Ulysse Nardin Freak X Gumball 3000 Edition 2 Review

While over the past four decades I've had many hobbies and collections, the two that have really stuck with me the longest are my love for watches and cars. When I turned sixteen, I was somehow able to convince my parents to give me a Mustang Cobra as my first car. From that day, I have been obsessed with cars and my wife and I have been fortunate enough to have owned numerous sports and muscle cars over the years. Even though having young twin daughters has put a temporary hold on that and we're now a two SUV family, I still closely follow what's going on with performance cars.

It shouldn't be too much of a shock that the world of collecting cars and watches has a massive overlap. Since mechanical watches are essentially tiny machines with spring powered engines on your wrist, the connection to automobiles is tangible. It's easy to see why anyone obsessed with high tech engineering would be a fan of both cars and watches. Ever since the first car race, timepieces have been linked to cars since they were needed to time laps and the races themselves. Over the years, models like the TAG Heuer Monaco and Rolex Daytona have been famously linked with racing.



Two years ago Ulysse Nardin teamed up with the Gumball 3000 to release a limited edition Freak X that celebrated the 25th anniversary of the famed rally across Europe. The watch was a huge hit and used a matte black Carbonium case with stunning orange details on the dial. Last year Ulysse Nardin still sponsored the rally, but there was no collaboration piece to go along with it. For 2026, the 27th Annual Gumball 3000 returns to North America, starting in Miami on June 4th and wrapping up in Mexico City on June 12th. Most exciting to me personally, is that one of the stops of the rally happens to be in our home city of Austin, Texas. I also think there might be a chance that FX, the president of the Americas for Ulysse Nardin, and his team might come to Austin when Gumball arrives and have an event, so that's extra exciting for me.

For their third year of sponsoring the Gumball 3000, Ulysse Nardin is now releasing a follow up watch to the original Freak X Gumball 3000 timepiece. FX and I run an industry WhatsApp group and when discussing an issue in the group, he casually mentioned a new Gumball 3000 watch was on the way and asked if I'd like to review it. I of course said yes and the watch was quickly shipped to me. I always find it the most rewarding to get a pre-release watch in for review and then put the review out the day of the release as well.



Before we get into the new Ulysse Nardin Freak X Gumball 3000 Edition 2, let's first go over a brief history of both Ulysse Nardin and the Gumball 3000. Ulysse Nardin was founded by 23 year old watchmaker, Ulysse Nardin, in Le Locle, Switzerland in 1846. Ulysse trained under his father Leonard-Jean Nardin as well as master watchmakers William Dubois and Louis JeanRichard-dit-Bressel.

The young Ulysse found the perfect fit for his new watch manufacture in the exploding demand for accurate marine chronometers. With global trade booming, the need for precise marine navigational instrumentation was crucial. The brand would soon become known worldwide for the production of extremely accurate marine chronometers and pocket watches, which were essential tools for calculating longitude at sea. With their reputation firmly established, Ulysse Nardin soon became the standard in marine chronometers and was used by military navies and merchant ships around the globe.



Ulysse Nardin passed away from a sudden stroke at the young age of 53, leaving control of his company to his 21 year old son, Paul-David, in 1876. Ulysse Nardin would flourish under Paul-David's leadership and continued their domination of chronometry. Throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Ulysse Nardin would win over 4,300 chronometry awards and was used by over fifty of the world's navies.

The period of the late 1970s and early 1980s was rough on Ulysse Nardin, like it was for most of the producers of mechanical timepieces, when cheap and highly accurate Japanese quartz watches flooded the market. Ulysse Nardin was saved in 1983, when businessman Rolf Schnyder acquired the brand. Schnyder's vision for Ulysse Nardin was for it to become the pinnacle of what was achievable with mechanical timepieces. To help him reach this goal, Schnyder partnered with scientist, historian and above all else master watchmaker, Dr. Ludwig Oechslin. The fruit of this partnership was three watches called the "Trilogy of Time". They comprised of the Astrolabium Galileo Galilei (1985), the Planetarium Copernicus (1988) and the Tellurium Johannes Kepler (1992). Complications featured on these watches were unlike anything seen prior in watchmaking and firmly put Ulysse Nardin back on the map. We recently reviewed the Blast Moonstruck, which is the spiritual successor to the "Trilogy of Time".



