In 2023, Swiss NORQAIN debuted a colorful turquoise and black version of its Independence Wild ONE Skeleton watch. It proved so successful that for 2024, NORQAIN wanted to follow up with some additional fresh “summer colors” of the Independence Wild ONE Skeleton. This led to the release of these two new Wild ONE Skeleton models, which are the “gecko green” reference NNQ3000QBE2AS/B014, and the “coral red” reference NNQ3000QBR2AS/B013.
From what I can tell, each of these models (including the original turquoise reference NNQ3000QBQ1AS/B007) is not a limited edition, which shows how much confidence NORQAIN has in the appeal of its brightly-colored sport watches. The Wild ONE Skeleton models are an interesting hybrid between a dedicated sports watch and an artistic lifestyle timepiece. The combination of the NORTEQ carbon blend case material and rubber elements makes for a uniquely lightweight and shock-resistant case, while the open-work dial showing the skeletonized movement has no practical benefits, aside from offering a fun, cosmetic way to enjoy a traditional mechanical timepiece.
In a previous article on the Wild ONE, I talk more about what NORQAIN was trying to achieve with this particular type of case construction, and why the Wild ONE family is a truly innovative type of mechanical watch product. The case starts with an inner titanium core, which protects the Sellita-based Swiss made NORQAIN Caliber N08S automatic movement. The movement operates at 4Hz with 41 hours of power reserve, and is COSC Chronometer certified for accuracy.
The Wild ONE case is 42mm wide, about 12mm thick, and it has a roughly 50mm lug-to-lug distance. With the sporty rubber strap and lightweight case, it wears very comfortably. The case has a sapphire crystal over the dial, and is water resistant to 200 meters. The bright gecko green and coral red colors of the accenting rubber elements make for very beautiful compositions. While not all carbon blends of NORTEQ need to be strictly black, it is currently not possible for the carbon elements to be rendered in bright colors anything close to what can be done with rubber. With that said, the contrasting black and bright colors are not only fun and summery, but also masculine, which helps these watches with their target audience.
Personally, while the skeletonized dials are nice, I’d like to see a few more solid dial Wild ONE models with fresh dial, hand, and marker designs. Hopefully that will come soon, as NORQAIN has made it clear that the Independence Wild ONE family is a platform to build on. Changes and updates to this timepiece family are part of the overall appeal.
One benefit to these particular green and red colors is that there isn’t much else in the luxury sport watch market using these hues. NORQAIN will be able to benefit from having some exclusivity on these looks, before other brands follow suit. That is one of the interesting things about brightly colored watches these days. Once a color or set of colors becomes popular, there isn’t anything stopping a competitor from using the same colors for a watch. The result is an interesting amount of experimentation and saturation of color, and only after a few years will the market be able to sort out the long-term successes from the temporary fads.
These comfortable, durable, and lightweight sport watches make for solid wearing choices if the style and colors match your personality. I do have to say that NORQAIN really does choose pretty colors, even if they aren’t your particular vibe. Price for each of these non-limited reference NNQ3000QBE2AS/B014 and NNQ3000QBR2AS/B013 NORQAIN Wild ONE Skeleton watches is $5,790 USD as of press time. Learn more at the NORQAIN website.
