Ulysse Nardin Brings Enamel and Guilloché to the Freak [ONE] for the First Time

The Ulysse Nardin Freak has always been a machine first. Since 2001, when Dr. Ludwig Oechslin conceived a watch with no dial, no hands, and no crown, its rotating movement doing the work of both, the Freak has been the industry’s most radical time-teller and the watch that introduced silicon to mechanical watchmaking. Now, for its 25th anniversary, Ulysse Nardin has done something it never has: it has given the Freak the touch of traditional decorative arts. The result is two new limited editions, the Freak [ONE Blue Enamel] and the Freak [ONE Guilloché].

A moving canvas

What makes the pairing notable isn’t just that Ulysse Nardin has brought enamel and guilloché, crafts most houses reserve for their dressiest watches, to its most futuristic one. It’s where they’ve put them. The Freak has no dial; in its place is a large “hour disc,” a functional, rotating component of the movement that completes one turn every 12 hours. Decorating a part that moves, and that carries multiple screw fittings, is a far harder task than finishing a static dial, which is what makes both watches a technical achievement as much as an artistic one.

Freak [ONE Blue Enamel]

The showpiece is the Blue Enamel. Its hour disc is executed in Grand Feu enamel by Donzé Cadrans, Ulysse Nardin’s in-house atelier and the oldest enamel workshop in Swiss watchmaking, crafted in white gold for thermal stability and engraved with a sunray guilloché beneath a vibrant blue enamel applied and fired layer by layer at around 800°C. Any bubble or crack means starting over. The deep blue throws the Freak’s floating flying carousel into sharp relief. It arrives, for the first time on a Freak [ONE], in a full titanium 44mm case on a white “ballistic” rubber strap, limited to 99 pieces at $89,800.

Freak [ONE Guilloché]

The Guilloché is the quieter of the two. Here the hour disc carries a hand-created guilloché in a diamond “maille” pattern, transferred to the production discs by the traditional flinqué stamping technique and finished in a warm, sand-toned coating. Paired with a light-grey titanium case and matching strap, it’s a study in neutral tones that keeps the eye on the movement. It, too, is limited to 99 pieces, priced at $80,000.

The same radical engine

Both run the familiar Freak [ONE] mechanics: the automatic UN-240 caliber, its flying carousel serving as the minute hand, a silicon balance and DIAMonSIL diamond-coated escapement, and Ulysse Nardin’s Grinder winding system, which uses four ultra-thin levers to feed a 90-hour power reserve. There is still no crown; you set the time by rotating the bezel and wind it by turning the watch over. For 2026, that bezel has been softened, with fewer notches, for a slightly more everyday feel.

Adrienne Faurote

Editor in Chief · Haute Time

As a former New Yorker, now a “Miamian,” Adrienne Faurote joined Haute Living in August of 2021. She currently serves as the Haute Media Group Editor-in-Chief, overseeing all editorial platforms within the Haute Media Group while also maintaining her role as Fashion, Jewelry & Watch Director. Prior to her position at Haute Living, Faurote was the Market Editor at Marie Claire Magazine US, amassing over ten years in the industry, becoming an authoritative voice in all things fashion, jewelry, and watches.