Following up the "Trilogy of Time" series was the 2001 introduction of the Freak. The Freak had no traditional hands, dial or crown, instead the movement of the watch rotated to show the current time and featured a flying carrousel. Even more important to the watchmaking world at whole, was that the Freak was the first production ready watch to feature silicon escapement components. Silicon which is lightweight, anti-magnetic and requires no lubrication would permanently alter the trajectory of modern watchmaking, and the Freak can be thanked for that.

After Rolf Schnyder passed away in 2011, Ulysse Nardin entered a new phase. French luxury conglomerate Kering acquired the brand in 2014 and provided the financial backing to further develop Ulysse Nardin's in-house manufacturing capabilities. After 8 years of ownership by Kering, in 2022 Ulysse Nardin along with sister brand Girard-Perregaux returned to be independently owned, when current CEO, Patrick Pruniaux, led a management buyout of the brands.



Since Ulysse Nardin is a brand that is defined by pushing boundaries and being disruptive in the world of watchmaking, their partnership with the Gumball 3000 is completely natural and fitting. The story of the Gumball 3000 starts much more recent than that of Ulysse Nardin. The Gumball 3000 was started in 1999 by British entrepreneur and former racing driver Maximillion Cooper. The idea was to invite 50 of his friends to drive 3,000 miles across Europe. The rally was inspired by the Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash of the 1970s and the 1976 movie "The Gumball Rally". For $8,700 participants would drive their own supercars from London to Rimini, Italy and back. Along the way they would stop each night at lavish parties attended by top tier celebrities. The Gumball 3000 was more of a road trip, where finishing times were of no importance.

In 2001, Johnny Knoxville and the cast of MTV's Jackass took part in the rally and broadcast the event to millions of viewers. This made the Gumball 3000 explode in popularity and in 2002, the rally was brought to the United States with a route from New York City to the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles. During this time period, the Gumball 3000 saw many celebrity drivers such as Matthew McConaughey, Tony Hawk and Snoop Dogg. In 2007, two fatalities occurred during the rally and the event was canceled. What followed was the adjustment of the rally to be more of an automotive pageant with a strong emphasis of safety and cooperation with law enforcement.



Today the Gumball 3000 has grown far past its humble origins of a group of friends taking their nice cars across Europe. The Gumball 3000 is a full on lifestyle brand and has seen entry fees skyrocket past $100,000. The rally has now taken place all over the world including the Middle East and Asia in addition to Europe and North America. In 2013, the Gumball 3000 Foundation was launched, which turned the rally into a major philanthropic machine which raises money for underprivileged youth. The Gumball 3000 reaches all forms of pop culture and has even been featured in video games. The rally is also sponsored by some of the biggest companies in the world, of course including Ulysse Nardin. The Gumball 3000 is now the most enduring and extravagant celebration of all things automotive.

Initial Thoughts

Now that we've gone over both the history of Ulysse Nardin as well as the Gumball 3000, let's now take a look at the newest collaboration watch between the two. When the Freak X Gumball 3000 Edition 2 arrived, the first thing I took note of was the stunning black and orange "dial". While not a traditional dial, this hour disc is formed out of Carbonium. The pattern found in the Carbonium is inspired by Damascus steel and formed by weaving carbon fibers with a bright orange epoxy resin. The result is a highly distinct and three dimensional disc that is different on each watch. The ultra lightweight carbon fiber used in the Carbonium is actually upcycled from the aerospace industry. While the first edition of the Gumball 3000 Freak X had a black dial with orange "hands", the second edition really stands out more in my opinion with the super unique look of the black and orange Carbonium hour disc. I am a huge fan of forged carbon, so with the Carbonium having a similar look, it's natural that I gravitate towards it.



The second thing I noticed during my initial time with the Freak X Gumball 3000 Edition 2 was just how lightweight it was. Remember this is a decently large watch with a 43 mm case that houses a very complicated automatic movement. On our scale the Freak X weighed in at only 83 grams, with my benchmark of a larger watch needing to be under 100 grams to be considered light, the Freak X is truly a lightweight. To achieve this lightness, Ulysse Nardin crafted the case of the Freak X out of black DLC titanium. Also there is liberal usage of large sapphire crystals on the front and back of the watch which keep weight down.

