Swiss watchmaker Ulysse Nardin has unveiled the Freak X Gumball 3000 – Edition 2, the latest chapter in what has become a recurring collaboration between the Le Locle-based manufacture and the international automotive rally brand. Now entering its third consecutive year, the partnership has produced a limited-timepiece that draws on the visual and philosophical language of both worlds — high-precision watchmaking and high-performance motorsport culture.

The watch arrives ahead of Gumball 3000’s 2026 rally, which returns to North America with a route from Miami to Mexico City dubbed the “Road to the World Cup.” Over seven days and 3,000 miles, 100 carefully selected cars will pass through Amelia Island, New Orleans, Austin, Monterrey, and San Miguel de Allende before culminating in Mexico City, where official rally participants will receive VIP hospitality tickets to the Opening Match of FIFA World Cup 26™ at the Estadio Azteca.

Founded in 1999 by British entrepreneur Maximillion Cooper, Gumball 3000 has grown from a televised road rally into a global lifestyle brand, attracting participants ranging from professional athletes to tech entrepreneurs and cultural figures. The event has previously routed through destinations as diverse as San Francisco to Beijing (2008) and London to Tokyo (2018).

At the centre of the Freak X Gumball 3000 – Edition 2 is an hour disc crafted from Carbonium®, a proprietary material developed from aerospace-grade carbon fibres upcycled from the aviation industry. The fibres are woven together with a vivid orange epoxy resin, producing a layered, three-dimensional finish inspired by the patterns of Damascus steel. Because the weaving process is inherently variable, no two discs are alike — a detail that gives each of the 150 pieces in the edition its own individual character.

The material choice is consistent with Ulysse Nardin’s broader approach to advanced components. The manufacture was among the first in the industry to introduce silicon into watchmaking, and the use of Carbonium® continues that tradition of sourcing performance materials from outside the conventional horological supply chain.

For this edition, an orange Super-LumiNova® ring has been added around the minute wheel — a first for the line — complemented by white Super-LumiNova® on the indexes and bridges. The effect improves low-light legibility while reinforcing the watch’s graphic identity. The case is black DLC-treated titanium, and the strap is an openworked rubber design with orange inserts and stitching.

The Freak X Gumball 3000 – Edition 2 is built on the Calibre UN-230, an in-house automatic movement that inherits the architectural principles of the original Freak — a watch that, when it launched in 2001, dispensed with a conventional dial, hands, and crown in favour of a rotating movement carousel that served as the time display itself. The Freak was also the first watch to incorporate silicon components, a technological milestone that influenced wider industry practice.

The Freak X, from which this edition derives, adapted that concept into a more accessible form while retaining the core mechanics: a rotating hour disc completing one full revolution every 12 hours, and a flying carrousel — held without an upper bridge — that rotates once per hour to indicate the minutes. The movement comprises 206 components and 21 jewels, operates at 3 Hz (21,600 vph), and delivers a 72-hour power reserve.

The case measures 43mm in diameter with an overall height of 13.78mm, and carries a water resistance rating of 50 metres.

The Ulysse Nardin Freak [X Gumball 3000] Edition 2 is an exclusive edition of 150 pieces and will be retailing at RM186,600 in Malaysia.

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Visuals courtesy of The Hour Glass