Ulysse Nardin

Let's just keep in mind that the Freak has a mother, Carole Forestier, and a father, Ludwig Oeschlin. Indeed, the Carousel was born from Carole Forestier's genius and creativity, but her project offered a limited autonomy, of only 12 hours. Ludwig Oeschlin found a solution, with a gigantic hairspring, to offer an autonomy of... 7 Days. 

The 2001 Freak: 

Back to the Super Freak, I have mixed feelings about it. I appreciate the technical challenge, with these 2 flying Tourbillons made of titanium, beating at 18, 000 vibrations per hour, the reversed differential compared to the Freak S issued in 2022, the choice of Silicon for the 2 balance wheels and the 2 hairsprings, and DiamonSil for the escapements. 

The Freak S, from 2022: 

I learned that it takes 60 hours for the 5 trained watchmakers working at the High Horology Workshop to assemble the Cal UN 252, and that 70 per cent of the parts are finished by hand.

But I am less of a fan of the choice of an automatic movement, to be honest. I much prefer a manual winding movement with its 7 days power reserve than this " Grinder " which offers 72 hours only. For such a Super(lative) Freak, I would have expected a much longer power reserve. 

Here, no crown, as a Freak should be. Good point. You still wind the movement through the bezel on the backside and set the time by the bezel on the front. 

Another good point is that the aesthetics of this Super Freak conforms to the concept, with the hour disc rotating each twelve hours, and the minute disc every one hour. And here, the seconds are displayed, which is a big change from the 2001 Freak. As for the hour disc, it is light blue, made in Nanosital, a polycrystalline material. 

The Front is spectacular. We are somewhere between the Spaceship or an engine issued from the racing competition. But isn't it too spectacular? Doesn't it dilute the concept a bit too much?

One word on the case. It is in white gold... I would have expected something more " exotic " such as Tantalum, or a more innovative material for such a watch... White Gold contrasts as a conservative metal for such an innovative watch. It is big, with 44 mm, even if some Freaks were 45 mm, and thick, with 16, 54 mm height. The interesting thing is that Uylsse Nardin says that the " perceived height " is only 12, 2 mm... 

To be complete, the price is... 348, 000 Euros, but the VAT is included.   And the Super Freak is limited to 50 pieces. 

Ok, it took them 4 years of R&D to give life to this Super Freak, but to me, the Innovision One and even better, the Innovision Two were more interesting than this one, even if I can't underestimate its technical and horological interest. 

The Innovision One ( 2007 ) :

The Innovision 2 ( 2017 ) :

Looking forward to reading your comments and thoughts, 

Best,

Nicolas 

  login to reply