The final thing that caught my attention when I first unboxed the Freak X Gumball 3000 Edition 2 was of course the flying carrousel featured on the "dial" of the watch. Like I mentioned earlier, the dial of the Freak X is actually a Carbonium plate on the bottom of the movement. The current hour is represented by a short "hand" on this disc that takes twelve hours to complete a rotation. The minute hand is comprised by the flying carrousel which on its opposite end has an arrow marker used to designate the current minute. The movement rotates around its own axis and takes 60 minutes to complete a full rotation. This oversized escapement buzzes away at 21,600 vph (3Hz) and is impossible not to stare at. The silicon balance wheel is crafted out of silicon and has an otherworldly blue to purple hue to it. The Freak has made me prefer its flying carrousel to the more traditional tourbillon as well, since it has much superior dial side movement.



A Closer Look

Having gone over my initial impressions of the Ulysse Nardin Freak X Gumball 3000 Edition 2, let's now take a closer look at the technical specifications of the watch. The Freak X is crafted out of titanium which has a black DLC coating applied to it. The watch has a 43 mm case diameter and a lug to lug length of 49.4 mm. The Freak X weighs in at 83 grams on our scale and at its thickest point is 14.4 mm tall.

A lot of the thickness of the Freak X is due to the tall glass box style sapphire crystal which has an anti-reflective coating. Underneath the crystal clear sapphire lays the black and orange Carbonium hour disc that effectively serves as the dial for the watch. The pattern achieved by mixing the carbon fibers with the bright orange resin resembles cooling lava, with the cool pieces being black and still hot areas a burning bright orange.



Around the outside of the dial is the minute track where each 5 minute interval is marked with a bright orange bar marker and then each other minute is done in a slender white hash mark. Moving inward are the 12 hour markers that are attached to the ring gear. Each hour marker is coated in white Super-LumiNova which glows a bright teal in low light. Incredibly unique orange lume is also used on a geared ring on the movement, providing interesting contrasts in low light lume.

The hour and minute pointers feature large arrows that are covered with matching Super-LumiNova to the hour markers. The minute "hand" of course features the Freak's signature flying carrousel which features a balance wheel made out of silicon. While the Freak isn't a true skeletonized watch, you are looking at the movement when looking through the sapphire crystal. Not only can you see the escapement, but you can see some of the exposed gear train as well.

The Freak X Gumball 3000 Edition 2 uses a black DLC, Diamond Like Carbon, titanium case that has a satin finish to it. Looking at the profile of the watch, you can see that there is a full gentle curve to the Freak X that helps it follow the contours of your wrist. The left hand side features a plaque that is secured to the case and has the individual limited edition number out of 150 engraved in orange on it.



The right hand side of the case has the non-screwed down crown which is scalloped nicely and still offers 50 meters of water resistance. The crown is topped with an engraving of the Ulysse Nardin anchor logo and features a mostly satin finish. There are some highlights on the crown that are polished, which are the only polished areas on the watch besides the bezel surround. In the resting position, the crown can be used to wind the automatic movement. Since there are no calendar functions on the Freak X, the first crown position is the only additional crown position. In position one, you can set the time on the Freak X. Turning the crown moves the carrousel "minute" hand and also rotates the hour disc. This is the best way to show exactly how the Freak functions to display the time in fast forward. The Freak X is also the first Freak model to use a traditional crown. All other Freak models rely on moving the bezel to set the time and manual winding is done on the caseback.

Flipping the watch over shows off the display caseback held in place by six case screws. Important information about the Freak X is engraved on the bezel around the rear sapphire crystal, such as case number and water resistance. Looking through the sapphire crystal you can see the Ulysse Nardin in-house calibre UN-230 automatic movement. The UN-230 is comprised of 206 components and runs at 21,600 vph (3Hz) with a power reserve of 72 hours. The highlight of the movement is of course the dial side flying carrousel that we have mentioned a few times in the review so far. On our timegrapher, the UN-230 showed an accuracy of +4 seconds per day when averaged out over several positions.



