance wheel and escapement are suspended by a bridge that acts as the minute hand while the second bridge serves as the hour hand.

The Freak One Ops is regulated by a silicon hairspring (which Ulysse Nardin introduced in 2008) with an escapement treated with the synthetic diamond and silicon plasma treatment called DIAMonSIL, which Ulysse Nardin added to the Freak in 2007.

Ulysse Nardin offers the Freak One Ops with a choice of two integrated straps: one in black and khaki “ballistic” rubber, and an alternate two-tone recycled-rubber strap, also in black and khaki. Both have black DLC titanium and black ceramic folding clasps.

Price: $66,500.

by
Keep Reading
The Watches

Ulysse Nardin Dresses Freak X in Khaki 

Ulysse Nardin gives its Freak X a layer of military garb with the Freak [X OPS], which boasts a new khaki green carbon fiber case covering and a matching fabric strap.

The new Ulysse Nardin Freak [X OPS], pictured with khaki fabric strap.
The new hue and material are inspired by the irregular patterns of Damascus and nicely complement the Freak [X OPS]’s 43mm black titanium case, bezel and crown. A model with a black strap is also available.

As you might recall, the first series of Freak X models in 2019 were aimed at a new generation of Freak collectors with its somewhat simplified case and the addition of a crown to the formerly crown-free Freak. Ulysse Nardin refers to that original Freak X as “the easy-going Freak.”

Yet despite its pared down nature, the Freak X retained all the Freak’s primary characteristics, including movement bridges that double as hands.

With no dial, the watch’s one-hour orbital carousel tourbillon becomes the minute hand, and the hour hand is a pointer set on a rotating disc that sits under the movement.

Here, Ulysse Nardin coats the hour and minute indicators and hour markers in a matching khaki green SuperLuminova that glows green in low-light conditions. 

Ulysse Nardin has built the new Freak [X OPS] by combining that original Freak X design with the case covers, or flanks, that echo those found the 2020 Freak X Magma. But instead of the patterned red epoxy resin found on that model, this watch is created from carbon fiber and green epoxy resin. With the swirling resin mixture, each case will look marginally different.

Inside Ulysse Nardin fits its automatic UN-230 movement, itself a hybrid of the bedrock UN-118 and the high-tech UN-250 found in the Freak Vision. The watch is water-resistant to 50 meters. (See additional specifications below).

Price: $33,800.

 

Specifications: Ulysse Nardin Freak [X OPS]

(2303-270-2A-KAKI/0A (black strap) 2303-270-2A-KAKI/0B (green strap))


Movement and Functions: Caliber UN-230 Manufacture automatic, flying carousel movement rotating around its own axis, balance wheel and escapement in silicon, oversized oscillator in silicon, black movement with indexes and bridges in khaki green Super-LumiNova, oscillations at 21,600 vph. Power reserve is 72 hours. 

Case:  43mm by 13.38mm black DLC titanium case and bezel, black DLC titanium caseback with transparent sapphire opening, khaki green carbon flanks in ‘Magma’, an original composite, blending black carbon fibers and green epoxy resin.

Strap: Khaki green fabric or black fabric strap (recycled fishing net), hook and loop fastener. 

Price: $33,800.

by
Keep Reading
The Watches

Watches and Wonders 2023: Ulysse Nardin Reboots the Original Freak 

More than two decades after releasing the groundbreaking Freak, Ulysse Nardin introduces the Freak One, a version of the flying carrousel movement watch that revives its three signature characteristics: no dial, no hands and no crown.

The new Ulysse Nardin Freak One.

However, the new watch now benefits from the many technical advances Ulysse Nardin devised during the past twenty years (Note that since 2001, Ulysse Nardin has filed more than twenty patents for the Freak).

Thus, the new Freak One is regulated by a silicon hairspring (which Ulysse Nardin introduced in 2008) and is regulated with an escapement treated with the synthetic diamond and silicon plasma treatment called DIAMonSIL, which Ulysse Nardin added to the Freak in 2007.

A more recent technical flourish, the proprietary automatic Grinder system, means the Freak One is much more easily wound.

The system is twice as efficient as a traditional winding system and contributes to the long seventy-two-hour power reserve of the UN-240 manufacture caliber inside.

Aesthetically, the new Freak One combines several favorite Freak designs from the past. These include the notched bezel of the original 2001 Freak, the open gear train seen on the 2013 Freak Cruiser, plus the high-legibility of the 2018 Freak Vision.

As a sort of tribute watch to its original model, the new Freak One glows with beautifully finished rose gold movement components and a rose gold bezel, all contrasting luxuriously with the 44mm black DLC-coated titanium case.

The lightweight metal plus a newly integrated 30% recycled textured rubber strap (one of three included) combine to make the Freak One quite comfortable on the wrist.  

Price: $68,600. 

