Ulysse Nardin Freak Diavolo Rolf 75 Watch Limited Edition
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Le Locle, Switzerland: Rolf Schnyder, the owner and president of Ulysse Nardin, turned 75 this year, and to commemorate his achievements, the brand is introducing a new limited edition, the Ulysse Nardin Freak Diavolo Rolf 75 Limited Edition.
Looking back on Schnyder’s 75 years feels much like an adventure novel, and Schnyder is the first to admit that he had a great time. “It’s been quite an adventure so far, and I’m not nearly done,” he says. “I grew up in Zurich, Switzerland, raised like many a Swiss boy, playing, skiing, and learning in this beautiful country. But I had a desire most others didn’t have, to see what was far outside the borders.”
At the young age of 22 Schnyder was hired by a Swiss Trading Company and sent to Bangkok to distribute Swiss timepieces in Thailand – and this brave journey into the East also heralded the beginning of an odyssey into the world of watchmaking that would span the next 53 years. In 1968 he founded in Thailand the first Swiss factory in the Far East to produce precision watch components for export to Switzerland. He later built a watch case factory in Manila and a dial factory in Kuala Lumpur that produced a variety of precision watch components for the Swiss watch industry.
“I found the exotic adventure I was yearning for – I discovered places no Swiss person had ever set foot (and even wrote about them for Swiss and other publications,” he details. “I learned the language, roamed the country selling Swiss watches and made my start as an entrepreneur. This area of Asia was unchartered territory for Europeans at that time, so I was able to do things impossible to do now – like building a raft at the Burmese border and floating down the famous River Kwai, camp on the beach at Phuket (as there were no hotels back then), spending time in Laos and Vietnam during the war, visit China during the Cultural Revolution, and more. I roamed far and wide, through Thailand, Laos, Bali, Cambodia, China, South Vietnam, Japan and spent 3 months leave in the South Pacific sailing through the islands from Fiji, Tonga to Tahiti and Bora Bora.
One of Schnyder’s hallmarks has been to mix great fun with hard work – he played rugby for the Royal Bangkok Sports Club, organized tours for Europeans to remote parts of Thailand and the Temples of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, started companies, collected antiques and lived it up as a carefree bachelor. As a veteran snow skier he switched to water skiing on a whim entered competitions and wan the Hong Kong water ski marathon around the island in 1967.
“It was more than I could have ever dreamed, and during this time, I laid the foundation for the future with a keen eye for opportunity and the ability to take calculated risks,” he adds.
During one of his annual visits to St. Moritz, where Schnyder competes on the famous Cresta Skeleton Run he learned that Ulysse Nardin was for sale. That was in 1983 when Switzerland’s watch industry was in the doldrums due to the arrival of the quartz age. Ulysse Nardin was little more than a shell, a carcass with a famous name he describes it, and he set about transforming the brand with an emphasis on unique, complicated watchmaking with innovation at its core. Watches like the Astrolabium Galileo Galilei, the Planetarium Copernicus, the Tellurium Johannes Kepler, the Minute Repeater Jaquemart San Marco, the Freak, the Genghis Khan and more followed, all having a common theme – innovation. Ulysse Nardin has been a leader in the adopting of new materials, new technologies and new ways of doing things since Schnyder relaunched the brand.
In recognition of his contributions to watchmaking, Schnyder was awarded the “Spirit of Enterprise” Gaia Award in 2003 by the Musee International d’Horlogerie for his entrepreneurial achievements and commitments. This award was followed by the bestowment of the “Lifetime Achievement Award” by the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Geneve: Asian Edition in Singapore this year for his continued contributions towards watch making technology and innovations.
Schnyder currently splits his time between Switzerland and Malaysia. When he is not overseeing business in Le Locle, he is either at his home in Kuala Lumpur or visiting subsidiaries and retailers around the world. Schnyder shares a beautiful sprawling tropical home with his Sarawakian wife Chai, and they are the proud parents of three teenage children.
To celebrate his birthday, and to honor how far Ulysse Nardin has come, the brand has decided to introduce a limited edition, Ulysse Nardin Freak Diavolo Rolf 75 Limited Edition in Platinum, complete with Schnyder’s signature on the case. This special Freak, limited to 75 pieces worldwide, was chosen becausethe Freak is emblematic of the innovation that has characterized Ulysse Nardin’s rebirth.
As Schnyder describes it, the Freak shook up and inspired the watch making fraternity. The Freak combined technical innovation with a revolutionary esthetic. A Carrousel Tourbillion without crown, no hands, no dial and with a novel Dual Direct escapement made in a new light weight material – silicium – which required no lubrication.
“Almost 30 years ago, I bought Ulysse Nardin, a calculated risk as I believed there was a strong chance that unique, innovative mechanical watches could thrive, and it turns out I was right,” Schnyder explains. “I fell in love with this grand old brand and our new innovative direction.
To celebrate my 75th birthday, I’ve chosen the Freak because it was an historic breakthrough for Ulysse Nardin and for the watch industry in general, and it is by far our most important piece.”
When asked what he wished for when he blew out the 75 candles on his birthday cake, Schnyder commented “I wish I could turn the clock back and do it all over again”!
Ulysse Nardin Freak Diavolo Rolf 75 Limited Edition Technical data.
Case Platinum – Limited Edition of 75 pieces.
Power Reserve More than 8 days, slip-spring
Frequency 4Hz (28’800 A/h)
Moment of inertia 8 mg*cm2, adjusting over 4 screws.
Hairspring Silicium, exclusive Ulysse Nardin design.
Escapement Right-angle lever, silicium, non lubricated.
Tourbillon 1 revolution in 1minute.
Orbite 1 revolution in one hour.
Winding Manual winding over the bezel on the back of the case. 1 full rotation is equivalent to 12 hours of power reserve.
Time setting Forward and backward over the bezel