The finishing of the movement fits perfectly with the overall aesthetic of the watch. Topping the movement is a black skeletonized winding rotor that features the Ulysse Nardin anchor logo and is brushed in finish. The base plates and other major movement components have been black DLC treated as well and have a brushed finish. Finishing off the movement is a white coat of arms signaling the movement has been "Ulysse Nardin Certified".

The lug width of the Freak is 21 mm and the watch comes fitted with a matte black rubber coated strap. The strap is openworked to expose the inner bright orange detailing. It's actually pretty interesting to roll your wrist and see the orange pop through when the strap otherwise looks black. The top of the strap also has bright orange stitching on both sides where the strap meets the lugs. The strap tapers down from 21 mm at the lugs to 18 mm where it meets the black DLC titanium deployant clasp. I've always admired the clasps Ulysse Nardin uses since they are so minimal in design. The clasp is brushed in finish and features the Ulysse Nardin branding. The strap was a bit stiff the first few times I wore the Freak X Gumball 3000 Edition 2, but now has become very supple. At 21 mm you are kind of in a weird area between standard 20 and 22 mm aftermarket straps, but a 20 mm would probably work fine. I would be interested to see how the Freak X works on a black and orange marine nationale parachute strap, even though FX would probably kill me if I did that…

On The Wrist

With the Ulysse Nardin Freak X Gumball 3000 Edition 2 only weighing 83 grams when including the strap and clasp, the watch wears like a dream on the wrist. The 43 mm case diameter is a bit misleading since the case has rather short lugs and the lug to lug length is less than 50 mm. The relative case height of the Freak X is also slim, with a good deal of true height being attributed to the tall glass box style sapphire crystal. All these dimensions add up to a large watch that wears small. The last time we had a Freak X in for review, my wife actually ended up wearing it more than I did. In all honesty, I actually prefer the larger Freak ONE and Freak S over the smaller Freak X, but I do mostly collect watches over 50 mm in lug to lug length.



On my 7.25 inch wrist with a 55 mm flat area, the Freak X Gumball 3000 Edition 2 wore exceptionally well. Even though it's a hair smaller than what I typically prefer, the watch covered my wrist well and stayed centered. To say that the Freak X was the perfect wrist companion for running everyday errands would be an understatement. Even on the longest wearing sessions the watch totally disappeared and caused zero wrist fatigue. The watch was always in the background and only really there when I wanted to check the time or just stare at the flying carrousel.

Since orange is my favorite color, having gone to the University of Texas as well as being the unofficial color of Austin, I naturally loved the bright orange highlights on the watch and strap. The mostly all black aesthetic of the Freak X Gumball 3000 also went perfectly with my typical dress of a black t-shirt, shorts and sneakers. I'd say the more aggressive design touches like the orange patterns in the Carbonium skew the watch towards being more of a casual wearing watch. You could try putting the Freak X on a standard black leather strap to dress it up a bit. The watch will probably fit in most of the time, maybe being a bit too sporty for the most formal of occasions. This means the Freak X Gumball 3000 Edition 2 would make a very good daily wearer, especially given the lightweight nature of the watch. A word of caution would be swimming with the watch, with 50 meters of water resistance, the watch is probably OK for surface swimming, but I wouldn't chance it. To be honest, I don't swim in anything that is much into the four figures and doesn't have a screw down crown, but I'm super careful.



To test the legibility of a watch, I use a very simple test where I see how easy it is to tell the time while driving at a glance. In this test, dive watches with their high contrast dials and large markers do the best, while complicated and skeleton watches do the worst since they value design over legibility. Since the Freak X is a highly complicated watch which leans heavily on design, I was a bit worried how it would do in this test. Much to my surprise, the Freak X actually did rather well on my legibility test. The white markers and "hands" contrast very well with the dark Carbonium "dial", making telling the time at a glance rather easy. The pointers on the "hands" are also very oversized, if these were solid hands on a traditional watch, they'd actually be comically large. With a smart usage of lume on the dial markers, low light time telling is also a breeze.

