Ulysse Nardin Freak watches

The Ulysse Nardin Freak has no conventional dial, hands or crown. Ulysse Nardin introduced it in 2001 with a seven-day carrousel-tourbillon movement that rotates on itself to tell the time, and its silicon escapement parts were an industry first in a mechanical movement.

The Freak X, unveiled at SIHH 2019, has simplified mechanics in a 43 mm case, smaller than earlier Freaks. It keeps the central idea: the movement itself is the minute hand and makes one turn every hour, with the silicon balance wheel riding at its tip. The tips of the hour and minute hands are filled with Super-Luminova. Unlike the earlier, more complex Freaks, only the regulator sits on the minute hand, without the wheel train, which gives a cleaner look. The time is set with a crown, where earlier Freaks were set by turning the bezel.

Inside is the calibre UN-230, a newly developed automatic with a full rotor visible through the caseback. The crown only sets the time, so the watch cannot be wound by hand, and the power reserve is 72 hours, short of the week that earlier Freaks typically ran.

The Freak X variants differ in case material, not mechanics. The Freak X Titanium (2303-270/03) is the plain titanium watch with a blue dial. The Freak X Black (2303-270/BLACK) is black-coated titanium with a black dial. The Freak X Carbonium (2303-270/CARB) uses Carbonium, a carbon-fibre reinforced composite made from offcuts left over from aircraft component manufacturing. The Freak X Red Gold (2305-270) combines 18k gold with titanium on a black dial.