Swiss watchmaker Ulysse Nardin has joined forces with the Gumball 3000, the world’s most extravagant and chaotic motoring event, in a collaboration that blends haute horology with high-octane excess.
Ulysse Nardin was established in 1846 and built its early reputation on high-precision marine deck chronometers, earning endorsements from no fewer than 50 navies worldwide.
The brand took a sharp creative turn in 2001 with the introduction of the Freak, a timepiece with no true dial, hands, or crown, pioneering the use of silicon technology in watchmaking.
In 2022, Ulysse Nardin became the first watchmaker of its kind to complete a management buy-out from luxury group Kering, giving it renewed independence and creative freedom.
The Gumball 3000 itself was born in 1999, founded by Maximillion Cooper, a club kid, racing driver, male model, and Central St Martins graduate obsessed with screwball car-chase comedies from the 1970s.
The first rally ran 3,000 miles from central London to Rimini, passing through Paris and returning via the Nurburgring, with Madonna, Guy Ritchie, Naomi Campbell, and Kate Moss among those who showed up.
Early participants included 90210 star Jason Priestley and boxer Chris Eubank, who completed the route in a Peterbilt truck, while Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood designed race overalls for competitors.
Over the following years, the event expanded to routes spanning two continents, from Stockholm to Boston and even Las Vegas to Pyongyang, with a cast that included David Hasselhoff, Snoop Dogg, Tony Hawk, Idris Elba, and Adrien Brody.
Cooper and his wife, rapper Eve, met and later married through the Gumball, while party hosts over the years included Hugh Hefner, the King of Morocco, and Kim Jong-il, with whom Cooper reportedly did karaoke.
A fatal collision in Macedonia brought the 2007 London-Berlin run to a premature end, a sober reminder that the event’s appetite for excess occasionally carried serious consequences.
To mark the rally’s 25th anniversary, Ulysse Nardin released the Freak x Gumball 3000 Edition, limited to 150 units featuring orange detailing, an orange rubber strap, and a black forged carbon case using Gumball’s official colour palette.
The follow-up, the Freak x Gumball 3000 Edition 2, takes a slightly more restrained aesthetic approach, with orange used more sparingly against a dominant black finish, though it remains unmistakably bold.
Its hour disc is crafted from ultra-light Carbonium using aerospace-grade carbon fibre infused with orange epoxy resin, combined with a black DLC titanium case for a performance-driven result.
For the first time in the series, the wheel features an orange Super-LumiNova ring alongside white details across indexes and bridges, improving legibility without sacrificing visual drama.
The 2026 Gumball, the event’s 26th run after skipping 2020 and 2021, ran from Miami to Mexico City along the Gulf of Mexico, arriving in the Latin capital in time for the World Cup, where participants enjoyed VIP hospitality.
The Freak x Gumball 3000 Edition 2 is priced at £35,000, with rally participants given first access to the 150 units available worldwide.