While wearing the Ulysse Nardin Freak X Gumball 3000 Edition 2 out and about running boring everyday errands as well as out to dinner and drinks, the watch received a ton of attention. Having worn a few different Freaks over the past couple of years, this isn't a surprise to me. Of all the watches we get in for review, the Freaks always get the most attention out in public. The true spaceship on the wrist look of the Freak series just grabs peoples' attention. While this mostly black variant didn't get the most attention of the Freaks I've worn out, it was still way up there. The rose gold Freak X by far got the most looks and comments of any watch I've ever worn. Just having an all black case, dial and strap will naturally get a bit less attention than something cased in gold. Some of the people that commented on the watch actually knew what the Freak was, and others just loved looking at the flying carrousel and orange details on the dial/movement. Since the Freak X is a high horology watch, the reactions to its price was a mixed bag. People that are not very familiar with watches will naturally not understand why any watch would be so expensive; those in the know get it.



Value and Position in the Market

Speaking of price, the Ulysse Nardin Freak X Gumball 3000 Edition 2 retails for $46,400. For that price you're getting an evolution of the horological breakthrough that is the Freak. The Freak X is also cased in a lightweight DLC titanium case and features that stunning black and orange Carbonium hour disc dial. The flying carrousel is in my opinion a more interesting relative to the tourbillon as well. Finally the watch is limited to just 150 pieces and is a tangible tie in to the iconic Gumball 3000 rally. Now like with all of our reviews, is the time to compare the Freak X Gumball 3000 Edition 2 to other watches with similar features and specifications to see how it holds up value wise.

Finding watches to compare directly to a Freak is rather tough given its flying carrousel movement. Up first we have the Tradition Tourbillon 7047 from Breguet which has a 41 mm case made out of platinum. While comparing a less expensive Tradition might make more sense price wise, those watches do feature the escapement dial side, but do not have a carrousel or tourbillon. The 7047 does feature a tourbillon and dial side escapement elements though. The watch only has 30 meters of water resistance and is powered by an in-house fuse and chain hand wound movement with 55 hours of power reserve. The Tradition 7047 is much more expensive than the Freak X at $271,300, but it does compare decently well with its tourbillon and dial side escapement.



Next up we have the Big Bang Tourbillon from Hublot which has a 44 mm case made out of titanium. The Big Bang Tourbillon features a completely skeletonized dial featuring a tourbillon at 6 o'clock. The watch is powered by an in-house automatic movement with 72 hours of power reserve. The Big Bang Tourbillon has less water resistance than the Freak X at only 30 meters. Like the Tradition Tourbillon, the Big Bang Tourbillon is much more expensive than the Freak X at $119,000.

Moving on is the Pioneer Cylindrical Tourbillon Skeleton Spiced Aqua from Moser which has a 42.8 mm case made out of stainless steel. The Pioneer features a completely skeletonized tourbillon movement with a time telling disc at 12 o'clock. The Pioneer is also a bold watch like the Freak X with its mixture of orange and aquas. The Pioneer is powered by an in-house automatic movement with 74 hours of power reserve and the watch has an impressive 120 meters of water resistance. While less expensive than the Breguet and Hublot, the Moser is still a good deal more expensive than the Freak X at just over $100,000.

Finally we have the UR-230 Black Star Edition from Urwerk which has a 44.81 mm case made out of ceramic composite. While technically the UR-230 isn't a super complicated watch featuring a tourbillon or carrousel, the watch does feature a wandering hours complication. The UR-230 also has the high tech look of the Freak X with its ceramic composite case and bright yellow highlights. The UR-230 is powered by a Vaucher automatic movement with 48 hours of power reserve and only has 30 meters of water resistance. Like the other watches we've looked at above, the UR-230 is much more expensive than the Freak X at around $193,000.



Looking at the above four watches, you can see how great of a value the Ulysse Nardin Freak X Gumball 3000 Edition 2 really is. For the most part the Freak X matches or exceeds the specifications and features of the other watches and is much more affordable. At these price ranges, the large and more expensive Freak ONE and Freak S should really be the watches from Ulysse Nardin being compared here. Having the Freak X at well under $50,000 that compares so favorably with these much more expensive timepieces really drives home how great of a horological value the Freak X Gumball 3000 Edition 2 is.

