One of the core challenges among modern watchmakers is balancing past, present, and future?honoring the traditions of this centuries-old art form, harnessing new technologies, and looking toward the next generation of collectors. When you think of a brand like Ulysse Nardin, you might assume its focus is chiefly on the latter two. It was nearly 25 years ago that the brand paved the way for the use of silicon in watchmaking, a material that has now become vital to countless manufacturers across the industry. Ulysse Nardin debuted its silicon escapement wheel in the Freak, aptly named for its seemingly absurd design featuring no dial, no hands, and no crown?the first of its kind. ?The Freak is counterculture in watchmaking,? asserts François-Xavier Hotier, President of Ulysse Nardin Americas. ?It breaks all the rules we knew before.?  In order to break the rules, you must know the rules, and Ulysse Nardin?s more than 175-year history is proof the brand knows a thing or two about traditional watchmaking. In the early days, the maison built a reputation for its marine chronometers and complex pocket watches. Even into the 21st Century, Ulysse Nardin has continued to emphasize its commitment to artistic craft, acquiring its own enamel-dial manufacture in 2011, a decade after the introduction of the Freak. Now, the latest incarnation of the Freak fully embodies the brand?s attention to the future, present, and past. 

At Watches & Wonders earlier this spring, I had the ...