Ulysse Nardin [SUPER] FREAK: the double tourbillon redefining Haute Horlogerie

Twenty-five years after the launch of the Freak, the watch that changed the language of contemporary watchmaking forever in 2001, Ulysse Nardin pushes the boundaries of the possible even further with the new [SUPER] FREAK. An extreme creation, produced in just 50 pieces, celebrating the 180th anniversary of the Manufacture and concentrating a quarter-century of research, inventions and experimentation into a single timepiece.

Powered by the new UN-252 calibre, composed of 511 components, featuring the world’s first automatic double tourbillon with carrousel architecture, the Grinder winding system, an unprecedented seconds display and solutions such as the smallest vertical differential and the smallest gimbal system in the world, the new [SUPER] FREAK does not simply evolve the Freak: it redefines its very concept.

ULYSSE NARDIN [SUPER] FREAK AT WATCHES AND WONDERS 2026

Presented at Watches and Wonders 2026, the new Ulysse Nardin [SUPER] FREAK stands among the year’s most radical creations. Not through excess, but through vision. In a fair often dominated by evolutions and refinements, this is one of those rare watches that seem to change the playing field.

Because this is not simply about adding a complication or pushing an existing architecture further. It is about questioning, once again, what a mechanical watch can be when convention ceases to be a limit. Not as an exercise in complexity, but as a statement.

THE FREAK REVOLUTION AND THE VISION OF LUDWIG OECHSLIN

To understand the significance of the new [SUPER] FREAK, one must return to the origins of one of the most radical revolutions in modern watchmaking.

Founded in 1846 in Le Locle, Ulysse Nardin built its history on precision, becoming an absolute reference in chronometry and marine chronometers. But the chapter that would change the Maison forever began in 1983, with Rolf Schnyder, and above all with the encounter destined to shape the brand’s future: the one with Ludwig Oechslin.

Brilliant, unconventional, visionary, Oechslin brought to Ulysse Nardin an almost philosophical approach to mechanics. From the Astrolabium Galileo Galilei to the development of a new escapement inspired by Abraham-Louis Breguet, his research has always been driven by transcending convention.

The turning point came in 1997, when he reworked Carole Forestier-Kasapi’s prototype and transformed it into something watchmaking had never seen before: a watch without a crown, without traditional hands, in which the movement itself indicates the time.

Presented at Baselworld 2001, it introduced silicon into watchmaking, eliminated classical codes and became a manifesto of mechanical freedom. Not simply a model, but a before and after. The new [SUPER] FREAK is born precisely from that.

WHY THE [SUPER] FREAK IS A LANDMARK WATCH

Looking at it, it seems almost impossible that it measures time. And that is precisely the point. There is a difference between complicating and reinventing. The [SUPER] FREAK belongs to the latter category. Because here complexity is not superstructure: it is language.

The new [SUPER] FREAK does not represent a simple evolution of the collection: it condenses 35 patented inventionsdeveloped throughout the history of the Freak and integrates eight patents, including one developed specifically for this project.

For the first time in a Freak there is a dedicated seconds display. For the first time we find an automatic double tourbilloninside a flying carrousel. For the first time all the complexity accumulated over twenty-five years converges into a single watch.

With more than 97% of the movement dynamic, the [SUPER] FREAK is conceived by the Maison as the most complex watch ever created dedicated solely to measuring time.

THE UN-252 CALIBRE AND THE FIRST AUTOMATIC DOUBLE TOURBILLON CARROUSEL

Looking at it, it seems almost impossible that mechanics and poetry can coexist. Yet that is exactly what happens. At the centre of everything beats the new in-house UN-252 calibre, developed over four years as the ultimate expression of the Freak universe.

The minute bridge, composed of 327 components, integrates two flying titanium tourbillons inclined at 10 degrees, rotating in opposite directions and completing a full revolution every 60 seconds. A construction of astonishing complexity which, despite everything, weighs only 3.5 grams, making it 30% lighter than that of the Freak S.

As per Freak tradition, the hour disc rotates once every twelve hours, while the movement-carrousel completes one turn every hour to indicate the minutes. Added to this architecture is now the new seconds indicator, made possible by a mechanical solution never before seen in the collection. All of this operates at 2 x 18,000 vibrations per hour, 42 jewels, and a level of mechanical density with few equals in contemporary Haute Horlogerie.

