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Watches and Wonders 2024: The Ulysse Nardin Freak S Nomad

 

Ulysse Nardin expands its hands-free Freak universe with the new Freak S Nomad, which places a thoroughly modern, dual-oscillator flying carousel movement atop a hand-cut diamond guilloché pattern hour-disc dial finished in sand-colored CVD.

The Ulysse Nardin Freak S Nomad

Set in a 45mm titanium and carbon-fiber case, the new dual-oscillator Caliber UN-251 Manufacture movement is a flying carousel that mimics the outline of a spacecraft. This particular craft not only powers and regulates the watch, but, as with all Freak movements, it serves as the watch’s minute indicator while it rotates around its own axis.

For enhanced efficiency and stability, Ulysse Nardin treats the movement’s dual oscillators and silicon balance wheels (inclined at 20 degrees) with a diamond coating called DIAMonSIL.

The watchmaker then coats the movement’s bridges with an anthracite-hued PVD and packs the minute hand with plenty of luminous light blue SuperLumiNova.

To wind the watch, Ulysse Nardin fits its own Grinder ultra-efficient winding system into the back, powering a full seventy-two-hour power reserve. The watchmaker calls Grinder “an automatic system that’s twice as efficient as a traditional automatic system.”

Ulysse Nardin is offering the Freak S Nomad as a limited edition of ninety-nine, each offered with a choice of two straps: one anthracite rubber ‘ballistic’ and the other in matte-finished anthracite alligator with sand-colored calfskin leather accents.

Ulysse Nardin has filed more than twenty patents for the Freak since 2001. You might recall that last year the watchmaker took home the Iconic Watch Prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève for its Freak One. 

Price: $148,300.

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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.

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The Watches

Ulysse Nardin Adds Glitter to Two Nautical Dials

Ulysse Nardin adds the sparkle of aventurine to two of its nautically themed watches, adding natural glitter to a dive watch and a marine chronometer. 

The new Diver Starry Night and the Marine Torpilleur Moonphase Aventurine each now display an artisanal dial created at the watchmaker’s own extensive dial making facilities.

The new Ulysse Nardin Marine Torpilleur Moonphase Aventurine.

A limited edition of 300, the new Marine Torpilleur Moonphase Aventurine is a 42mm steel watch powered by the excellent UN-119 manufacture automatic caliber, a movement equipped with an anti-shock silicon balance spring and a DIAMonSIL escapement wheel and anchor.

On this watch, the moon phase display is especially fitting within the celestial pattern of the aventurine dial. The watch is water-resistant to fifty meters and is attached to a blue alligator strap with folding clasp. Price: $13,600. 

The Ulysse Nardin Diver Starry Night.

The new Diver Starry Night also displays an aventurine shimmer, but adds several brilliant components. Here Ulysse Nardin’s artisans superimposed two plates, one in iridescent mother-of-pearl and the other in blue aventurine glass, to compose this dial. In addition, note the row of diamonds set around the bezel and to indicate hours on the dial.

Even the hands and the 12 o’clock hour marker glow as each has been generously coated with SuperLuminova.

Inside Ulysse Nardin fits its own Caliber UN-816 that features an anchor and escapement wheel in silicon.

The polished and satin-finished 39mm steel diver’s watch is water-resistant to 300 meters and is attached to a dark blue textured rubber strap or a white alligator strap. 

Price: $14,700. 

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Only Watch 2023 Favorites: Ulysse Nardin  

We continue to highlight a few of our favorite watches from among the more than sixty watchmakers that have created timepieces for the Only Watch charity auction, which commences Sunday, November 5, in Geneva. Christie’s will auction these incredible one-of-a-kind watches to raise funds that benefit research in the battle against Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

While you may have seen a few of the watches set for auction earlier this year when Only Watch announced them, we thought you’d enjoy seeing many of these impressive designs again just ahead of the event.

The watches are currently touring the globe. After concluding their U.S. visit at Christie’s in New York on September 17, the tour will visit Monaco next, followed by stops in Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore, Dubai and back in Geneva. See the Only Watch website for tour dates and details.

In this post we highlight the entry from Ulysse Nardin. 

For Only Watch 2023 Ulysse Nardin create the Freak S Only Watch (above), an iteration of the Freak S launched in 2022. This one-of-a-kind edition features a colorful interpretation of the watch’s UN-251 caliber, with red, pink, blue, green, yellow and orange coloring based on the Only Watch colors.

To review, the Freak S is a 45mm carrousel watch in a black DLC titanium case with no hands, no dial and no crown. Two bridges rotate around its center to indicate the hours and minutes. An arrow shows the hours while the nose cone of the spaceship indicates the minutes.

Furthermore, while a classic tourbillon balance wheel makes one rotation per minute within a cage, here entire movement makes a complete turn on itself in one hour. To set the time the wearer rotates the bezel in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction.

Estimate: CHF 160,000 – CHF 200,000.

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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.

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