Hands-On Ulysse Nardin's Freak S Nomad Blends Old Techniques With Iconic Design

I'm sure the folks at Ulysse Nardin won't take any offense to this statement (heck, I even just said this very thing to Francois-Xavier Hotier, President of UN in the Americas), but the Freak is, at its core, a deceptively simple concept. Instead of designing a movement that moves hands, why not build a hand that moves with the movement itself? There's a lot more going on here than that, to be fair, but the design of the Freak S leaves very little to the imagination, resulting in something visually complex (and frankly not the most legible Freak in the lineup) but visually self-explanatory. It is a little complicated to explain in words because the Freak technically doesn't have a dial, but we'll try anyway.

The Caliber UN-251 powers the Freak S, with two balances mounted on a central carriage that makes one revolution per hour (functioning as the minute hand, with a long luminous indicator on a perforated platform) while acting as the base for the rest of the gear train, including two escape wheels running at 2.5Hz and balanced by a differential. All of this floats above a guilloché hour disc.

Opposite the minute indicator, a geared pinon (shown above) is connected to a gear disc at the exterior of the (non-dial/dial) display. That step-down gearing makes a lumed hour indicator on that guilloche disc rotate 1/12 turn for every single carriage rotation. This means the external track with a larger, thicker luminous indicator that functions as the hour display. Looking below, you'll see that, in this case, the watch is set to 7:24 (plus or minus a few seconds).

By its vary nature, the Freak S is a tourbillon, thanks to the rotation of the carriage. It doesn't look like a traditional tourbillon, with the oscillator inside the carriage "cage" that rotates, but even with these two balances hanging outside the space-ship like design it still technically is. And yet, the idea of a tourbillon is one of the most traditional sounding complications because of its long lineage going back to 1801 with Abraham-Louis Breguet. So, to some extent, the choice of UN to mix the avant-garde with the traditional with the sand-colored hour disc is a nice way to pay tribute to everything that came before it.

To keep the watch from becoming too traditional, the brand has stuck to silicon components as has become standard for UN. The silicon balance wheels are inclined at 20 degrees and the escapements treated with high-tech DIAMonSIL (monocrystalline diamond over silicon) for added precision and durability. The case, as you can see in the pictures, looks to have flecks of gold in it, but in reality, that's just the carbon fiber flanks that also serve as the watch's lugs. The rest of the case, as well as the flip-up locker at 6 o'clock, is in anthracite PVD-coated titanium. That locker can be flipped up with one finger and the entire bezel rotates to set the time.

While most of the excitement seems to happen floating above the watch, beneath that guilloché design sits the giant barrel that powers the movement, giving 72 hours of power reserve despite the two escapements. The movement can be wound both manually by turning the caseback edge counter-clockwise, or will naturally wind automatically through the brand's patented "Grinder" system. 

But how does it all wear on the wrist, keeping in mind it's an incredibly large 45mm diameter by 16.65mm thick case? Well, frankly, it fits as well as those measurements ever could. The use of titanium and carbon fiber keep the watch light, but anyone with smaller than a 7-inch wrist (mine is 7.25", seen below) is going to have a hard time with a decent amount of overhanging lugs. That said, if you're passionate about the Freak, you probably won't be bothered. This is quite possibly the best Freak yet.

As I mentioned, the Freak S may not be the most legible version of the Freak on the market. Watches like the Freak One Ops have a more straightforward design of the minute hand (with one balance and a linear layout) and a more intelligible color scheme that makes the time obvious. These are (as much as any $70,000 watch could be) more of the visual "train wheels" to the Freak lineup. It adjusts your brain to the concept and design and is its own fantastic watch, but it's not the pinnacle of what the Freak can be. That is still the Freak S; now it just comes with a bit more artisanal craftsmanship.

Ulysse Nardin Freak[S] Nomad, ref. 2513-500LE-4A-GUI, 45mm diameter by 16.65mm thick; Titanium case and locker, anthracite PVD-coated titanium bezel, carbon fiber side plates Anthracite PVD-coated titanium case back with open sapphire, with 30m water resistance. Sand-colored CVD with diamond-shaped guilloché hour disc; Flying carousel movement rotating around its own axis for the minutes. Caliber UN-251 Manufacture automatic movement with two oscillators running at 2.5Hz and 72 hours of power reserve. Available on alligator or "ballistic" rubber straps. Price: $148,300. Limited to 99 pieces.