URWERK and Ulysse Nardin unveil the impressive new UR-FREAK

A collaboration no one saw coming. We had a close look at the UR-FREAK during Dubai Watch Week 2025.

November 30, 2025

URWERK and Ulysse Nardin unveil the impressive new UR-FREAK

Independent Swiss watch brands – URWERK and Ulysse Nardin (UN) collaborated to introduce the avant-garde UR-FREAK. It combines URWERK’s satellite hour display with Ulysse Nardin’s rotating carousel movement – renowned for powering the iconic Freak. Unveiled during Dubai Watch Week 2025, it is a limited edition of 100 pieces.

Key Features

Functions and Operations

Image: A fusion of URWERK’s satellite hour display with UN’s flying carousel movement. Notice the oversize balance wheel in the centre. Judging by the image, I think it is a free-sprung balance wheel. The time on the image is 8.45. The yellow accents contrast well with the black, grey, and white elements on the open dial, and the titanium sandblasted case and bezel.

Hours – indicated by one of the three rotating satellites, “carried by a carousel.” The current hour is indicated by the number traversing over the minute scale on the right.

Minutes – indicated by the arrow traversing over the minute scale.

Time is set by turning the bezel forwards and backwards. A locker, located between the lugs at 6 o’clock allows the bezel to be released for time-setting or locked for safety. Winding is done by turning the caseback anticlockwise.

Dial

Open dial showcasing Urwerk’s satellite time display rotating around UN’s flying carousel movement. Bridges are ruthenium plated. The three pairs of arrows feature yellow Super-LumiNova.

Movement

Image: A single, fully integrated calibre, it features over 150 new components. Notice the Grinder® automatic system, blades technology, on the centre, and the anticlockwise “To Wind” indication on the right.

The UR-FREAK’s URWERK-designed satellite time display is powered by UN’s new in-house automatic calibre UN-241 – “a flying carousel movement rotating around its own axis.” UN-241 is based on their Grinder® automatic system, blades technology. “Grinder vastly increases the winding efficiency of traditional systems by converting even the smallest movement into kinetic energy.”

Diameter: 42.15 mm. Parts: 263. Jewels: 25. Frequency: 21,600 vph or 3 Hz. Power reserve: 90 hours. Movement features: Oversized balance wheel and silicon balance spring. DIAMonSil® (a silicon material coated with diamond) escapement wheel and anchor.

Case

Case, bezel, and caseback are made from titanium. Diameter: 44 mm. Thickness: 13.77 mm. Dial side and caseback feature a sapphire crystal. Water resistant up to 30 metres. The watch comes with an integrated yellow rubber “ballistic” textured strap fitted with a titanium deployant buckle with a sandblasted finish.

Our Thoughts

Ulysse Nardin – founded in 1846 and presently owned by the Sowind Group (they also own Girard-Perregaux) – is an independent Swiss watch brand, but larger and more “mainstream” than URWERK which is more of an “artisanal” independent. Collaborations between a mainstream and an independent brand are rare. The Bvlgari X MB&F Serpenti is an example.

Image: The original Freak of 2001. A futuristic design, ahead of its time, and one that challenged traditional mindsets. It proved that a watch does not have to follow the conventional model of individual hands for hours and minutes placed on a dial and set via a crown. It was the first mechanical watch to feature silicon escapement wheels. Silicon is now widely used in watchmaking. The thinking behind the Freak, along with its avant-garde design and impact on horology, makes it – especially the 2001 original – among the most iconic watches in horology. (Image credit: UN website.)

I am still contemplating as to why UN and URWERK would collaborate. While UN is renowned for being revolutionary – the original Freak of 2001 challenged traditional mindsets about how time should be displayed and was the first watch to incorporate silicon in its movements – it has a vastly different customer base than URWERK.

URWERK – founded in 1997 by Felix Baumgartner and Martin Frei – is one of the early independent Swiss watch brands. (F.P. Journe was founded in 1999.) Renowned for their “wandering hours satellite display” and having recently launched the UR-10 Spacemeter (not a wandering hour watch), they are (in my humble opinion) not among the “independents on collectors radar these days.” New independent brands with exorbitantly priced (usually not less than $70K) three-hand watches pop up at a frequent rate these days, and those that catch the “hype wave” (not unlike surfing) experience the most demand and a difficult to acquire ticket to entry.

Left: URWERK UR-100V Full Black Titanium Jacket showcasing the brand’s satellite hour display. (Image credit: URWERK website.) Right: UN Freak One Nave Blue showcasing the brand’s flying carousel movement.

My hunch is that UR-FREAK collaboration makes UN “a lot cooler” to its current and new customer base and puts URWERK “back into the spotlight” among existing and new collectors of independent watchmaking. A win-win for both. Time will tell. For now, I am glad the UR-FREAK exists.

Image: The UR-FREAK is a technical masterpiece that incorporates the horological provenance of URWERK’s satellite hour display and UN’s flying carousel movement.

We attended the unveiling of the UR-FREAK during Dubai Watch Week 2025 and were fortunate to handle it at their booth. Though not love at first sight, the more I understood it, the more I loved it. I hope this collaboration inspires other brands – both larger mainstream and smaller independents to follow suit. It will unleash a ton of creativity and make the industry a great deal more interesting.

Additional Details

Name: UR-FREAK

Reference: 2413-500LE-2A-UR/3B

Price: Upon request. Word on the street is that the price is in the region of Swiss Franc (CHF) 100,000.

Limited to 100 pieces.

Please visit the website and Instagram page of both URWERK and Ulysse Nardin to learn more about the UR-FREAK.