Ulysse Nardin Freak [S Howlite] Is Made Only for North America

Ulysse Nardin is marking 25 years of the Freak with a watch North America gets all to itself. The just-unveiled Freak [S Howlite] is limited to 15 pieces, and it sets howlite, a material the Manufacture has never used before, under the dual-oscillator Freak S movement. Each hour disc is cut from Canadian stone with its own gray veining, so no two of the 15 watches are alike.

A quarter-century on, the Freak has become what Ulysse Nardin calls “a true laboratory on the wrist,” with 35 patents and 17 calibers to its name. In 2023, the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève gave the Freak [ONE] its Iconic Watch Prize. The brand hasn’t slowed down for the anniversary, either, moving from the Super Freak at Watches & Wonders to a more wearable take on the Freak and enamel and guilloché on the Freak [ONE]. Of everything so far, the Howlite is the most intimate chapter, and the one closest to home for North American collectors.

Introducing the Freak [S Howlite]

The Freak S is the most ambitious branch of the family tree. Introduced in 2022, it took the Freak into three dimensions: roughly 95 percent of the movement’s components are in motion, so the watch never looks the same twice. Architecture like that asks a lot of whoever builds it, and each Freak [S Howlite] is assembled from start to finish by a single Grandes Complications watchmaker at the Manufacture in Switzerland.

The way it keeps time is stranger still. Two oversized silicon oscillators, each inclined at 20 degrees, beat at 18,000 vibrations per hour with silicon balance wheels and DIAMonSIL® escapements. Linking them is what Ulysse Nardin says is the world’s smallest vertical mechanical differential, a 47-part component with six ceramic ball bearings that averages the rate of the two oscillators.

Silicon has been in the Freak’s DNA since 2001. The ten in-house silicon components in this movement, balance wheels and hairsprings included, are produced at Sigatec, the brand’s silicon lab in Sion. DIAMonSIL®, patented in 2007, adds a diamond coating to the escapements, which are designed to withstand more than 150 million impacts a year.

Then there’s the crown—or rather, there isn’t one. To set the time, you unlock a safety lock at 6 o’clock and turn the bidirectional bezel. To wind it by hand, you flip the watch over and turn the caseback counterclockwise with both thumbs, feeding energy straight to the barrel through the patented Grinder® system.

Grinder® first appeared in 2017 in the Freak InnoVision 2 concept watch, built to feed a hungry dual-oscillator movement, and here it delivers a 72-hour power reserve. Winding a Freak this way becomes a small ritual, and in our view, it’s half the fun of owning one.

The Howlite Hour Disc

The stone is where this edition earns its North American passport. Howlite is a naturally occurring white mineral with distinctive gray-to-black veining, first discovered in Nova Scotia in 1868 by the Canadian chemist and geologist Henry How, after whom it was named. For the Freak [S Howlite], it was sourced in Canada and crafted in Switzerland. Putting a Canadian mineral in a watch made only for this continent is a neat bit of storytelling.

It wasn’t an easy material to tame. Howlite is relatively soft and delicate, so the raw stone was core-drilled and wire-cut into thin discs, and every slice was inspected for whiteness, veining, and overall character. About 60 percent didn’t make the cut. The survivors were brought to their final thickness, polished, and finished with a protective varnish that keeps the mineral’s natural look while meeting the tight tolerances of the Freak S movement.

It was worth all the trouble. Against that marble-like white surface, the flying carousel, the two inclined oscillators, and the differential seem to float above the hour disc, and the movement’s three-dimensional depth becomes far easier to read. Our take: pale stone is a smarter backdrop for this movement than any lacquer could be. It gives each watch a fingerprint, then gets out of the way of the mechanics.

The rest of the package is made to be worn. The 45mm case, bezel, locker, and caseback are all gray titanium, which Ulysse Nardin notes is about 45 percent lighter than steel, and the caseback opens onto the movement through sapphire. The watch has a perceived height of 13.66mm (16.65mm overall) and is water-resistant to 30 meters. It comes on a white rubber strap with a ballistic texture and a titanium folding buckle—a sporty finish that suits the stone better than you might expect.

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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.