The Freak collection continues to enrich with the new Freak X Enamel Blue. Direct descendant of the Freak X, this new creation presents for the first time a unique blue enamel guilloché hour disc.
The Freak, first launched in 2001 completely changing the face of watchmaking, continues to push the boundaries. With no dial and no hands, the movement is king as it tells the time. Indeed, it was the first time a movement was deconstructed to express time independently. Ulysse Nardin’s independent integrated manufacture merges ancient métiers d’art and cutting-edge technology with the new Freak X Enamel Blue. In-house know-how, maintained by Ulysse Nardin’s craftsmen, blends perfectly with The Haute Horlogerie.
the particularity of the new Freak is undoubtedly its enamel dial. A decorative technique perpetuated and transmitted over generations of craftsmen; enamelling is today only used on watches produced by the most prestigious watchmakers. This technique is rare in all its processes, considering the delicate work of the enameller in all the gestures, from the preparation to the application of the enamel.
As it requires talent, knowledge and experience, only very few craftsmen can master it. The Manufacture of Donzé Cadrans in Le Locle, owned by Ulysse Nardin, preserves this excellent know-how. The dial of this novelty is first treated according to the guilloché technique. This first ancient technique applied gives a modern touch to the dial thanks to the geometrical lines realised.
Several layers of water-based enamel are then applied to this base. Indeed, the enamel is first crushed in a mortar with a pestle and then water is added. Several layers of colour dry between them in the oven at a temperature of about 800 degrees and between each layer, only one minute of cooling is needed. Three to four layers of coloured enamel and at least five oven cycles are necessary before applying a final layer of translucent enamel, called «fondant». This layer is essential because the result of the process depends on it. As the guardian of specialized enamelling techniques, Ulysse Nardin is once again playing a role in the past, present, and future of Haute Horlogerie. The expertise and mastery of ancient métiers d’art, such as enamel, meld with the Freak’s innovative and disruptive emblems and codes.
The Freak X Enamel Blue features an automatic movement, manual winding and setting via a crown. The UN-230 Manufacture movement is equipped with a flying carrousel that turns on itself once every hour to indicate the time.
The balance wheels and escapement are in silicon, of which Ulysse Nardin is master since 2001. Featuring a grey titanium case and case back, it has a 72-hour power reserve and a diameter of 43 mm. For a price of CHF 38’000.- (1’435’000 THB), it is available in a blue alligator leather strap with white stitching and a titanium folding clasp. In a limited and exclusive edition of 50 pieces, the Freak X Enamel Blue celebrates the 15th anniversary of PMT The Hour Glass in Thailand, an exclusive partner of Ulysse Nardin.
“We sincerely value our partnership with Thailand’s most leading luxury watch retail group” says Patrick Pruniaux of Ulysse Nardin. “We truly heralded a new era in mechanical watchmaking, using silicon. Bringing enamel, an ancestral know-how, together with cutting-edge technology, was a real challenge, and the meticulous work done on the Freak X Enamel Blue is mind blowing”. The piece will be available through PMT The Hour Glass and its network in the entire region.
