The Ulysse Nardin Freak S Nomad pushes the technical limits at Watches and Wonders 2024

Ulysse Nardin, famed in the watch industry for its innovative spirit, has introduced the Freak S Nomad at Watches and Wonders 2024. It is the first new iteration of ’the Superlative Freak’, pushing technicality to the limits with its double oscillator using DiamonSIL technology and ‘Grinder’ automatic winding system.

Now, the latter half of this article is going to get pretty technical, so let’s take a moment to talk about the colour of the dial. The hue of the guilloché pattern in the hour disk of the Freak S Nomad represents sand dunes. Ulysse Nardin claims this represents the brand’s constant quest to explore new territories and push the boundaries of horology.

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Now onto the technical bit… Ulysse Nardin is showcasing an innovative pioneering surface treatment, a combination of silicium and synthetic diamond, called DiamonSIL. The silicium components of the escapement of the Freak S Nomad have been coated with a layer of artificial diamond which optimises its performance and its resistance to abrasion from the several million impacts per year on the watch.

You might be asking how to tell the time on the Freak S Nomad? The micromechanical machinery featured beneath the crystal of the Freak S is all you need – there are no hands, dial, or crown.

The Freak S indicates the time thanks to the rotation of its movement. The two bridges rotate around the centre to indicate the hours and minutes respectively. An arrow covered with Super-LumiNova on the dial shows the hour, while the nose cone of the rocket, which bears the balance-wheels and the escapement, indicates the minutes.

In the course of its 60-minute revolution, the movement pivots on its central axis inside a high-tech case with a sapphire crystal.

Whereas in traditional tourbillons, the balance wheel makes one rotation per minute within a cage, in the Freak, it’s the whole movement – including its regulating organ – that makes a complete turn on itself in one hour.

Instead of a crown, the Freak S Nomad’s time is set by rotating the bezel in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction.

Find out more details on Ulysse Nardin’s website.

About

As Buying Guide Editor, Spencer is responsible for all e-commerce content on Stuff, overseeing buying guides as well as covering deals and new product launches. Spencer has been writing about consumer tech for over eight years. He has worked on some of the biggest publications in the UK, where he covered everything from the emergence of smartwatches to the arrival of self-driving cars. During this time, Spencer has become a seasoned traveller, racking up air miles while travelling around the world reviewing cars, attending product launches, and covering every trade show known to man, from Baselworld and Geneva Motor Show to CES and MWC. While tech remains one of his biggest passions, Spencer also enjoys getting hands-on with the latest luxury watches, trying out new grooming kit, and road-testing all kinds of vehicles, from electric scooters to supercars.