Ulysse Nardin Freak One: The Rise of the Freaks

It was legendary Singapore retailer Dr. Henry Tay, founder of The Hour Glass and father of Michael Tay, that inspired the disruptive sobriquet for the watch. Said Rolf Schnyder, “He looked at an early prototype and immediately understood that this was like nothing ever before.” It had the visual dynamism of an artwork by Jean Tinguely, a mobile sculpture that gave time, and one that featured the first new escapement in modern watchmaking since George Daniels and the Co-Axial. Tay said, “This watch is a freak,” and Schnyder stopped and replied, “That’s it. That will be the name of our watch.” And with that, the revolution was ignited.

Look closely at the Freak’s heart and you will see that the balance wheel, hairspring and escapement are crafted from silicon. This space-age material is a hard blue gray crystalline solid that has revolutionized watchmaking for several reasons. Using a form of photo-electric etching named DRIE (deep reactive ion etching), it is capable of creating the most precise micro-mechanical parts on the planet. Also, silicon parts require no lubrication to run smoothly. Finally, they are not affected by magnetism which, to this day, is the culprit behind over 90 percent of service issues.

Ulysse Nardin’s Freak holds the pioneer status as the very first luxury watch to use silicon, and it came down to two little wheels roughly the size of pin heads. These were the two wheels comprising the Dual Direct Escapement created by watch genius Dr. Ludwig Oechslin. They were, in turn, inspired by the famous Abraham-Louis Breguet’s échappement naturel, an escapement he designed to no longer require lubrication.