Norqain Wild One Stan the Man Limited Edition made in honor of Stan Wawrinka.
Now that the US Open Tennis Championships in New York are officially underway, it’s a good time to take a look at watches and tennis. So, today we start with a look at Swiss independent watch brand Norqain — which just released its newest Wild One watch – made in cooperation with Swiss-born tennis star Stan Wawrinka, aka, Stan the Man.
The new Wild One Stan the Man Limited Edition watch was created as a collaboration between the family owned Norqain and the three-time tennis Grand Slam champion. Wawrinka is also a business partner with the brand, having invested in the family owned company in 2024, and is a brand ambassador. The watch, designed to reflect Wawrinka’s determination and drive for precision, boasts a few personal Wawrinka tennis-related features and houses a top-notch Swiss automatic mechanical movement.
There are actual fibers from tennis balls in the Norqain Wild One Stan the Man Limited Edition watch.
Somewhat surprising in its bold yellow-green and black color, the rugged 42mm case consists of 25 individual parts, including a high-tech Norteq® top and bottom cage in black, a sandblasted titanium container into which the movement fits, and a bright tennis-ball-inspired yellow-green rubber shock absorber that makes the watch robust to 5000 gauss.
The proprietary Norteq® material is a carbon fiber composite that includes a polymer matrix that boasts 60 percent bio-sourced castor oil material. Because of the high-tech materials, the watch is 3.5 times lighter in weight than an all-titanium case and 6.25 times lighter than steel. It is also anti-magnetic. The Norqain name plate on the side of the case is also infused with fibers from a tennis ball. The process for this was developed in cooperation with BIWI, another partner of the brand.
The case back of the Norqain Wild One Stan the Man Limited Edition watch features Wawrinka’s likeness.
The dial of the watch is open worked, allowing for visibility of the movement parts. The indexes and hour and minute hands are coated with a yellow-green Super-LumiNova. Even the case back is a tribute to tennis and to Stan the Man, as it is printed with his likeness and engraved with the dates of his three Grand Slam victories. Complementing the sporty ruggedness of the watch is a black and yellow-green rubber strap with a pattern on it designed to emulate a tennis net.
Inside the watch is a skeletonized automatic mechanical movement that is a COSC-certified chronometer, made in collaboration with Swiss brand Kenissi. It offers 41 hours of power reserve and is water resistant to 200 meters. Just 85 pieces will be made, each retailing for $6990 with a pin buckle closure or for $7,390 for a folding clasp.
The strap of the Norqain Wild One Stan the Man Limited Edition watch boasts a tennis net pattern and the watch is crafted from light-weight yet rugged Norteq(R).
This is not the first watch brand Wawrinka has teamed with, as he once worked with Audemars Piguet, but it is the first time he has invested in a watch brand and worked closely for the making of a watch in his honor.
In a press release issued by the brand at the unveiling at the Bucherer store in New York, Wawrinka said, “What makes this timepiece so special to me is the fact that it contains actual tennis ball fibers, a detail that’s not only deeply personal but also incredibly innovative.”
Norqain, founded just seven years ago in 2018, has been highly committed to sports and innovation. In fact, its three main collections are Independence, Adventure and Freedom. The newest Wild One Skeleton Stan the Man watch is part of the independence series.
(This article by Roberta Naas first appeared on her column on Forbes.com.)
