This year, Revolution turns 20. Two decades of chronicling watches, people and ideas have given us a front-row seat to a remarkable story: how an age-old craft has both preserved its soul and reinvented itself for the 21st century. To celebrate, we’ve chosen over 100 names and milestones that, for us, define the era so far. From leaders to watches, you can see the whole list here.

Rolf Schynder was such a badass that he could often be found doing one-armed pull-ups from a rafter after accomplishing the Cresta Run, the world’s most dangerous toboggan ride. We use the phrase “testicular fortitude” as a euphemism for bravery and strength, and I kid you not, Rolf used to literally lift sacks of rocks with his testicles as part of his practice of the martial art Tie Dang Gong. He was also both a fearless and creative genius, qualities that he aptly demonstrated in 2001 to me with the single, most important watch creation of the new millennium, the Ulysse Nardin Freak.

Ulysse Nardin Freak

Rolf had purchased UN but understood that to make a true impact, he could not simply crank out boring marine-chronometer-inspired wristwatches. The ’90s had been an era of burgeoning creativity, but Rolf took it to an incendiary level with the launch of the revolutionary Freak — a watch with no crown, no hands, and an all-new escapement based on Breguet’s natural escapement, made from an all-new, unheard of material called silicon.

A watch with no crown, no hands, and an all-new escapement

When I asked him a few years later while I was writing the book Making of a Masterpiece, he explained that he knew he could not combat in classic watchmaking with the likes of Patek Philippe, Breguet or Vacheron Constantin. So instead, he had to leapfrog them technologically, which is why he loved the idea of introducing silicon to watches. The Freak, which was initially based on Carole Forestier-Kasapi’s Breguet competition winning project, eventually morphed into its own thing, thanks to Ludwig Oechslin, who designed a massive mainspring at the back of the watch to drive the movement, which also provided the indications for the time. Schnyder continued his winning partnership with Oechslin, creating watches like the Sonata, with alarm function and countdown struck on a wire going like a repeater, and the GMT Perpetual, which was the only synchronized perpetual with the ability to go forwards and backwards.

Ulysse Nardin’s Silicon Dual Direct Escapement Wheels

In the first decade of the new millennium, Ulysse Nardin was the single most innovative manufacture in all of horology, thanks to Schnyder and his vision. He sadly passed away in 2011, but his legacy will endure forever especially in the industry’s use of silicon.