While Ulysse Nardin took on an astronomical theme last year, with the introduction of the Moonstruck watch, the brand's novelties this year look to more unconventional sources of inspiration with the launch of the Freak Diavolo and El Toro at BaselWorld.
According to Danny Yen, the brand's general manager, the Freak Diavolo is the most complicated watch in the world. Like the original Freak, launched in 2001, the new model features no crown, pushers or hands. Time is indicated on the dial by the rotating movement, while the time settings are adjusted by turning the upper bezel and the movement is wound by turning the lower bezel.
The 2001 Freak also made its mark by being the first timepiece to contain escapement wheels made with silicon. The new Diavolo extends the use of silicon to the hairspring and most of the escapement, while introducing a flying tourbillon with seconds indication.
In place of the usual oscillator used in other Freak models, the Diavolo features a flying tourbillon with an arrow on its cage which makes one rotation a minute. The arrow marks off the seconds shown on a transparent half-circle, with the zero position mounted on the axis of the minute indicator. Its tourbillon carousel makes one rotation an hour.
The Diavolo gets its name from the black and red colour theme and the horn-like design of the power reserve on the case back. It comes with a white gold case paired with a crocodile leather strap.
Another new model with a name derived from its aesthetics is El Toro, the dial of which features a design that resembles a bull. This perpetual calendar watch with dual time function features a T-shaped bar across the lower half of the dial which serves as the bull's horns and face, with two blue screws for eyes. The bar shows the day, month and year, and the perpetual calendar is adjusted through a single crown. The watch also includes a big date window.
The new local time is displayed by two central hour and minute hands. Meanwhile, a curve over the left horn shows the minutes of home time and an arrow on the central axis marks off the corresponding hours.