Ulysse Nardin Impresses With New Freak X Featuring Silicium Marquetry

After the Freak X Razzle Dazzle launch, Ulysse Nardin continues to impress as it introduces us to the Freak X Marquetry. This traditional and very demanding technique is usually executed in natural materials, such as wood, straw, and feathers. However, if there is one material that has had a profound impact on the (recent) history of Ulysse Nardin, it is silicium. The brand started using it as early as 2001 and has proven to be one of the trailblazers in the industry, bringing this technology and their watches to the next level. They now do the same with the art of marquetry as they launch the world's very first silicium marquetry watch.

By Adrienne Faurote

Ulysse Nardin Serves Up Two New Freak X Models

Boiling hot or ice-cold? Whatever your preference, Ulysse Nardin is now offering both of these extremes in two new versions of their Freak X model. Introduced in 2019, the Freak X took the legacy of this extraordinary Ulysse Nardin collection to new heights by offering many of its highlights into a smaller and more affordable package. Fitted into a 43mm case, we find caliber UN-230. As always, with the Freak makes its carrousel-type movement the balance wheel an intricate part of telling time. Prominently placed on the dial side as part of the minute hand, is it quite the eyecatcher. For optimum performance, Ulysse Nardin made it out of silicon and fitted it with micro-blades and nickel flyweights for stabilization.

Haute Time’s Hottest Time Only Watches Of 2019

Two or three hands that tell the time, sometimes with a date complication added to the mix; the majority of the watches produced these days follow this format. Nearly every brand has multiple models that follow this concept in their collection, which makes standing out, or even going a step further and making a mark on the industry, is challenging. The following four watches did, however, just that in 2019:

How Ulysse Nardin Taught Us That The Future Is Freaky

There is something extremely tricky about being a Swiss watch brand and using very progressive, close to experimental technology in the wristwatches that you actually sell to the public. Even when extensively tested, the technology can malfunction in the client's watch, and also when fixed, reputations are often damaged. Yet this didn't stop Ulysse Nardin from launching their 'Freak' model in 2001. It would be the first of a lineage of watches that is now close to two decades in the making. It was and still is, a watch in which Ulysse Nardin boldly brought cutting technology to the wrists of their fans.

Watch of the Week: Ulysse Nardin Freak X

The Freak is in many ways what Ulysse Nardin is all about: It is innovative in terms of design as well as technical execution. When the original version of the Freak was introduced in 2001, it was the very first watch in commercial production that used parts made from silicon. Because it is fitted with a flying carousel, those elements were also clearly visible. In the little under two decades that the Freak is now part of the Ulysse Nardin collection, the watch has evolved in many ways, with as latest addition the Freak X.

SIHH 2019 Day 2: To The Moon And Back

At any watch fair, there is always the risk that you start at a high and then it is all downwards from there. With the balanced additions to the Pilot-collection of IWC, the super sweet Richard Mille's and Jaeger-LeCoultre who showed once again their prowess when it comes to highly complicated watches with a fine finish, that danger is very real. However, this edition of SIHH that fear is misplaced as on the second day, things continued at a very high level.