Cheap Replica Luxury Ulysse Nardin Freak Watch Review
Recently, I had an ironic conversation with the CEO and COO of Ulysse Nardin. They explained to me the importance of building useful complications that people would use on a regular basis as they weren't into making wildly designed watches that had a very niche appeal. To that I responded, "well what about the Freak?" Correcting themselves, "Beside the Freak we mean. That is why we called it the Freak, because it is wild and different." It most certainly is that the Freak has recently been followed up with the fake Freak Watch. Not exactly a replacement, the replica Freak Watch improved upon the original design in a few ways, and also added a tourbillon complication.
The concept of the Freak requires a bit of education to understand. In essence, it is a simple and straight forward machine and whether the design wasn't so unorthodox it would be a great watch to explain how a mechanical movement works. This large hand contains the basic gear assembly required to make a watch operate. At the opposite end of the hand was the escapement. Looking closely you can see each of the gears moving together in a beautiful expression of how a mechanical Replica Ulysse Nardin Sonata Streamline watch movement operates. Under the large minute hand/gear assembly is an hour hand. The original Freak offered the hours and minutes only.
Ulysse Nardin owns the company that makes these parts and will soon release a new in-house caliber (known as the Calibre 118) destined to be in more mainstream fake watches today which will also use a diamond-coated silicium hairspring and escapement for much improved reliability and accuracy in the movement. In the fake Freak Watch the silicium (silicon) escapement for example can easily be viewed moving around with the tourbillon in is marvelous blue color. Many people attribute Ulysse Nardin as not only being the original innovator of using silicium components in mechanical watches, but also heralding in a new era of the material's use which has been adopted by many other very high-end brands.For a brand so reliant of stately practicality and a sense of imperial style, the Replica Ulysse Nardin Marine Diver Lady makes for a slightly ironic Flagship product, which is really unique as an offering by the historic brand. It is an amusing contradiction and sign that the brand doesn't get too fussy with its own self image. In their own words "we are a product driven brand, not a marketing driven one."
One of the quirkier elements of the fake Freak collection is that the case has no crown. Ulysse Nardin wanted to weird up the watch as much as possible, so all operations of the watch are controlled by rotating the bezel or case back. To wind the watch you must take the watch off and rotate the case back counterclockwise. Through the case back is a window to the large mainspring. You can see whether or not it is tightly wound, which acts as a power reserve indicator. Because it needs to be water resistant, the case back is a bit stiff to turn, but the fully wound watch does have a power reserve of about 8 days. It is a logical system for winding a movement when there is no crown to operate. Moving the bezel will adjust the time in both direction. It is normally locked, so you'll need to lift up a small lever located at 6 o'clock. As you can see the Replica Ulysse Nardin Marine Diver Chrono Watch makes due just fine without a crown, and the perfectly symmetrical look on your wrist is worth the quirkiness. One of the most important improvements in the Watch over the first Freak is the lack of pinion sticking through the sapphire crystal. Originally, in order to secure the large hands, the replica Freak had a metal rod that went through the center of the watch. It actually stuck out a bit (though was polished and smooth) through the crystal. It isn't too noticeable, but Ulysse Nardin wanted to engineer it out for the next model. The fake Freak Watch does not contain this pin and is able to secure the movement in other ways. Where the escapement was located in the original model sits a beautiful and complex tourbillon style escapement which also doubles as a seconds indicator - a function lacking in the original model.
Replica Ulysse Nardin Maxi Marine uses a printed sapphire crystal ring for the hour indicator numerals as well as a smaller sapphire crystal sheet for part for the partial seconds indicator near the tourbillon. With all the levels and elements in the dial, it is a beautiful thing to see. The look of the bezel has to do of course with the fact that you need to turn it. For the Ulysse Nardin opted to use a vulcanized rubber insert in the bezel. It looks cool actually. Please note that the piece I am testing here is part of a small limited edition (not for sale) set of 10 pieces in steel. You can't get these of course, but the ones you can buy are in 18k white gold. Wearing the fake Freak Watch is just like any other 44.5mm wide watch. It is a bit tall, but it is really cool which is also comfortable and looks attractive with the fitted black alligator strap. A watch like this is not only a style statement, but a statement that the person wearing it really cares about watches and mechanics. This is like wearing a horologist badge on your wrist - and I'd brandish it proudly.
