The Norqain wild one skeleton: A surprising favorite of mine
Stan the Man X Norqain Wild One (my first time seeing the watches in person)
I was always skeptical of Norqain and their watches if I’m being completely transparent… and that’s probably not the best way to start this article, but hey I’m just being real. I always saw Norqain watches online and never understood the hype, everyone always had good things to say, but it just never resonated with me. Partly because my taste at the time wasn’t aligned with high tech sports watches, I typically like a more traditional style of watch. However, a few months ago, Norqain held an event in NYC for the Stan The Man Wild One (pictured above) release that I had the chance to attend, and they did an excellent job of making me feel like an absolute idiot.
I will always preach that you NEED to see watches in person before forming and sharing any sort of opinion. Two things I mistakenly already did with the brand - it’s almost like we had a really bad first date, but we were both lonely so we went on a second date anyway… and BOOM. Turns out we kinda like eachother.
Not the best lifestyle shot, but I love how there’s always this punchy blue adding some life to my boring outfits.
I spoke with someone from the brand (Shoutout Charlie) and at first I didn’t know he worked for the brand, so I said “Yeah I never got the hype with these, but they’re actually kinda cool”… I need to stop running my mouth to strangers. But lucky for me, Charlie is a cool guy and showed me some more watches and gave me some insight into the brand. The more I tried on, the more I started to like them, genuinely. And then… I tried on the Wild One Skeleton in 39mm and I knew right away this little lady was the one for me.
It’s hard to even say what made it click for me, the perfect proportions, how comfortable it is, the beautiful skeleton work? I’m still not sure to this day, but Norqain really hit their stride with this watch - all the hype made sense right away.
Crazy how good this skeleton work is for $6,000
The brand was gracious enough to offer me a loaner, partially because I fell in love and wouldn’t leave them alone about it… but we’ll just say they were gracious. I’ve been with this thing for a few weeks now, and I really mean it when I say that I would spend my own money on this watch. No joke, this watch has gotten the most wrist time out of any watch in my ever-changing rotation. No matter the occasion as well, It’s comfortable, accurate, and has a good power reserve which made it such an easy watch to reach for. I found it interesting how well it fit Ito my personal style as well. I thought I was only going to wear this watch with athletic wear and what not, but no, I wore this watch with everything. It was kinda cool to wear some menswear or streetwear and throw this thing on with it - it was a cool juxtaposition to the clothing when this high tech, sky blue, little number was peaking out from under my sleeve.
The perfect cycling companion (this makes me miss summer)
My absolute FAVORITE aspect of this watch is the high tech nature of it. And by this I mean how well it fits into an active lifestyle - this watch is highly shockproof, water resistant up to 200M, and very comfortable and lightweight thanks to the carbon case and rubber strap. I recently fell in love with cycling and spent most days of my summer on the bike, lapping Central Park, Prospect Park, and weaving in and out of the NYC streets. As a watch enthusiast, I always wanted a watch to wear when I was on the bike, but I'm not gonna wear a vintage Tag am I? That thing would turn into a pile of parts after one 50 mile ride. But the Wild One was perfect, It was so comfortable and I never noticed it on my rides, and not to mention: I looked 10x cooler riding with this thing on. I’m not sure if that’s saying much because it’s almost impossible to look good in full spandex riding a bike, but hey I’ll take the boost. Regardless of looks, it was nice to have a horological companion with me on some grueling summer rides.
I know the Wild One might not seem like it would fit into your collection or personal style, it’s weird, futuristic, and loud. But I promise you, if you give it a chance you just might fall in love. Sad to see this one go.