The Ultimate Level: Ulysse Nardin DIAMonSIL® FREAK

Mar 22, 2007,19:50 PM
 

Rolf Schnyder knew what his legacy would be. He knew and believed in his importance of his role as the resurector of a mighty company. And he knew that it extended well BEYOND his capacity as the CEO and leader of Ulysse Nardin, it extended into his previous lives and roles as a player in the field of manufacture of precision watch parts and tools.

What I do know, is that I spend my own money VERY carefully. I mean, no one ever gets a taste of poverty without it ever leaving a permanent irrevocable change in his life. In that way, I always examine all my purchases with great care. I like to call it..a certain mindfulness.
With that precaution, I bought the FREAK in that year. Till today, it remains among the most treasured watches I have ever acquired!

Silicium WILL break the watchmaking world's back...it will create waves that will cut thru the industry..but it will be a GOOD and USEFUL contribution.

The FREAK is and was...yes, and forever will be...the ONLY watch that absolutely requires silicium for its survival, and even its very existence. For all the others..silicium may just be "decorative" or a "me too".

Of course, already down the road...I expect silicium to overcome the final frontiers of watchmaking...the prevention of counterfeits and the protection of valuable intellectual property. well ..maybe.

However, and whatever, the role of silicium in the years to come...it was Rolf Schynder's belief and energy that MADE IT HAPPEN.

He believed in the responsibility and the dignity of his task as the bearer and enforcer of the standards of silicium in the hard pioneering years with the FREAK. All of the owners of these few and rare instruments will know of both pain and joy, of running these magnificent beasts!

History knows how economic forces have tried to bend him, to make him give up silicium. But each year..Rolf has lead his team higher into the silicium's terrifying world of huge investments, and terrifying failures. Each year..a new sucess, and a new frontier...as one can read chronicled below.

Rolf had the discipline and the wherewithal to forge and tame that strange material...the process...the politics...the copyrights...the industrial spying...

The fact is...you can't do that kinda thing unless if your values aren't clear to you in terms of his own life.

Reading the book, "the making of a masterpiece" would give an idea of the kind of man Scyhnder is. The risks he took. The same elements of living life to the edge.

The very sigificance of the FREAK is to be preserved and magnified in the Diamonsil FREAK.

This watch is not, in my mind, an advertising event or a hype chasing stunt. The casework has been largely left functional, and untouched by too much "design". The words "diamonsil" engraved on the platinum plate are left "industrial" with intent.

The diamonds on the hands are also mounted on in the most functional manner, to simply allow visual differentiation of this special watch.

I personally feel that making each FREAK is a sacrifice to the opurtuinity and time that the company could have spent chasing $$$ istead...but that's nOT the way life is at Ulysse Nardin.

Enjoy!!!....



A FEW WORDS FROM ULYSSE NARDIN:

Another step ahead - THE FREAK DIAMonSIL®

Half a decade ago, Ulysse Nardin unveiled a watch codenamed “FREAK”. Until now, this watch has represented the pinnacle of both technological and artistic watchmaking.

Produced in very small numbers, the original FREAK is sought after by the most elite and respected watch connoisseurs around the world! No watch company has ever produced a timepiece like the FREAK – one of the most technically innovative watches conceived, designed and produced in the past 100 years.

The concept was a technical tour de force, requiring the combined efforts of three of watchmaking’s most renowned engineers. The arrangement of parts was inconceivably unorthodox - it had essentially no true case! The crystal and the bezel were actually part of the movement; the Freak had no crown, no hands and the movement pivoted to indicate time! It contained fewer parts than the simplest watch today, and remained a Carrousel Tourbillon by necessity. No watch had ever been designed this way.

The development of the FREAK pioneered the use of silicium in the context of necessity - not for decoration or to be different. While developing this novel escapement the Ulysse Nardin engineers explored the various opportunities to be had with the implementation of nanotechnology. Indeed, the accuracy and lightness (accompanied with the ease in designing complicated movement parts) confirmed the unique abilities of silicium for the production of our escapement wheels. FREAK DIAMonSIL®

Our primary goal continues to be the improvement of our products, while increasing their maximum life span and protecting the mechanism against external strains and stress. Diamond “forever” is the ideal material to achieve this purpose. Beginning in 2005 Ulysse Nardin successfully applied diamonds on the FREAK DIAMOND HEART. The latest advancements in technology allow for alloying the light and easy-to-design silicium with diamond. Years of intense work at La Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle have culminated with Ulysse Nardin presenting the incredibly supercharged and highly tuned version of the FREAK - the FREAK DIAMonSIL®!

The FREAK DIAMonSIL® in platinum is the first timepiece sporting a synthetic nanocrystal diamond escapement grown on a silicium raw part. This noble material was developed in cooperation with Sigatec (a highly qualified manufacturer of precision silicium parts) and our partner GFD in Ulm (leader in producing components in diamond with nanotechnology for various industries).

The FREAK DIAMonSIL® represents the next leap forward for Ulysse Nardin. The FREAK DIAMonSIL® is the embodiment of our proud tradition of 160 years of Innovation with Ulysse Nardin leading the way in silicium and diamond technology. The FREAK DIAMonSIL® is a technical work of art, a symphony in white and blue in a Limited Edition of 28 pieces in Platinum

Dual Ulysse Escapement

The Dual Ulysse Escapement is the most vital part of the watch movement and is made in this very light but extremely strong and novel material : DIAMonSIL®, a registered trademark of Ulysse Nardin.

The Dual Ulysse Escapement has 2 wheels, allowing natural force transmission: the force and the move have the same direction, alternatively clockwise with the first wheel and counter-clockwise with the second. The wheels have 18 active teeth, guaranteeing excellent energy transmission to the oscillator. No lubrication is required - the transmission occurs through a “gear like” mechanism.

The impulse is given to an alternator, which passes it further to the balance shaft. This alternator is a gear which turns alternatively in one direction and then the opposite direction.

The innovative principle of the Dual Ulysse Escapement permits a dramatic reduction of the lift angle from the usual 50-52 degrees (Swiss Anchor) down to approximately 30 degrees. The lift angle is the arc run by the balance between its first contact with the escapement and its last contact. The shorter the arc, the lower is the disturbance of the natural oscillation of the balance.

New Technologies; new Materials

2001: Ulysse Nardin launches the FREAK, the first timepiece commercially available with a silicium escapement.
2002: Ulysse Nardin, in collaboration with GFD Germany, produced the first hairsprings etched in diamond (patent pending) with the DRIE process.
2005: Ulysse Nardin launches the FREAK “DIAMOND HEART” with an escapement manufactured of diamond (DRIE-Process).
2007: Ulysse Nardin unveils the FREAK DIAMonSIL® with an escapement combining the properties of silicium and diamond: DIAMonSIL® (synthetic nanocrystal diamond grown on a silicium raw part).

Technical data

Movement Caliber UN-200, 13 ¾’’’
Dual Ulysse Escapement in DIAMonSIL® - patent pending
28 jewels
Power-Reserve 7 days
Winding The mainspring is wound with the case back
Functions Carrousel Tourbillon displaying hours and minutes
Dual Ulysse Escapement 28’800 V/h (4 Hz)
Turning bezel with lock device to set the time
Case platinum case
Diameter of case 44.5 mm
Crystal Anti reflective sapphire crystal
Case-back Anti reflective sapphire crystal
Band Alligator leather strap, folding buckle

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message composed by Dr. Bernard Cheong This message has been edited by AnthonyTsai on 2007-03-22 19:54:55

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