THE WORLD’S SMALLEST DIFFERENTIAL AND THE WORLD’S SMALLEST GIMBAL SYSTEM

Among the details that make the [SUPER] FREAK extraordinary, two deserve almost to be considered complications in their own right.

The first is the world’s smallest vertical differential, measuring just 5 mm, composed of 69 components. A micro-architecture that calculates the average speed of the two tourbillons and harmonises their performance, ensuring precision and stability.

The second is the world’s smallest gimbal system, just 4.8 mm, with 11 components developed to transmit energy to the new seconds display.

Its inspiration is deeply coherent with the Maison’s maritime DNA: the gimbal joint was historically created to stabilise compasses aboard ships. Today it returns, reinterpreted as extreme micro-engineering.

There is something poetically perfect in this. That a solution born to guide ships on the open sea now regulates time in a masterpiece of micro-mechanics says much about the way Ulysse Nardin conceives innovation: not as rupture, but as continuity.

GRINDER, SILICON AND DIAMonSIL: THE TECHNICAL HEART OF THE [SUPER] FREAK

Powering such an architecture requires energy on another scale. And this is where Grinder comes into play, the patented automatic winding system by Ulysse Nardin, recognised as the most efficient ever developed. Thanks to a construction with four ultra-thin blades measuring 0.12 mm, the system converts even the slightest wrist movement into energy, ensuring a three-day power reserve.

Alongside this, the role of silicon remains central, a material introduced into watchmaking by the Freak in 2001 and which continues here as a protagonist.

The new [SUPER] FREAK integrates 10 silicon components, including two balance wheels, two hairsprings and two escapements in DIAMonSIL, the proprietary technology combining silicon and diamond coating for exceptional performance, durability and resistance. These are solutions created to push precision beyond traditional limits. Precisely in the spirit of Ulysse Nardin.

DESIGN AND KINETIC ARCHITECTURE

To house this mechanical density, a new 44 mm white gold case has been created, with redesigned bezel and locking system, more compact and refined. Ergonomics surprise, especially considering an architecture developed across seven levels and a perceived height of 12.2 mm, for 16.54 mm overall.

The transparent blue Nanosital hour disc, crossed by white Super-LumiNova indicators, introduces an almost hypnotic visual depth and reveals the automatic engine beneath, emphasising the living nature of the movement.

Titanium bridges, the skeletonised construction, the contrast between volumes and voids — everything contributes to an aesthetic that seems not to belong to traditional watchmaking. More than design, it is kinetic architecture.

Completing it is a grey ballistic rubber strap with white gold deployant clasp and 30 metres of water resistance, almost secondary compared to the mechanical complexity it contains.

180 YEARS OF CRAFTSMANSHIP, SHAPED BY HAND

And yet, for all its futurism, the [SUPER] FREAK remains profoundly human. More than 70% of its components are hand-finished. Each piece requires 60 hours of assembly, entrusted entirely to a single master watchmaker at Ulysse Nardin’s Atelier de Haute Horlogerie. Hand-decorated titanium bridges, straight graining, sandblasting, polishing carried out with traditional tools: here high technology does not replace savoir-faire, it amplifies it.

And it is here that the [SUPER] FREAK ceases to be merely engineering and becomes watchmaking again in the highest sense of the word. Despite the patents, the micro-engineering and the silicon, it remains above all Haute Horlogerie.

ULYSSE NARDIN [SUPER] FREAK PRICE AND CONCLUSIONS

The new Ulysse Nardin [SUPER] FREAK is not simply the most evolved Freak ever created. It is proof that, twenty-five years after revolutionising watchmaking with silicon, carrousel architecture and the absence of a crown, the Freak continues to move the boundary of what a mechanical watch can be, remaining faithful to the original vision of Ludwig Oechslin.

UN-252 calibre. 511 components. Flying double tourbillon. Grinder system. DIAMonSIL technology. 44 mm in white gold. Only 50 pieces. More than a new reference, a mechanical manifesto. Its price matches its ambition: 348,100 euros including VAT.

Twenty-five years ago the Freak changed watchmaking. The [SUPER] FREAK reminds us that revolution never ended.

By Jacopo Giudici