The Ulysse Nardin Freak, launched in 2001, is a watch with no dial, hands or crown. The entire movement is a flying carrousel tourbillon that rotates once per hour, and its bridge acts as the minute hand while the base plate shows the hours. It is wound and set by turning the caseback and the bezel, and it is known for using silicon in its escapement, an early use of the material in a mechanical watch.

The Freak was developed under Ulysse Nardin’s then owner Rolf Schnyder with the watchmaker Ludwig Oechslin, and it was one of the first watches to treat the movement itself as the display. Ulysse Nardin built much of its modern identity on it.

Collectors see the Freak as a landmark of early-2000s avant-garde watchmaking. The original 2001 version is no longer made, but Ulysse Nardin still produces Freak models in the current collection.