Beyond Dawlish

Ulysse Nardin Freak S Watch

One of the buy luxury replica watches I'm most excited about at Watches & Wonders 2022 in Geneva is the latest high-end Freak watch from Ulysse Nardin . Dubbed Ulysse Nardin Freak S, the latest installment in the "Freak watch saga" that began in 2001 is a visual testament to the enduring power of this hybrid visual/technical concept. The Freak watch line started out as a playground for the silicon parts in mechanical watch movements. Ulysse Nardin shocked the industry by replacing metal parts with parts made of silicon. It not only opened up a major debate on new materials in the traditional watch industry, but also heralded the arrival of the era when silicon became one of the most important materials in the contemporary watch industry. While many naysayers argue that silicon has no place in high-end watchmaking, Ulysse Nardin is right.

Now, 21 years later, the tenet of the Freak watch collection has evolved. Since the original Freak high quality watches replica was launched, there have been several ownership and leadership changes, and the Freak collection is now a mainstay of the Ulysse Nardin brand. Today's Freak collection focuses less on technical performance innovation and more on design and visual presentation, celebrating Ulysse Nardin's status as a material innovator while providing fun and excitement on the wrist for those who can afford it.

As it turns out, my excitement about the Freak S watch was well-founded. The moment I met Mr. Patrick Pruniaux, CEO of Ulysse Nardin at Watches & Wonders Geneva, I noticed he was wearing a Freak S. He didn't take it off for the entire show, and he wore it really well, with a smile on his face the entire time. "What a cool watch" I thought. No, it's not just that Patrick has made a good watch mockup, but the entire futuristic design and visual animation of the Freak S timepiece is fun and inspiring. I couldn't be happier with its forward-looking design. What does it mean? Well, a few years ago, this futuristic watch wasn't doing particularly well. There is a strong demand for historically significant vintage (i.e. “classic”) designs, and it’s popular among consumers to joke about the novelty and experimentation of trying new things with modern watches. We are in an age of resolute neoclassicism, where nostalgia for the past seems to overshadow the typical interest in innovation. Try as I might, I can barely get people excited about futuristic watch designs. In fact, I dedicated an entire article in 2020 to discussing how social sentiment directly affects whether people want classic or futuristic watch designs.

Now, just two years later, the world finds itself in a very different place, and social sentiment seems to be shifting. People are once again hopeful about the future and curious (rather than terrified) about what it might bring. At least that's what I thought when I noticed a renewed interest in modern and futuristic replica watches for men designs. Ulysse Nardin Freak S is a good example. The brand doesn't hide that the minute hand on the dial (as with all Freak watches, including the watch's running train and regulation system) looks like a spaceship, the whole composition of the watch is about how we humans can be optimistic with wonder and hope gazed at the sky. The case design is modern, and the entire watchmaking process is avant-garde and modern. Just a few years ago, the concept wouldn't have been nearly as popular. I've personally never given up my strong interest in modern watch design, so I'm excited to see that design philosophy resurface, even if I think we're about 24 months away from what no one wants to see. As many spaceship dials as possible.

In the article above, I discussed in detail the technical characteristics of the Freak S watch and its novel dual silicon balance system using a new vertical differential system. The idea is that the movement has two time regulating systems instead of one, but their performance is averaged to further reduce rate errors. The ultimate goal of this dual balance adjustment system is to be more accurate over time. That's fine, but Ulysse Nardin doesn't actually claim much performance advantage over a single balance wheel system. That doesn’t mean the Freak S is a bad performer, but the appeal of this watch is its use of technology rather than pure timekeeping performance. This particular movement system is aimed at visual animation and emotion. While the system is designed to improve accuracy, it's unclear how well it will actually perform. Instead, the appeal of the watch is the animated view of the dial, its dual oscillating balance wheels and other stunning displays.

Technically, the system is pretty cool, and the Freak architecture combined with the new differential and dual balance wheel system is truly amazing. As far as I can tell, the "vertical" nature of a differential system is really in how it is oriented and displayed visually, independent of any performance considerations. The two silicon-based balance wheels and hairspring are coated with diamonds. This is "DiamonSil," which adds strength to silicon, which is otherwise quite brittle. The dial itself has a large minute hand structure and less visible hour hands around the periphery of the space dark blue aventurine dial. I hope Ulysse Nardin replica watches online will figure out a way to incorporate the "Freaky" seconds indicator sometime in the future.

The movement inside the Freak S is the in-house movement UN-251 self-winding movement. The two balancing systems each run at 2.5Hz (the slower the speed, the more elegant it looks), and the power reserve for the entire watch is 72 hours. Recall that Freak watches generally (with the exception of the Freak X models) do not have crowns. Adjust time by turning top bezel (unlocked by lifting small tab located at 6 o'clock market position). If you wish to wind the mainspring manually, simply turn the caseback crown. That said, the Freak S is Ulysse Nardin’s second Freak watch with automatic winding. It does this using a system the brand calls "Grinder." It uses an interesting concept that eschews the traditional weighted rotor and replaces it with a system that is more sensitive to movement, allowing for greater winding efficiency. People who like this kind of watch also tend to dislike hand-wound watches. Therefore , the Freak S's Grinder automatic winding system simply translates into a more convenient wearing experience.

The three-dimensional mechanical sculpture, the dial, is housed in a sleek 45 mm wide case that is water resistant to 30 meters. The case of this Freak S version (currently the only one) of reference 2513 500LE 2A BLACK 5N/1A is made of 18k rose gold and black DLC coated titanium. It comes with a two-tone black alligator and calfskin strap with gold running through vertical lines of horizontally cut perforations.

Ulysse Nardin wholesale fashion watches reference 2513 500LE 2A BLACK 5N/1A Freak S. I think it's safe to say that future versions of the Freak S are inevitable, but it's unclear if they'll look identical in different colors or materials, or if Ulysse Nardin will change the design for future iterations.