The Ulysse Nardin’s
Executive Tourbillon
Free Wheel up close
on the aventurine dial.
The Ulysse Nardin’s
Executive Tourbillon
Free Wheel with
aventurine dial
A SERIES OF NEW MODELS WITHIN THE ULYSSE
NARDIN Executive Tourbillon Free Wheel family
dramatically enhance the collection, which has
been horological eye candy since its debut more
than two years ago.
The 44mm multi-level watch with raised, free-
floating components has now been sweetened
with a round of four new Executive Tourbillon
Free Wheel models, each made with a different
artisanal dial.
To review, the Free Wheel concept is Ulysse
Nardin’s ode to historic mystery clocks, with a
few visible components floating above a dial
operating in harmony thanks to cleverly placed
gearing below. A dual barrel at the top of the
dial is wound manually, delivering seven-days of
power through the Ulysse Nardin flying tourbillon
set with Ulysse Nardin’s unusual in-house, silicon
Anchor Escapement.
Ulysse Nardin allows the dial to serve as both
screen and stage, dramatically presenting what’s
visible – and hiding the rest of Caliber UN-176.
Above the dial you’ll see hands, the double barrel,
just a few gears, a differential at 8 o’clock and a
power reserve indicator at 4 o’clock.
Ulysse Nardin now enhances the drama with
four evocative materials, each creating a new
stage set for the gold-hued horological players.
The new dials (and barrel covers) are made with
osmium, deep blue aventurine, straw marquetry
and Ulysse Nardin’s own Carbonium gold.
The latter material, a fusion of carbon fila-
ments and gold particles, you might recall from
the Ulysse Nardin Executive Skeleton X Carbo-
nium from earlier in 2019. When utilized here on
the latest Executive Tourbillon Free Wheel model,
the Carbonium appears almost like a leopard skin,
raising the dial’s already heightened excitement
level.
The osmium dial cools things down, appearing
frosty and ice blue. Osmium is not only the
world’s heaviest rare metal but also the densest.
Ulysse Nardin has framed this version of the Free
Wheel with a white gold case, highlighting the
diamond-like osmium crystals.
Aventurine, with its deep blue color and quartz
“stars,” evokes a clear night sky, while the darkest
new dial, created by hand from blackened straw,
appears the most mysterious to me, evoking a trip
into or out of a dense black hole. Ironically, the
straw is actually the lightest of the four new mate-
rials Ulysse Nardin has chosen for this round of
updates to the Executive Tourbillon Free Wheel.
Ulysse Nardin will create eighteen examples each
of the Executive Tourbillon Free Wheel using these
four materials. Prices: $99,000 for the Aventurine,
Straw Marquetry and Carbonium gold models, and
$102,000 for the Osmium examples.
SPRING 2020 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | 19