Closing Thoughts

So in the end, is the Ulysse Nardin Freak X Gumball 3000 Edition 2 for me? Here's the crazy thing, in a vacuum the Freak X would be my near ideal timepiece. It has a large 43 mm case made out of lightweight and high tech DLC titanium. It also features a just amazing to gaze at flying carrousel movement. The color scheme of the Gumball 3000 Edition 2 is black and orange, both colors I love on watches, especially when combined. I'm also a huge fan of Ulysse Nardin. The one minor personal ding would be that the lug to lug length is just shy of my desired 50 mm, but the watch still wears awesome on my wrist.

So then what is the issue? The problem is that the Freak ONE and Freak S exist. To be fair, these watches are decently more expensive than the Freak X models. While the addition of adding a crown to the Freak is a very interesting technical achievement, I still remember when the original Freak came out and was controlled via the bezel and caseback. The Freak ONE and Freak S retain this system and are also larger in case size, both which appeal to me. I am a dinosaur when it comes to watch collecting and still prefer large bulky cases. The Freak X was able to tame the case size of the Freak and bring it down to a size most collectors can pull of. The movement changes also allowed Ulysse Nardin to sell a Freak at a much more accessible price.



I know I'm giving a huge mixed message here. In all honesty I love the watch and especially the Gumball 3000 treatment applied to it. I could only imagine the same treatment being done to a Freak ONE. It would be my near perfect watch in pretty much every sense. I've actually spoken to a lot of people and the split between people who prefer the smaller crown controlled Freak X to the larger Freak variants is very evenly split. I see the positives in all three Freak variants and it's really down to personal preference (and budget) to which way you lean. For example, the rose gold Freak X we had in a year ago is my wife's favorite watch of all time!

Would I then recommend the Freak X Gumball 3000 Edition 2 to a collector looking for an extremely unique and complicated timepiece? Of course I would in a heartbeat without hesitation. Watch collecting comes down to personal preference. The current trend is more towards smaller more compact watches and the Freak X is the first Freak to truly offer that. While I do prefer the larger Freaks, I can fully admit that they might not be the best watches to wear all day, day in and day out. The Freak X is that kind of watch though; it's truly a daily wearable Freak.

As I've already explained, for what you're getting, the Freak X is an astonishing value as well. For well under $50,000 you're getting a piece of high horology made by one of the premiere names in watchmaking. The tie into the Gumball 3000, limited edition nature and also the high tech and awesome black and orange Carbonium are all added bonuses. I really can't say enough nice things about the Freak X Gumball 3000 Edition 2, even if my personal bias does get in the way a little bit.



I'd really like to thank FX and his team over at Ulysse Nardin for sending us the Freak X Gumball 3000 Edition 2 to review. We have been working on a huge project we should be rolling out in the next few months, so our frequency of reviews has been slightly reduced until we're done with that. I feel that has stopped us from getting in more pieces from Ulysse Nardin in for review, which I'm a bit sad about. Hopefully once we're up and running again at full speed we can get their newest novelties and general releases in to review more frequently. I'm still waiting on a Diver AIR to review, but that model has been so popular that Ulysse Nardin has none to spare to review. I'm sure the brand is also about to unveil something interesting at Watches and Wonders in a few months. I'll try to line up some more fun pieces from Ulysse Nardin here in the coming months for sure!

For more information about the Freak X Gumball 3000 Edition 2 please visit : Ulysse Nardin

Technical Specifications

Reference Number: 2303-270LE-2B-GUM/3A

Retail Price: $46,400

Case Size: 43 mm

Lug to Lug: 49.4 mm

Thickness: 14.4 mm

Weight: 83 grams

Case Material: Black DLC Titanium

Bezel: Black DLC Titanium

Strap: Black Rubber Coated Openworked Strap on a DLC Titanium Deployant Clasp

Movement: In-house Calibre UN-230 Automatic Movement

Functions: Hours, Minutes and Flying Carrousel

Power Reserve: 72 Hours

Water Resistance: 50 Meters