Laughing In The Face Of Conformity: Ulysse Nardin's Trail Blazing Freak

The Ulysse Nardin Freak. To many, it's as obscure as it is bewildering. To some, it's as confusing as it is intriguing. But to a fair few, myself included, it's one of the most impressive feats of modern watchmaking. The Freak is an exploration of adventure, pioneering, creativity and a unique expression of time keeping. It paved the way for the steampunk movement and it opened the door for independent watchmakers to create timepieces that would otherwise be seen as far too avant garde for even the non-conformists of the watch world to appreciate. And since its introduction in 2001, the Freak has set the precedent for modern watchmaking.

Before I delve into the nature of the Freak, I think it prudent to understand what the Freak is and where it came from. The first Freak emerged from the Ulysse Nardin atelier at the turn of the millenium, and where everyone was walking the line of conservatism, the Freak's introduction was tantamount to that of the new Patek Philippe Cubitus, ten fold. 

No dial, no hands, no crown. Silicon escapement wheel. A rotating mass of gears, trains and bridges. Convention be damned, Ulysse Nardin's complete deconstruction of watchmaking normality married the worlds of engineering and art into one beautiful expression of savoir-faire. Some call it disruptive. Others call it revolutionary. And tradition be damned -- the Freak had arrived.

Since then, the Freak has seen many iterations, expansions and versions. Novel materials, innate complications, improved chronometry and an exploration of accessibility. In the twenty-plus years since it made waves, the Freak has become synonymous with an ideal that is unlike anything else in the industry. 

There are many watches that leave a lasting impression on me. And the Freak is definitely one of them. And perhaps most of all, it stems from that initial wow-factor. To see a heaving, rotating mass of micro-parts rotating with inexplicit accuracy is, in a word, mystifying. Then to have the opportunity to understand the processes, the systematic development and execution, the superlative finishing, the visually oversimplification of something as complex as the Freak is, quite frankly, intoxicating. Addictive, almost. You want to know more, you want to see more, you want to feel it, handle it. Few watches have ever left that kind of impression on me, and that is the difference with the Freak. 

Take it from me. As a lover of safe, traditional watchmaking, there is no other watch out there that can compare. The Freak is the antithesis of everything that I revere about watchmaking. But, I love it. 

ULYSSE NARDIN