While so many watches today push the boundaries of traditional horology through ultra-complex movements, advanced materials, and space-age engineering built for lightness and durability, it’s easy to forget they all ultimately begin with something far simpler: telling the time. It’s a sentiment that perfectly reflects Ulysse Nardin's 180-year legacy as a pioneer in watchmaking, evolving from precise, time-only tool watches into outside-the-box creations like the iconic Freak collection. As part of Watches and Wonders 2026, Ulysse Nardin is proud to debut the all-new [Super] Freak as the most complex time-only watch ever made.
At the heart of the Super Freak is the new in-house Caliber UN-252, a 511-component movement developed over four years and designed as an expression of everything the Freak has stood for since 2001. Two flying tourbillons sit on a tilted axis, rotating in opposite directions, each completing a full revolution every 60 seconds. They’re mounted on a minute bridge made up of 327 components, yet the entire structure weighs just 3.5 grams.
The case, crafted in white gold at 44mm, wraps this entire movement in a more compact, wearable form than previous Freak references, while the bezel-based time-setting system keeps the signature Freak look and feel. Nearly every visible surface is in motion, with over 97% of the movement working when running.
More than 70% of its components are finished by hand inside Ulysse Nardin’s Haute Horlogerie Atelier in La Chaux-de-Fonds, where a handful of specialist watchmakers build each piece from start to finish. Titanium bridges, silicon components, and DiamonSil escapements all require an incredible level of finishing. With 60 hours of assembly and multiple rounds of testing, each watch undergoes one of the most intensive mechanical processes in modern watchmaking.
