Ulysse Nardin

MTR
8892

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Thank you, dear Nico, for this great review I was eagerly awaiting 🙏

After having seen and worn the watch in person during Watches & Wonders, I have to admit: I was genuinely blown away.






This is not a “rational” watch anymore. And honestly, I don’t even think it is really about timekeeping in the traditional sense.

UN took the revolutionary Freak concept from 25 years ago and pushed it completely over the top.

511 components… just to display the time…. Completely insane!!!
And somehow also wonderful at the same time.

To me, the Super Freak feels less like a watch and more like a kinetic sculpture for the wrist. A true piece of art.

What surprised me most personally was the wearability. I have a 17 cm wrist and fully expected the watch to feel huge or top-heavy. In reality, it felt remarkably balanced, comfortable and much more wearable than the dimensions or pictures would suggest. That was honestly one of the biggest surprises for me.

And aesthetically, I find it mesmerizing. The depth, movement and architecture are extraordinary in real life. Pictures really don’t capture what this watch looks like when it moves on the wrist.

Regarding the two tourbillons: from what I understood during discussions at the fair, they are not there purely for spectacle. The two inclined tourbillons are connected through an ultra-small differential which averages and stabilizes their rates. So yes: they apparently do contribute to chronometric stability and precision, at least conceptually.

Now, whether ultimate precision is really the point of a 500+ component “time-only” watch is probably another discussion altogether…

Of course, one can debate whether such a watch still “makes sense.” But maybe that is exactly why I admire it so much: because it deliberately goes beyond reason.