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.

The dawn of the new millennium was a time of incredible change and upheaval in watches — an era of new technologies, new aesthetics and a conceptual approach to watchmaking that challenged convention in ways unthinkable a few short decades earlier. One watch that epitomized all this — an undeniable product of its time that is as relevant today as ever — was the Ulysse Nardin Freak. Debuting at Baselworld in 2001, inspired by a prototype from Carole Forestier-Kasapi and brought to production by Dr. Ludwig Oechslin, the Freak lived up to its name.

Ulysse Nardin Freak

No crown. No hands. No dial. The Freak broke every convention of watchmaking and managed to set new standards all at once. It was the first watch to use silicon components, the first wristwatch with a natural escapement, and it defined a genre of high-end watchmaking we now refer to as the “hyperwatch.” The genius concept at the heart of the Freak is the fact that the movement serves as the time-telling indicator. Hours were indicated by an hour wheel arbor mounted to the mainspring barrel, while minutes were marked out by the gear train itself, a slowly moving carrousel, exposed for all to see. Of all its many innovations, placing the movement on the dial side, and giving it a function beyond moving hands around a dial was a move of unparalleled genius.

It is the first watch to use silicon components, with a natural escapement, and it defined a genre of high-end watchmaking we now refer to as the “hyperwatch”

As if that wasn’t wild enough, the Freak used the heavily scalloped bezel to set the time, and it was wound by the caseback. On their own, any one of these innovations would be remarkable, but to combine them into a single watch to create something that truly lived up to its name.

The Freak used the heavily scalloped bezel to set the time, and it was wound by the caseback

If the Freak was a shock to the system, it also spurred an enormous amount of creativity — the avant-garde design and combination of unashamedly non-conventional aesthetics, together with incredible feats of technical watchmaking, have inspired a new generation of watchmakers. The Ulysse Nardin Freak walked so that the horological machines of MB&F, the high-end status symbols of Richard Mille and any brand that uses silicon components could run.

Tech Specs: Ulysse Nardin Freak

Movement: Manual winding caliber with Dual Direct Escapement featuring silicon components; seven-day power reserve
Functions: Hours and minutes
Case: 42.5mm; 18K gold
Dial: No conventional dial; linear gear train mounted on mainspring barrel
Strap: Leather