Scrabble the Seconds: Five Times Ulysse Nardin Freaked Us Out in Switzerland
Looking at the ways the Le Locle-based brand has used technology to leave a lasting impression at the Swiss watch fairs.
By Rhonda Riche
Editor-At-Large
One of the greatest challenges in watchmaking is finding new ways to tell the time. While we think of upstart indies as leading the way in iconoclastic designs and technology, Ulysse Nardin – a legacy brand – has been making a splash with its avant-garde timepieces.
Prehistory
While I was aware of Ulysse Nardin’s deep history, especially with maritime watches, it wasn’t until my first Baselworld that I discovered that the Maison also manufactured racy automatons.
The PR representative asked if we wanted to see something special and went into another room to retrieve the Classic Voyeur. Racy, yes, but these erotic watches also required a lot of technological and artistic savvy.
Baselworld 2001
Like the Classic Voyeur, the Freak (which preceded the Voyeur by 17 years) was a bit of a peep show. However, in the case of the Freak, the watch had been stripped of the dial, hands, and crown.
It also introduced a novel silicon direct impulse escapement, pioneering the use of this material in the industry.
SIHH 2019
With the Freak a great success among collectors, it also became a proving ground for future innovation. Every little tweak to its cutting-edge regulating organ allowed the House to create a more accessibly priced version – the X.
Scaled down to 43mm and powered by the UN-230 calibre and its more conventional rotor, the Freak X was the first in the series to come equipped with a crown.
Watches and Wonders 2023
While earlier iterations focused on the famous orbital flying one-hour carrousel, the Freak ONE played up its new UN-240 manufacture movement with its innovative Grinder system.
This automatic winding system also featured an oversized, aerodynamic, and inertia-optimized balance wheel crafted entirely from one piece of silicon and a lever escapement executed in DIAMonSIL (a patented form of diamond-coated silicon).
Watches and Wonders 2024
Transparency is a Ulysse Nardin signature. At Watches and Wonders 2024, Ulysse Nardin showcased its newest model in its Freak S series – the Nomad – with a floor display that took visitors to the brand’s booth into a massive replica of the watch’s movement.
The Freak S Nomad was the first Freak to feature artisanal decoration in the form of the guilloche dial, which was a significant departure from previous editions as they focused more on technology than technique.
