The "sommelier" tastes a FREAK
By: Marcus Hanke (registered) Tuesday, April 3rd, 2007
by Bernard Cheong
The wristwatch is almost like a fine wine in many ways. It can look and feel different today, or tomorrow, or even 6 years from now.
Made by human beings, an amalgamation of parts. The wristwatch is part jewelry, part art and for most parts, a redundant machine. Probably almost any inexpensive quartz or electronic device will out perform it on any parameter.
It is still arguably a most fascinating device.
For the passion of owning one, and enjoying it thru the years…I would like to use the “tongue in cheek” and totally irreverent perspective of looking at any one of them thru the same way we would look at a good glass of Pinot Noir.
The FREAK is like a Pinot Noir. This watch is highly temperamental.
Unlike other tourbillons or moving balance devices, this watch needs careful and tender loving care. But once working, it is a beautiful work of art. It is almost perfectly harmonious.
It may take a while to appreciate a FREAK. Like many fine wines, it may not taste right or even good, just out of a bottle.
In fact, it may take the ownership of several complications, especially tourbillons, to begin understanding the simple beauty of the Freak. It may not be enough to read about the watches, but to wear and use them daily, allows the designs to "breathe" into our tastes.
My Freak has been with me for almost 6 years, a good age.
Looks good in the bright sunlight, and in the moonglow.
Look at the age of this 6 year old watch. The reflective hour markers are a hint of white gold, deposited on the sapphire disc fixed to the inner rim of the watch.
The strap is a structured affair, with no gap between the edge of the gold, and the crocodile skin.
The rose gold is soft to the eye and warm to the skin.
The bezel is almost scratch proof…even after years of wearing it.
The red gold has aged beautifully.
No patina at all. The design of the bezel was originally viewed as slightly grotesque in 2001. Aptly, it suited the name of Freak very well.
It is an incredibly revolutionary watch.
Designed way before Richard Milles were around.
It was also unlike the RM series, in that it was totally new in concept, and not an adaptation of a century old device with fancy spokes and designs.
It used silicium. It had an incredible escapement.
It was almost honestly priced.
The time is easily adjusted by turning the smooth bezel, and yet cannot be accidentally changed. At least in my years of using it, it has never been dislodged.
Listening to the Freak, one is immediately drawn to the fact that the sounds of the tic toc escapement is different…the sound of an indirect / direct tic tic sound of a rotating disc hitting two silicium wheels.
Looking at the curves of the Freak, I realize that the watch has matured beautifully…and I can imagine the country from where it came, the snow, the factories, the people…
I wonder if like wine, can a watch “peak” and then begin a decline? Possibly. In fact, some highly trend driven watches with less fundamental “values” may peak at the market’s reception of its aesthetic, maybe for 7 to 10 years. Then, lacking any true fundamental “value”..it will decline into a base value of its parts. I have no idea..just a speculative thought.
The Freak however, is a device, a creation, that is iconic. Arguably full of base fundamental value. Design. Difficult execution. Uniqueness. History.
Unlike film cameras…which have become almost obsolete and difficult to use, the watch will remain serviceable as long as it works.
The case and its unorthodox look were thought up by both Rolf Schynder and a group of designers.
The Freak and several other watches are living arguments that watches, like wines, cannot be “reviewed” without tasting or drinking them.
However, unlike wine, the watch can be rebottled, put back into its case/box, and worn again another day!
Watches and fine wines.
Enjoy!
