Ulysse Nardin [Super] Freak: The Most Complicated Time-Only Watch Ever, Celebrating 25 Years of the Freak

Ulysse Nardin Super Freak 2026 cover

Description

The Ulysse Nardin [Super] Freak is the brand's boldest statement in 25 years. Launched at Watches & Wonders Geneva 2026 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the original Ludwig Oechslin-designed Freak and the 180th of Ulysse Nardin itself, the [Super] Freak is — by the brand's own reckoning — the most complicated time-only watch ever made. There is no dial. There are no hands in the traditional sense. The movement itself is the display, rotating as a giant carousel around the central axis of the watch.

Limited to just 50 pieces in 18k white gold, it pairs a newly developed in-house automatic calibre (UN-252) with twin 10°-inclined flying tourbillons rotating in opposite directions, a newly patented gimbal system that drives a cylindrical seconds display, the Grinder double-blade automatic winding system, and the world's smallest differential averaging the two regulators. 97.46% of its 511 components are in constant motion — only 13 pieces remain fixed.

It is aimed squarely at collectors of the original 2001 Freak and of UN's subsequent Carousel, Executive and InnoVision experiments — the people who understood that the Freak was never about reading the time efficiently, but about rewriting what a mechanical wristwatch can be.

Design

The 44mm 18k white gold case is the same diameter as the current Freak S but thicker at 16.54mm to house the seven-plane movement architecture. The bezel is brushed and chamfered, and the case is entirely dialless — a sapphire crystal front opens directly onto the UN-252 calibre in all its kinetic glory. A second sapphire caseback reveals the Grinder automatic winding system at work. The twin titanium flying tourbillons dominate the upper plane, each rotating once per minute in opposition, while the cylindrical seconds display on the side of the movement (driven through the patented gimbal) tracks the running seconds in a way no previous Freak has done. The strap is black alligator with an 18k white gold folding clasp.

Ulysse Nardin Super Freak movement close up

Specifications

Reference: 2525-500LE-1A
Case: 44mm × 16.54mm, 18k white gold
Crystal: Sapphire front and sapphire caseback, anti-reflective
Water resistance: 30 metres
Strap: Black alligator with 18k white gold folding clasp
Movement: Calibre UN-252, in-house automatic
Complications: Dual 10°-inclined flying tourbillons, differential averaging regulator, cylindrical seconds on a patented gimbal, Grinder double-blade automatic winding
Components: 511 parts, 42 jewels
Frequency: 21,600 vph (3 Hz)
Power reserve: 72 hours
Limited edition: 50 pieces
Price: CHF 320,000 (approx. EUR 348,100 / USD ~355,000)

Ulysse Nardin Super Freak white gold 44mm

What's Exciting

Three things. First, the dual inclined flying tourbillon carousel is a world-first in automatic form — inclined tourbillons exist (Greubel Forsey built the category), but not mounted on a flying carousel that itself IS the movement. Second, UN managed to add a genuine seconds display (a first for the Freak platform) without breaking the dialless aesthetic — the cylindrical seconds scale wraps around the side of the movement, visible through a viewing aperture. Third, the brand has pushed hand-finishing to a level the Freak has never seen: more than 70% of the 511 components are finished by hand, and only five watchmakers in Le Locle have been trained to assemble this calibre.

For the price — CHF 320,000 — it is also competitive within the ultra-haute-horlogerie segment. A Greubel Forsey Quadruple Tourbillon sits above a million. A MB&F Legacy Machine pushes half a million. The [Super] Freak is a more extreme technical object than either, by most measures, at a fraction of the cost.

Ulysse Nardin Super Freak caseback

History

The original Freak, released in 2001, was the brainchild of Ludwig Oechslin — one of the most important watchmakers of the late 20th century and a key figure behind Ulysse Nardin's 1980s–2000s renaissance under Rolf Schnyder. It was the first commercial watch to use silicon escapement components, the first to put the full movement on a carousel that doubled as the hands, and the first to do away with the dial and crown in their conventional form. Every Freak since (Neo, Next, Vision, S, One) has been an attempt to refresh the idea without losing what made it radical. The [Super] Freak is arguably the ultimate expression of that brief, and a fitting tribute in the brand's 180th year — a watch that sits at the exact intersection of Oechslin's original vision and contemporary ultra-complication watchmaking.