Back in 2019, Ulysse Nardin created the first Freak X model, a sleek carousel-driven timepiece that kept all the spirit of innovation of the very first Freak model unveiled back in 2001. The very first Freak model re-invented the wheel on how time would be displayed on the dial. The Freak X model took this a step further. Done away with the traditional hour and minute hands, we now get a carousel in the middle of the dial that rotates around a gear track to display the hours and minutes.
Ulysse Nardin’s release for Watches & Wonders 2022 sees the brand releasing the latest update to the Freak X model. A beautiful Aventurine dial to represent the cosmos up above. The Freak X Aventurine shows a beautiful starry night sky on the dial with the infinitely small and brilliant particles from the aventurine done to a stunning aesthetic effect.
Ulysse Nardin says that in regards to aventurine, “legend surrounding aventurine recounts that in the thirteenth century, on the island of Murano in Venice, home to the famous glass-makers, a craftsman inadvertently let some copper filings fall into a pot of molten glass, so creating aventurine glass or “avventurina” in Italian, which translates to ‘by accident”.
Design:
The Ulysse Nardin Freak X Aventurine comes with a 43mm blue PVD titanium and 5N rose gold case, which perfectly blends in with the same materials used for the carousel on the dial. The crown carrying the Ulysse Nardin logo is also made from 5N rose gold. The Ulysse Nardin Freak X Aventurine comes with a water resistance of 50m.
The dial has a great readability thanks to the high contrast achieved from the Super-lumiNova filled hour indices against the aventurine dial backdrop. The large gear wheel on the dial in which the carousel turns from is done in a blue finish so it’ll blend in with the dial nicely. The hour and minute pointers are done in 5N rose gold while also being coated in Super-LumiNova, which against the blue backdrop looks stunning!
To get the hour hand to work, the hand is fitted into the carousel, and it turns once on itself every hour to indicate the time. The minute hand sits above the hour hand, with the opposite end of the hand having a super-light and extra-large silicium balance whee, which includes nickel inertia-blocks that help make the wheel operate at 3hz.
Movement:
Ulysse Nardin has used a blend of their UN-118 and UN250 movements to create the Caliber UN-230 self-winding movement used on the Freak X Aventurine. The movement gives out an approximate power reserve of 72 hours.
The watch comes in a matching blue alligator strap with light grey “points de bride” stitches along with a blue PVD titanium and 5N rose gold folding clasp.
From the abysses to the cosmos, Ulysse Nardin continues their Freak X legacy with this latest Watches & Wonders 2022 release. The Freak X Aventurine is limited to 99 timepieces worldwide.
Reference: 2305-270LE-9A-AVE/1A
Specification:
- Case: 43 mm
- Case Material: Blue PVD titanium / 5N rose gold
- Dial: Blue aventurine
- Crystal: Sapphire Crystal, anti-reflective coating inside
- Water resistance: 50 meters
- Movement: Caliber UN-230, self-winding
- Power reserve: 72 Hours
- Strap: Blue alligator strap with light grey ”points de bride” and stitches 3-blade folding clasp of blue PVD titanium and 5N rose gold
