We took the Ulysse Nardin Freak One Navy Blue for a month’s fling, and came away impressed with this freaky beast. Here is our comprehensive review.

Comprehensive Review: the new  Ulysse Nardin Freak One Navy Blue

The Ulysse Nardin Freak One Navy Blue retails at SGD 97,600 including GST.

We published a commentary when the watch was released in October 2024.

The case

The Freak One was introduced in 2023 in a titanium DLC case with a rose gold bezel. But that set Ulysse Nardin back on the track, a return of the Freak to its roots, so to speak. The Freak was, of course, first released in 2001 at Baselworld. It shocked the watchmaking world. We were at the 2001 launch, chatting with Rolf Schnyder and Ludwig Oeschelin. Our minds were blown that day. Aptly named, the watch was wild. Not only in its aesthetics which is out of the ordinary, but also in breaking almost every traditional watchmaking feature. No dial, no hands, no crown. And the entire movement is set on a carriage which makes one complete revolution every hour. UN continued to develop the line with the  Freak Vision, where we first got the innovative Grinder automatic winding system.

But in 2019, UN took a side step, and broke itself. Slaughtering of the sacred cow, so to speak. A disturbance in the Force, and the Freak acquired a crown (!). This was the Freak X. Old timers were shocked! But our own young Stanley was enthralled by a later version: the Freak X Carbonium. Perhaps it is a generational gap thing. So I breathed a sigh of great relief when the Freak One made its appearance in 2023. This was a redesign, but one which retained the critical elements of the original. It had no dial, no hands and most importantly, no crown.

And this brings us to the Freak One Navy Blue. The watch is based off the Freak One launched in 2023. But now, the black DLC titanium case is topped off with a Carbonium carbon fibre bezel. Carbonium is an interesting material. The material is made with carbon fibre which are off-cuts from the aviation industry. This means that the environmental impact is 40% lower than other composites. And the fibres are weaved together, then set into resin to create a very unique finish with a nice marbling pattern. As carbon fibre, it feels neutral to the touch with a smooth surface which is matte finished.

Setting the time on the Freak is a special experience. The original had a bezel which looked more like a bottle cap with scalloped sides affording a good grip. This was rather stiff, as it needs to be to avoid inadvertent shifting of the hands. And this evolved to a smoother operating bezel, but with a locking mechanism. I show this in the video below.

YouTube video review

In the video, I called the watch the UN Freak One Blue, but the official name is Freak One Navy Blue.

The movement, dial and hands

The movement is the star of the Freak Show. Naturally. It sits fully exposed on the dial. But the trick up its sleeve is the entire movement is pivoted, and rotates on its own axis, making one complete revolution every hour.

And mounted with an arrow tip, it becomes the minute hand. The canon pinion drives a disc which carries another arrow tip. And as the canon pinion makes one revolution every 12 hours, this indicates the hours. A rehaut carries the chapter ring which acts as the index markers.

The movement is essentially a tourbillon, as the power is delivered directly to the balance wheel. The tourbillon cage is essentially the entire movement, pivoted at the center, with one end engaging with a fixed wheel on the periphery, and the balance wheel on the other. The balance wheel, escapement wheel and anchor are coated in DiamonSil®, a pioneering material patented in 2009. This material offers excellent resistance and durability by combining silicon and synthetic diamond. Visually, the balance looks like a skeleton frame with balance weight.

The bridges on the Freak One Navy Blue are black DLC. Visually, this lowers the contrast between the dark bridges and the blue background. In good light, it takes a while to quickly recognise the arrow tips indicating the time, but in the dark, the setup glows to show only the essentials. Pretty cool.

The colour scheme chosen is low contrast. The dark bridges against the deep blue background on the dial side can be difficult to discern. But this is completely the huge arrows which are easy to spot and read, even in the dark. So with a bit of familiarity, the time can be read easily. The flip side to this colour scheme is that is sets the stage to showcase the highlight of the watch in a rather discreet, but still beautiful manner. And is nicely carried over to the blue and black ballistic rubber strap. One nit pick is the buckle is very difficult to set up, as the long pin takes quite an effort to insert properly into the hole in the strap. But it is very secure, with no fear that it will disengage anytime. And you only do this once to set the strap to the right length as the owner.

The case back

The watch is self-winding, and can be manually wound by rotating the rear bezel, in a similar way as the way the front bezel is used to set the time. This rear bezel is easy to grip and turns quite easily, growing progressively stiffer, as the main spring is being wound. And visible through the sapphire glass is the automatic winding mechanism, dubbed The Grinder.

The Grinder Automatic Winding System was first presented in the Innovision 2 concept watch. It comprise of an oscillating rotor is linked to a frame containing four arms. Each movement of the weight transfers power to the frame via one of the four pawls on the frame to wind the main spring. And makes a grinding noise as it moves, hence the name. UN says that this gives the system double the torque, akin to having four pedals on a bike instead of two. And while we are not able to verify this claim, we can testify that the watch winds well, with no obvious issues on daily use.

Competitive landscape

This is a difficult one. The Freak is the Freak. There is none like it. If you want a watch with no dial, no hands, no crown, there is no other option. If you want the entire movement mounted like a tourbillon, making one revolution every hour, there is no other option. If you want a talking piece, with its quirky looks, yet absolutely functional and usable as a daily wear, you have no others to compare to. The UN Freak One is truly unique. The only competition is perhaps its own siblings. Other Freak One watches, in other colour manifestations.

Concluding thoughts

This is a very interesting watch. And truly lives up to the name of Freak. Finishing is nicely done all round, with no particular aspect which we feel will need more attention. The watch feels nice on the wrist, with 44mm case wears surprisingly well, feeling smaller than the dimension would suggest. The colour scheme, as discussed, is low contrast, but with a short learning curve, the time readout is legible and easy to use. The watch itself is rugged enough to withstand the rigours of daily use, despite the tourbillon movement and the 30m water resistance rating.

The 3 dimensional aspect of the entire movement gliding across the dial is quite a spectacle. The bridges are finished well enough, though will not win any awards for exceptional haute horlogerie finnisage. But executed to a high, very competent engineering level. Which is what is just about right for a quirky, freaky watch like the Freak One Navy Blue.