The New Ulysse Nardin Freak One Blue Enamel and Freak One Guilloché

With Rolf Schynder at the helm, Ulysse Nardin released an unorthodox timepiece in 2001 that smashed conventions and rewrote watchmaking in one fell swoop. With no dial, no hands and no crown, the Freak, master watchmaker Dr Ludwig Oechslin’s renegade watch, indicated time with its linear gear train featured on the dial. The Freak also heralded the advent of silicon components in horology, a material that would transform the watch industry and become the new performance standard. Constantly evolving, one of the most faithful versions of the original 2001 model appeared in 2023 with the Freak One. Today, Ulysse Nardin unveils the Freak One Blue Enamel and Guilloché, a fascinating fusion of avant-garde watchmaking and traditional craftsmanship presented in a compact 44mm titanium case.

Hailed as the purest expression of the original Freak, the Freak One recovers the core identity traits of the original watch, which were sometimes diluted over its 25-year trajectory. Unlike the Freak X, which features a winding crown, the Freak One restored Oechslin’s crownless design. Determined to get back to basics, the Freak One relies on a notched rotating bezel to set the time (activated by a safety lock at 6 o’clock), coupled with a patented winding system on the back of the watch.

Obviously, a quarter century of evolution brings rewards, and the Freak One has benefited on the technical front with the proprietary Grinder winding system, a four-bladed rotor that captures the slightest movement for the impressive 90-hour power reserve of the automatic UN-240 calibre. Moreover, the escapement also incorporates DIAMonSil technology, a UN-patented synthetic diamond coating that enhances silicon’s resistance to friction and shock.

Regarded as one of the most attractive, well-proportioned, and wearable editions of the legendary watch, the two new Freak One references come in 44mm titanium cases with a thickness of 13.3mm. Decorated with satin-brushed and sandblasted finishes, the bidirectional rotating bezel’s geometry has been refined and softened, matching the smoother bezel of the Super Freak. The novelty of the new references is evident in the dial’s large barrel cover, a rotating disc that revolves once every 12 hours to indicate the hours with a V-shaped pointer hand and applied indices treated with white Super-LumiNova on the flange. Marking a first, the Freak One’s barrel cover features classical métiers d’art.

Entrusted to UN’s in-house enamelling atelier, Donzé Cadrans, the Freak One Blue Enamel features a stunning white gold barrel disc decorated with a flinqué guilloché sunray pattern coated with layers of translucent blue enamel that is fired at great temperatures – no mean feat given the multiple screw fittings of the functional disc and the extreme tolerances required.

The warm sand-coloured hour disc of the Freak One Guilloché is also embellished with traditional guilloché flinqué, this time revealing a diamond-inspired pattern without enamel. In both models, the artisan uses traditional hand-guilloché craftsmanship to create a master plate with the desired pattern that becomes a hardened steel stamping die. The discs are then physically stamped with the pattern using the die without losing the character of the handmade pattern.

Both models enhance the spectacle of the orbital flying carousel, which completes a rotation every 60 minutes to indicate the minutes. With no upper bridge to support it, the mechanism appears to levitate above the intricate guilloché background.

Paired with integrated rubber textured straps and a grey titanium deployant buckle, both pieces are limited editions of 99 pieces. The Freak One Blue Enamel retails for CHF 73,000 or EUR 81,000 (including VAT). The Freak One Guilloché reference has a slightly lower retail price of CHF 65,000 or EUR 72,700 (including VAT). More information at ulysse-nardin.com.