More than two decades since it released the first Freak, Ulysse Nardin celebrates its joyously unorthodox watch with the new Freak ONE. Even now, 22 years on from its original release, the Freak is still a challenging concept. It’s also one of the most advanced examples of contemporary watchmaking.
The original was a milestone watch brimming with cutting-edge tech and avant-garde design, and changed perceptions of what a mechanical watch should look like – and how it should work. This was the rebel mindset. A what-the-Freak watch…
This year and after a series of memorable executions that have built the Freak’s unique profile, Ulysse Nardin is introducing the Freak ONE, a watch that returns the watchmaker’s icon to its roots.
The Freak ONE is a new watch inspired by the first Freak featuring its three signature characteristics: no dial, no hands and no crown.
It’s regulated by a silicon hairspring introduced in 2008 and an escapement treated with DIAMonSIL, a trailblazing synthetic diamond and silicon plasma surfacing treatment first applied to the Freak in 2007 that makes the movement abrasion and shock-resistant.
The Freak ONE also synthesises the visual dynamics of previous generations of the Freak, from the notched bezel of the original 2001 Freak, to the open gear train of the Freak Cruiser of 2013, to the legibility codes of the 2018 Freak Vision. The black DLC-coated titanium and rose gold detailing echoes recent Freak iterations, such as last year’s Freak S.
The Freak ONE becomes Ulysse Nardin’s flagship watch and the company’s centre of gravity as it defines its new independence.
The Freak has always been ahead of its time, appealing to explorer collectors with a taste for the avantgarde. More than two decades on, the Freak ONE distils its story.
The story of a freak told by Ulysse Nardin
The 2001 Freak was an unlikely iconoclast. It also pioneered maverick technologies that now define 21st century mechanical watchmaking.
The Swiss watch revolution of the past 20 years has happened at an extraordinary pace. This has been a rich season of daring movement, material and design innovations. The cycle of invention is relentless.
But where did it start? With the Freak.
Ulysse Nardin introduced the Freak in 2001 under the headship of maverick owner Rolf Schnyder and genius watchmaker Dr. Ludwig Oechslin. It was a wild creation, a UFO in a land of convention and conservatism. Because it had no dial, no hands and no crown, Schnyder felt there was only one name for it: Freak.
The time was set by a system built into the bezel, and to wind it you had to use a device built into the case back. And it had no hands, instead using the rotating one-hour carrousel tourbillon to show the time.
Ulysse Nardin saw the Freak as a watchmaking laboratory. Dr. Oechslin used it as the first host for his Dual Direct Escapement, a work of genius.
Just as pioneering was that it appeared to be the first Swiss watch with a silicon escapement. Silicon is light and elastic, has low-friction properties as well as high resistance, and it can be produced to very fine tolerances. In 2001, adopting it in watchmaking was radical – and expensive. Fast-forward two decades and it’s now mainstream. Every contemporary watch with silicon parts owes a debt to the Freak.
Since 2001, Ulysse Nardin has filed more than 20 patents for the Freak, the watch with the iconic, crownless silhouette. But even so, it is still… a freak. Today, a newly independent Ulysse Nardin recaptures its unique story with the Freak ONE.
https://www.ulysse-nardin.com/
