Mark Wahlberg wore his new Norqain Wild One on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Zach BlassMark Wahlberg is well-known for being a down-the-rabbit-hole watch collector with a seemingly endless collection of Patek Philippe and Rolex watches among other brands as well. At least once a month, if not once a week, you can find outlets like @celebwatchspotter sharing photos of him wearing some of the most hyped, expensive and sought-after watch references on the planet. Just the other day, however, Wahlberg visited The Late Show with Stephen Colbert not wearing a Rolex, nor a Patek as per usual. Instead, Mark was flexing his new Norqain Wild One Skeleton 42mm Turquoise.
Norqain, a young independent Swiss brand, has long been gaining traction within the niche watch community. But it is certainly not a household name like Rolex. So, how did Norqain end up on Wahlberg’s radar? We reached out to Norqain and found out that Mark first noticed the watch while watching Swiss tennis star Stan Wawrinka wearing his and thought it looked very cool. So, he reached out to Wawrinka to find out what watch it was and Stan, a friend of the brand, connected Wahlberg with Ben Küffer, CEO and Co-Founder of Norqain, who assisted Wahlberg in purchasing the watch.
The Wild One is a watch we have seen not only Stan Wawrinka wear on the tennis court, but also beloved Aussie champion Matt Ebden as well. It even has the seal of approval from MB&F’s very own Max Büsser who also purchased a Wild One Skeleton 42mm Turquoise as a workout/activity watch. What makes the Wild One a great watch for more active individuals? Well, at just 78 grams, the Wild One Skeleton is six times lighter than stainless steel and three and a half times lighter than titanium, all while being incredibly shock-resistant. Through stringent laboratory testing, the case – made of Norqain’s proprietary NORTEQ carbon composite, rubber, and titanium parts – has been rated to withstand 5,000 Gs of force.
Considering Wahlberg is known to be an early riser and constantly working out and staying active to maintain his action movie star physique, the Wild One Skeleton is honestly a fantastic ‘beater watch’ for him. He may have initially just been in it for the looks, but I suspect the watch will get a lot of wear time from him thanks to its robust personality.
We’re giving away some Casios!
Need a new daily wearer? We’re giving away two Casio A1100s to celebrate the launch of Casio and G-SHOCK in our Time+Tide Shop and Melbourne Discovery Studio. To enter, tag a friend in the comments of the Instagram post above and make sure you are both following @timetideshop. You may enter as many times as you like – just make sure your mate is following us. We will randomly pick one pair of entrants to win the grand prize. Entries close on 22/02/2024 at 9 AM AEDT. Winners will be announced via the Time+Tide Shop Instagram page at 12 PM AEDT the same day. Winners can have their prize shipped globally or picked up in-store for some extra goodies.
Good luck, and hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Zach
Watch meme of the week: getting ‘Nauti’ on Valentine’s Day
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I don’t know what we were thinking: we really should have come up with some memes of our own in-house for Valentine’s Day. But, thankfully mass-meme supplier @brodinkee came to the rescue with a whole carousel of horological Valentine’s Day memes. My favourite: “Let’s get Nauti.”
Wrist shot of the week: gentle Genta sarcasm
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Gérald Genta may be known for birthing some of the most hyped and copied designs in all of horology, but the watches made under his name were anything but ordinary. Just look at this piece on @misterenthusiast’s wrist. One look at the watch and you can immediately tell he is being 100% sarcastic in the caption 😂
Time+Tide Shop pick of the week: Norqain Wild One 42mm Skeleton Turquoise
The Norqain Wild One, made with Norqain’s proprietary ultra-light and ultra-robust NORTEQ carbon fibre material, is the ultimate sports watch. Fitted with a unique skeletonised movement, this model perfectly combines high-performance and watchmaking prestige. The Wild One has been designed in collaboration with Jean-Claude Biver, the Norqain team, and the best Swiss suppliers. This model features a black NORTEQ case with a marbled effect. A beachy turquoise rubber shock absorber, which covers the titanium container that houses the skeletonised NN08S movement inside, is visible between the NORTEQ protective cage.
Order now from the Time+Tide Shop or purchase at our Melbourne Discovery Studio. Price: A$8,700 (incl. GST).
Our favourite Time+Tide coverage of the week
Grand Seiko celebrates a key milestone with the hot SBGE305 “Hotaka Summer”
Grand Seiko recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of the 9R movement with two limited editions: the SBGA497 “Pink Snowflake” and the SBGE305 “Hotaka Summer”, which we went hands-on with in the video above.
5 Rolex predictions we would love to see made real in 2024
Tom went to work, mocking up a few Rolex watches we would love to see enter production in 2024, including ‘Coke’ GMT-Master IIs, complicated 1908s and more.
Get to know our new UK-based Managing Editor: Russell Sheldrake
Last month during our Time+Tide 10 celebrations, we reflected on the past decade of Time+Tide and how much it has grown. But, just a couple of weeks later, it is time to look forward… And, speaking of growth, we recently announced our first UK-based hire, Time+Tide’s new Managing Editor, Russell Sheldrake. Get to know Russell here.