Ulysse Nardin Freak One Marks 25 Years With Two New Editions

Ulysse Nardin is looking back at two milestones in 2026: its 180th anniversary and 25 years of the Freak. To mark the occasion, the independent Swiss manufacture introduces two new Freak One editions, each limited to 99 pieces. The Freak One Blue Enamel combines its unconventional movement architecture with a blue enamel and guilloché hour disc, while the Freak One Guilloché uses a sand-colored guilloché finish. Both feature a 44mm titanium case, measure 13.3mm in overall height and are powered by the automatic UN-240 manufacture caliber.

A Watch Face Like No Other

Ulysse Nardin introduced the Freak in 2001, challenging several fundamental conventions of mechanical watchmaking. The original had no dial, no hands and no crown. Instead, the movement itself rotates to display the time. The genius concept was developed by none other than Dr. Ludwig Oechslin, a mathematician, astronomer and watchmaker, and it also marked the first use of silicon in a mechanical wristwatch. Since then, the Freak has served as a platform for technical experimentation, with more than 35 patents associated with the collection. The Freak One, introduced in 2023, distills this architecture into a contemporary production model. It received the Iconic Watch Prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève in the same year.

No Dial, No Hands, No Crown

The basic construction of the Freak One remains unchanged. Rather than a conventional dial, the watch uses a rotating hour disc. A small arrow on the disc indicates the hours as it completes one revolution every 12 hours. The minutes are displayed by the movement itself. The flying carousel, which rotates around its own axis once every 60 minutes, effectively takes the place of a traditional minute hand. Without an upper bridge, the mechanism appears to float above the watch. The Freak also dispenses with a crown. To set the time, the safety lock at 6 o’clock is released and the bidirectional bezel is rotated. The watch can be wound manually through the caseback, while the Grinder automatic winding system captures energy from movements of the wrist to the barrel. 

Freak One Blue Enamel

The Freak One Blue Enamel brings traditional decorative arts into the moving architecture of the Freak for the first time. Its hour disc is made of gold and decorated with a sunray guilloché pattern before being covered with blue enamel by Donzé Cadrans, Ulysse Nardin's in-house enameling atelier. The white-gold disc is engraved with the pattern and then coated with enamel before being fired at around 800 degrees Celsius. Multiple layers are applied and fired to achieve the desired depth and color. After the final firing, the surface is polished by hand. Both techniques demand exceptional skill and patience, but the results more than justify the painstaking process, as the intricate surface creates a mesmerizing interplay of light that shifts with every change of angle.

The satin-finished and sandblasted case is paired with an integrated white rubber strap closed by a titanium deployant clasp. Pricing is marked at $89,800 (tax excluded).

Freak One Guilloché

The Freak One Guilloché brings another traditional handicraft to the unconventional architecture of the Freak. Its hour disc is finished in a sand-colored CVD treatment and decorated with a traditional guilloché-flinqué pattern known as “Maille. The decor is first created by hand by an artisan. The motif is then transferred to the hour disc through the traditional flinqué stamping process and finished with a warm, sand-toned coating. This preserves the geometry of the original handcrafted pattern while allowing it to be reproduced consistently. The watch is also paired with a light-gray titanium case and matching rubber strap. It is priced at $80,000 (tax excluded).

Caliber UN-240 and Grinder Technology

Both watches are powered by Ulysse Nardin's manufacture Calibre UN-240. The automatic movement comprises 229 components and operates at 3 Hz. Its oversized balance wheel and hairspring are made from silicon, while the escapement uses the brand's DIAMonSIL technology, combining a diamond-coated silicon architecture with a silicon escape wheel and anchor. The movement's Grinder winding system uses an oscillating weight connected to a frame with four ultra-thin levers. According to Ulysse Nardin, the system increases the angular stroke compared with conventional automatic winding mechanisms and allows the compact movement architecture to deliver a 90-hour power reserve.