Introducing Ulysse Nardin FREAK [X GUMBALL 3000] – Edition 2

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For the third consecutive year, Ulysse Nardin and Gumball 3000 continue building one of watchmaking’s more credible automotive partnerships. Announced on 23 February 2026, the FREAK [X GUMBALL 3000] – Edition 2, Ref. 2303-270LE-2B-GUM/3A, is not a cosmetic refresh of its predecessor. It introduces a new Carbonium® hour disc, first-time orange Super-LumiNova® on the minute wheel, and a sharper graphic identity that earns its “Edition 2” designation in full, all within a production run of exactly 150 pieces.

Gumball 3000 – The Rally

The 2026 Gumball 3000 carries the subtitle “Road to the World Cup” and runs from Miami to Mexico City across seven days and 3,000 miles, threading through Amelia Island, New Orleans, Austin, Monterrey, and San Miguel de Allende. Rally participants arrive at Mexico City’s iconic Estadio Azteca to attend the Opening Match of FIFA World Cup 26™ as VIP guests.

Since Maximillion Cooper founded Gumball 3000 in 1999, the event has grown into a billion-dollar lifestyle platform drawing participants from Lewis Hamilton to Idris Elba, and the Freak X Edition 2 serves as its official timepiece for the 2026 running.

The FREAK – The Dial

The Freak X carries no dial in any conventional sense: no printed chapter ring, no applied hour markers, no surface at all in the traditional meaning. Time reads entirely through the movement’s own architecture. The dominant visual element at the bottom of the stack is the Carbonium® hour disc, a material Ulysse Nardin crafts from aerospace-grade carbon fibres upcycled from the aviation industry, woven with vivid orange epoxy resin. Carbonium® draws its aesthetic from Damascus steel patterning, and its three-dimensional texture ensures no two discs look identical across the 150 pieces. The minute-indicating carrousel bridges sit above the hour disc, and for the first time, the minute wheel gains an orange Super-LumiNova® ring, complemented by white Super-LumiNova® across the indexes and bridges. The colour palette is direct, immediate, and unambiguously Gumball 3000.

The FREAK – The Movement

Calibre UN-230 powers the Edition 2, and it demands a proper technical breakdown. This in-house automatic manufacture movement assembles 206 components and 21 jewels, beats at 3 Hz (21,600 vph), and delivers 72 hours of power reserve through a full rotor driven by Ulysse Nardin’s Magic Lever bidirectional winding system – the grinder. The time display architecture has no equivalent in Swiss watchmaking: the central baguette-shaped flying carrousel holds the complete gear train, the escapement, and the regulating organ together, rotating around the movement once per hour to indicate the minutes, with the Carbonium® hour disc completing one full rotation every 12 hours below it.

The silicon components are the real story here. Ulysse Nardin produces the escapement wheel, the pallet fork, the balance spring, and the oversized balance wheel entirely from silicon at SIGATEC, its dedicated silicon manufacturing facility. Silicon requires zero lubrication, resists magnetism entirely, and produces near-negligible mechanical wear. The oversized balance wheel additionally carries nickel flyweights and stabilising micro-blades that use air resistance to regulate amplitude, a feature that first appeared in the Freak Vision and now sits inside the Freak X. In the context of what Ulysse Nardin charges for this watch, the UN-230 represents genuine technical value.

The FREAK – The Case

The 43mm case uses black DLC-coated titanium throughout: top, bottom, and side sections all receive the same satin-finish DLC treatment. Despite measuring 13.78mm in overall height, the perceived wrist height sits at just 11mm, a consequence of the DLC titanium’s ergonomic shaping. Water resistance reaches 50 metres. The exhibition caseback opens through a sapphire crystal set in a black DLC titanium surround, and a personalised side plate engraved with the serial number in orange identifies each individual piece within the 150-unit run. The strap is an openworked matte black rubber construction with orange inserts and orange stitching, carrying the visual codes without overwhelming the movement it frames. The crown handles both winding and time-setting, a practical element the original 2001 Freak deliberately refused to include.

FREAK [X GUMBALL 3000] – Edition 2: Verdict

The FREAK [X GUMBALL 3000] – Edition 2 does precisely what a second collaboration piece must do: it builds on its predecessor rather than repeating it. The Carbonium® disc, the new orange Super-LumiNova® treatment on the minute wheel, and the tightened graphic execution all produce a more resolved object than Edition 1. The silicon-dominant UN-230 remains one of the most genuinely interesting calibres in the €40,000 bracket, and the Freak platform still carries no architectural equivalent elsewhere in Swiss watchmaking. Ulysse Nardin celebrates both 180 years as a manufacture and 25 years of the Freak with this piece, and both milestones feel earned.

Pricing lands at £35,000 including VAT, €41,000 including VAT, $46,400 excluding VAT, and CHF 37,700 including VAT. With 150 pieces total and Gumball 3000 participants receiving right of first refusal, open-market availability will be tight. Contact Ulysse Nardin directly if you have serious interest.

Ulysse Nardin FREAK [X GUMBALL 3000] – Edition 2 Technical Specifications

Reference: 2303-270LE-2B-GUM/3A — CHF 37,700 (VAT 8.1% incl.) / EUR 41,000 (VAT 21% incl.) / USD 46,400 (VAT excl.) / GBP 35,000 (VAT 20% incl.) Limited Edition of 150 pieces, 5 years warranty.

Movement

• Calibre UN-230, in-house manufacture
• Automatic winding
• Functions: hours, minutes
• Flying carrousel rotating once per hour (minutes), Carbonium® hour disc rotating once every 12 hours (hours)
• Silicon oversized balance wheel and balance spring
• Silicon escapement wheel and pallet anchor
• Oversized oscillator
• 206 components, 21 jewels
• Frequency: 3 Hz / 21,600 vph
• Power reserve: 72 hours

Dial

• No traditional dial
• Orange Carbonium® hour disc (aerospace-grade carbon fibre woven with orange epoxy resin)
• Minute wheel with orange Super-LumiNova® ring
• Indexes and bridges in white Super-LumiNova®

Case

• Material: Black DLC titanium, satin finish
• Diameter: 43 mm
• Overall height: 13.78 mm / Perceived wrist height: 11 mm
• Caseback: Black DLC titanium open-worked sapphire display
• Personalised side plate with serial number in orange
• Water resistance: 50 m

Strap

• Black open-worked matte rubber-coated strap
• Orange inserts and orange stitching