Geneva Watch Days is upon us, and amid the flurry of new releases, one watch shines like a glittering jewel, the Ulysse Nardin Freak X Crystalium.

Since its debut in 2001, the Ulysse Nardin Freak has resolutely maintained its status as one of the most iconic and boundary-pushing watches ever created. No hands. No dial. No crown. It was a remarkable feat of watchmaking ingenuity originally conceived by Carole Forestier-Kasapi and realized into commercial reality by Dr Ludwig Oeschlin. The genius concept at the heart of the Freak was to use a revolving movement as the way of telling time. A feat achieved by a complex reshuffling of the movement’s layout, which ended up with an hour indicator linked directly to the mainspring barrel, and a complete gear train and escapement rotating hourly, and serving as a minutes indicator. Mechanical ingenuity aside, this watch changed the tone for high watchmaking — it was unashamedly complex, and finished to a level that celebrated the complexity. Today, these concepts are par for the course, but at the turn of the millennium, it was entirely new.

The detail of the dial on the Ulysse Nardin Freak X Crystalium

Ulysse Nardin continued to evolve the Freak concept, and one of the most significant developments in this story occurred in 2019, when the brand debuted the Freak X. This watch offered a radically democratised version of this famous watch, without sacrificing any of the design’s fundamental freakishness. The flying carousel is still front and centre, but it’s paired with an automatic calibre, which made the Freax X the first Freak with a crown.

The Ulysse Nardin Freak X Crystalium makes quite an impression on the wrist

The latest member of the clan is the Freak X Crystalium, a stunningly dramatic new take on the design with a highly decorative dial, framed by a black DLC case and dial detailing. The dial is made of a material called Crystalium. Crystalium is a revolutionary material built on a core of ruthenium, a platinum-group metal, that undergoes a slow physical vapour deposition crystallisation process that forms on the base dial much like frost on glass. The shape and form of these shimmering, crystal-like structures are impossible to duplicate and impossible to ignore. Ulysse Nardin has amplified the beauty with a warm rose gold PVD finish and subtle dial black shading, to dial the drama up to 11.

The rose gold PVD coating and subtle shading amplify the drama of the Crystalium

In the 25-odd years since its initial release, Ulysse Nardin has never once failed to understand that while the Freak is a genuine marvel of high watchmaking, it’s also a piece of high drama, and the Freak X Crystalium perfectly encapsulates this dual personality.

Tech Specs: Ulysse Nardin Freak X Crystalium

Reference: 2303-270-4A/3A, 2303-270-4A/1A
Movement: Self-winding Calibre UN-230 Manufacture; 72-hour power reserve
Functions: Hours and minutes; flying carrousel movement rotating around its own axis
Case: 43mm; black DLC titanium with black titanium bezel
Dial: Rose gold colored Crystalium with black shading hour disc
Strap: Black rubber “ballistic” textured strap with rose gold stitches; additional alligator strap with rose gold stitches and black ceramic and titanium folding buckle
Price: CHF40,000 (incl. VAT)
Availability: Limited to 50 pieces