Ulysse Nardin is celebrating its popular Freak watch with the release of the all-new Freak ONE. The Freak ONE is new and improved compared to its predecessors, but it still has the Freak's iconic characteristics which will please fans of the original.
22 years have passed since Ulysse Nardin released its first Freak watch. The original was a milestone watch that disrupted the perceptions of what a mechanical watch should look like and how it should work. The result was a cutting-edge piece of technology and avant-garde design which has been recreated many times by Ulysse Nardin in its 10-watch Freak collection.
Joining the party in 2023 is the Freak ONE which is a fresh take on the first Freak. Now that it’s been released (as announced during Watches and Wonders 2023), the Freak ONE becomes Ulysse Nardin’s flagship watch.
The Freak ONE still has some of the original’s signature features, including no dial, no hands and no crown. Hands are a pretty vital part for reading the best watches, but Ulysse Nardin goes against the conventions of mechanical watches, and offers a challenging design which is surprisingly easy to read.
To tell the time, the Freak ONE’s orbital carousel tourbillon movement doubles as its minute hand while the hour hand is a pointer, set on a rotating disc that sits under the movement. Due to the lack of crown, the Freak ONE has a time-setting system integrated into its bezel which can be wound via a mechanism in the case back.
The 44mm Freak ONE is powered by the automatic UN-240 Manufacture movement, thanks to its Grinder system, and has a 72-hour power reserve. The automatic winding system features four blades, and is regulated by a silicon oversized oscillator and hairspring, so the flying movement rotates around its own axis to show you the time.
The Freak ONE is made of black DLC-coated titanium with rose gold bezel detailing and a black textured rubber strap. The watch’s escapement is treated with DIAMonSIL, a synthetic diamond and silicon plasma surfacing treatment, which makes the movement shock-resistant.
One of the most impressive things about the new Freak ONE is that it’s not only a celebration of the original Freak, but all its other generations. For example, the Freak ONE has the ‘no hands, no dial, no crown’ and the same notched bezel that the original Freak had in 2001.
Additionally, it has the open gear train of the Freak Cruiser from 2013, legibility codes of the Freak Vision from 2018 and the colour and detailing of the Freak S from 2022. The Freak ONE is a real celebration of the entire Freak collection and it will definitely appeal to people who love the past iterations or those who enjoy unconventional designs.
The new Freak ONE is available on demand, so if you’re interested in buying it, you’ll have to contact Ulysse Nardin for price details.