Specifications: Ulysse Nardin Freak One

Caliber: UN-240 Manufacture automatic movement, 72-hour power reserve, frequency 3 Hz (21,600 V/H) hours, minutes displayed via flying carrousel movement rotating around its own axis. Silicon oversized oscillator and balance spring DIAMonSIL treatment to escapement, Grinder automatic winding system with blades technology, rose-gold bridges with Super-LumiNova, Black engraved sunray pattern on the barrel cover.

Case: 44mm by 12mm black DLC-coated titanium with satin finish, rose gold 5N bezel, black titanium case back with sapphire insert, water-resistant to 30 meters. 

Bracelets: Black rubber ‘ballistic’ textured strap, black matte alligator leather strap and two-tone rubber strap with black DLC-coated titanium deployant buckle. Rubber straps made of 30% recycled rubber from production waste by BIWI, Switzerland.

Price: $68,600.

by
Keep Reading
Featured Events

Ulysse Nardin’s Sabatier to Headline HSNY November Lecture

Jean-Christophe Sabatier, Chief Product Officer at Ulysse Nardin , will speak about The Freak, one of the Le Locle-based watchmaker’s best known timepieces, at the upcoming Horological Society of New York (HSNY) lecture on Monday, November 7.

Jean-Christophe Sabatier, Chief Product Officer at Ulysse Nardin.

Sabatier’s lecture is the latest of the HSNY’s monthly lecture series. It will take place at 7 pm at the General Society Library on 20 West 44th Street in New York.

Sabatier is responsible for the brand’s product range from design of new collections to market distribution. He will discuss how the Freak has been a significant contributor in establishing Ulysse Nardin as an independent integrated manufacture. Sabatier will also discuss its history, cutting-edge components and more. He will be joined by special guest Kris Endress, Ulysse Nardin’s Head Watchmaker. 

Doors to the lecture open at 6:00 pm, and the lecture begins promptly at 7:00 pm.
Free tickets are required to attend. Click here for additional details. 

by
Keep Reading
Watch Of The Day

Ulysse Nardin Dazzles With New Freak X

If Ulysse Nardin’s Freak isn’t unconventional enough for you, this week the Le Locle-based watchmaker unveils a limited edition of the famed Freak that doubles-down on its dial-free carrousel-movement display with an even freakier pattern. Where earlier Ulysse Nardin Freak X models show the time atop a blue or black movement plate, the new Ulysse Nardin Freak X Razzle Dazzle offers a hypnotic black and white movement plate.

The new Ulysse Nardin Freak X Razzle Dazzle.

Those with wartime nautical knowledge might recognize the pattern from a painting technique employed to camouflage British ships in World War I, and to a lesser extent in World War II.  Called ‘dazzle camouflage,’ or  ‘razzle dazzle’ or ‘dazzle painting,’ the pattern was one of many unusual warship patterns created to attract attention.

Drawing from its long history as a manufacturer of nautical timekeepers, Ulysse Nardin explains that the crossing lines are “meant to confuse the viewer and make it difficult to estimate the range, speed and direction of the ship, therefore misleading the enemy in regard to the ship’s course and resulting in the adversary making poor target firing decisions.”

Ulysse Nardin’s artisans devised a new movement plate finish that combines three different dial-making techniques.

To create the razzle-dazzle pattern on the Freak X, Ulysse Nardin’s artisans devised a new movement plate finish that combines three different dial-making techniques: lacquer, electroplating or galvanic treatment, and laser cutting. The resulting pattern is essentially a miniature optical illusion on your wrist.

Remember that since the Freak X has no traditional dial and no standard hands, its central bridge acts as a minute hand with one of the wheels indicating the hours. Thus, the entire movement plate turns once an hour to indicate the time. As it slowly rotates, the black and white lines create eye-catching patterns, ostensibly to dazzle the viewer.

Ulysse Nardin is making thirty Freak X Razzle Dazzle watches, each cased in titanium with a black DLC 43mm case and a black openwork rubber leather strap with “point de bride” stitches and rubber, or a white openwork calfskin leather strap with “point de bride” stitches. Price: $27,300.

 

Specifications: Ulysse Nardin Freak X Razzle Dazzle

References: 2303-270LE-9A-RAZZLE/0A (black strap), 2303-270LE-9A-RAZZLE/0B (white strap)

Movement: Caliber UN-230, self-winding flying carrousel movement rotating around its own axis, extra-large diameter silicium oscillator, super-light 3 Hz silicium balance wheel, extra-wide, with nickel flyweights and stabilizing micro-blades. 
Index & bridges with SuperLuminova, 72-hour power reserve.

Case: 43mm titanium with black DLC, sandblasted & satin finish, sapphire crystal back, 50-meters of water resistance.

Dial: Razzle Dazzle pattern (decorative plate).

Strap: Black openwork rubber leather strap with “point de bride” stitches and rubber or white openwork calfskin leather strap with “point de bride” stitches.

Price: $27,300 (30-piece limited edition).

 

by
Keep Reading