As a brand, Norqain is best known for its sports watches, and a spirit of outdoor adventure is a consistent theme throughout the vast majority of the models that make up the company’s contemporary catalog. Among NORQAIN’s various offerings, the Adventure Sport is its most versatile and value-oriented collection, and it was created to be a well-rounded sports watch that can easily fit into almost any environment or social setting. The latest addition to the brand’s catalog is the NORQAIN Adventure Sport 42mm Bronze, which combines the fan-favorite design of its go-anywhere, do-anything sports model with the watch industry’s favorite warm-colored metal, and it marks the first time that bronze has made an appearance on a watch from this highly popular collection of NORQAIN timepieces.
Based upon the same core design as the standard stainless steel Adventure Sport watch, the case of the new NORQAIN Adventure Sport 42mm Bronze measures 42mm in diameter by 12.65mm-thick, with 22mm lugs and an overall lug-to-lug distance of 50.2mm. Just like the stainless steel version of the Adventure Sport 42mm, the 9 o’clock side of the case features a screw-on plate that is intended for engravings, and this unique feature is now one of NORQAIN’s signature design elements. Protecting the dial is a double domed sapphire crystal with an anti-reflective coating on both sides, and this is surrounded by a 60-click unidirectional rotating bezel with a bronze insert that features an elapsed time scale with a Super-LumiNova capsule at the zero-marker. While the case and bezel of the watch are made from bronze, the caseback is crafted from stainless steel with a bronze PVD finish, and it is fitted with a clear sapphire window to offer a view of the self-winding movement within. At the 3 o’clock location is a bronze screw-down winding crown that is engraved with NORQAIN’s logo, and it works in conjunction with the screw-down caseback to help provide users with 100 meters of water resistance.
To complement the warm tones of its bronze case and bezel, the NORQAIN Adventure Sport 42mm Bronze is fitted with a khaki green dial that follows the same overall design as the various other dials fitted to the stainless steel models from the series. Bronze and green is a tried and true combination that can be found on a number of different watches throughout the industry, and the muted khaki green color compliments the natural undertones of the patina that will eventually form on the bronze components of the case. Just like other dials from the Adventure Sport series, the dial fitted to the new bronze edition features NORQAIN’s signature pattern across its surface with a date window at the 3 o’clock location. To match the case, applied hour markers and the NORQAIN logo appear in bronze, and the trio of hands and hour markers is finished with beige-colored Super-LumiNova to provide a luminous display in the dark. As a small pop of color, both the tip of the seconds hand and the word “automatic” appear in bright red, while the rest of the printing on the dial appears in a golden bronze color to match the rest of the watch.
Although a number of NORQAIN watches are powered by the brand’s own Kenissi-manufactured movements, the Adventure Sport 42mm is one of NORQAIN’s entry-level offerings, powered by the Caliber NN08. Based on the popular Sellita SW200-1, the Cal. NN08 is a 26-jewel automatic-winding movement that consists of 80 components and runs at a frequency of 28,800vph (4 Hz) with a power reserve of approximately 38 hours. Fitted with a personalized NORQAIN oscillating weight, the Cal. NN08 offers the convenience of hacking, hand-winding, and quickset functionality for the date display, plus it benefits from a reliable and proven design that can easily be serviced by just about any watchmaker or repair center in the world. While the Caliber NN08 is undeniably a step down from the manufacture movements that can be found inside other NORQAIN models, the Adventure Sport 42mm series is also significantly less expensive, and it costs less than two-thirds the price of most of the NORQAIN models that feature movements made by Kenissi. Completing the Adventure Sport 42mm Bronze is the option of either rubber or fabric two-piece straps that are available in either black or a matching shade of khaki green.
As a material, bronze is inherently more expensive than stainless steel, and just as you might expect, bronze watches almost always cost more than their otherwise identical stainless steel counterparts. With an official retail price of $2,590 USD, the new NORQAIN Adventure Sport 42mm Bronze represents about a $600 premium compared to the standard stainless steel version; however, this is still over $1,000 less than the other three-handed models from the Adventure Sport collection that are powered by Kenissi movements. Although there are certainly more affordable bronze watches available, the retail price of the new Adventure Sport 42mm Bronze is consistent with the rest of the models in NORQAIN’s current lineup, and it is also right in line with what many other Swiss brands such as Oris, Rado, and Maurice Lacroix are charging for comparable models these days. Part of the appeal of bronze is that the patina it develops is influenced by its environment, and each NORQAIN Adventure Sport 42mm Bronze watch will age slightly differently over the years, simply depending on the unique adventures of its individual owner. For more information, please visit the brand’s website.
