Nordgreen Guardian
I'm sure some of you will be aware of Nordgreen, if not, you are now. Nordgreen is a brand that, unlike some "Nordic design" brands, does appear to be based in Denmark, and seems to have original minimalist designs, but apart from that, it falls into the same underwhelming pitfalls of many fashion watch brands. They claim to be all about environmentalism and being good for the planet, and 1% (truly monumental amounts, I know... 🙄) of their sales go to various non-profits around the world. Being the environmentally conscious green youth I am, their original sales pitch had me interested until I saw their products and prices and found myself very underwhelmed. This isn't to say they're the worst value fashion brand out there, and if you like their designs and their mission statement then more power to you, but I personally didn't like the designs enough to drop the money they were asking (although their outlet and second-hand watch schemes are enticing at times). Recently I saw an advert from them for a new model, the Guardian, an automatic watch with a 100-year warranty, interested yet again, I checked their website to see what price they were asking for... £600.
£600 for a watch from a company with zero heritage with a Miyota 9039 movement inside. I'm not quite sure what they're thinking here, or how many they're planning to sell, but at that price, they're competing with actual Swiss-made watches from Tissot or Christopher Ward. If you're a value buyer and want the most bang for your buck, there are so many Japanese offerings for the same money, and if environmental aesthetics are your thing, Citizen and Junghans both produce solar watches for around this price (and far lower). So what was Nordgreen thinking? £600 is more than most non-watch people would ever want to spend, but for watch people, this product has basically no pull factors. Definitely a strange release, and one I can't see selling well.
19-year-old student in the English Midlands with a low-budget collection. Got into watches while researching Soviet timepieces, still have a love for USSR watches. Getting more interested in stepping...
I like the dial, that's all I can say about the watch.
Apart from that, the brand gives me Daniel Wellington vibes
I like the dial, that's all I can say about the watch.
Apart from that, the brand gives me Daniel Wellington vibes
Yeah, halve the price to £300 and I might consider it (but there are other watches I'd enjoy far more and buy far sooner), even at £400 it'd be a hard sell but justifiable, £600 you start competing with some seriously good watches, and really there's no way you can justify it.
Yeah, halve the price to £300 and I might consider it (but there are other watches I'd enjoy far more and buy far sooner), even at £400 it'd be a hard sell but justifiable, £600 you start competing with some seriously good watches, and really there's no way you can justify it.
The product page is fun to read. It says the watch has polished titanium seconds hand for maximum precision...how is that going to make the watch precise? (From their white paper where they mention all the materials used, there is not a single mention of titanium used in the watch). It mentioned 100-year warranty and they claim the watch would last for 100 years (they forgot wear and tear, especially considering it is an integrated bracelet) in their white paper but same time provide you with only a weird 2-year warranty when you purchase the watch.
Seems like they have focused more on preparing a white paper on how they designed the watch and forgot the part about how to sell these at good prices. At $800, they are playing against entry-level Swiss brands, a few good micro brands and mid-tier Seiko Presages which to their name offer the same or even better watches with a rich history. Citizen and Seiko have premium solar models with a 50-year service interval. The only redeeming part about this watch is the design and choice of movement, they took time to design and did not decide to choose a model from Alibaba catalogue to stick their name on the dial. The supply chain part is also very vague. If they have a production house in Denmark, the $800 price tag can be justified to a point by claiming higher work and production standards.
If you are eco-conscious and concerned, just catch the time on your phone. Better than overpaying to wear an eco-conscious-medal.
The product page is fun to read. It says the watch has polished titanium seconds hand for maximum precision...how is that going to make the watch precise? (From their white paper where they mention all the materials used, there is not a single mention of titanium used in the watch). It mentioned 100-year warranty and they claim the watch would last for 100 years (they forgot wear and tear, especially considering it is an integrated bracelet) in their white paper but same time provide you with only a weird 2-year warranty when you purchase the watch.
Seems like they have focused more on preparing a white paper on how they designed the watch and forgot the part about how to sell these at good prices. At $800, they are playing against entry-level Swiss brands, a few good micro brands and mid-tier Seiko Presages which to their name offer the same or even better watches with a rich history. Citizen and Seiko have premium solar models with a 50-year service interval. The only redeeming part about this watch is the design and choice of movement, they took time to design and did not decide to choose a model from Alibaba catalogue to stick their name on the dial. The supply chain part is also very vague. If they have a production house in Denmark, the $800 price tag can be justified to a point by claiming higher work and production standards.
If you are eco-conscious and concerned, just catch the time on your phone. Better than overpaying to wear an eco-conscious-medal.
Oh, I may be eco-conscious but I am under no illusions that buying from a brand that donates a whole 1% of income to charity will do absolutely nothing to help anything (nor will anything I do do anything to help, pressure needs to be on governments and companies, not individuals). Not to get too political on here, but I was literally just attracted to the brand selling itself as "environmental", but their actual credentials to claim that are limited. It's just a shame that such a cool design and interesting brand mission statement are wasted on bullshit like this. For me, £600 for those specs is unjustifiable when brands based out of Switzerland, Japan, the USA, and Germany can all offer far more for the price. Citizen, Christopher Ward, Tissot, Mido, Seiko, Junghans, Hamilton, and not a long jump to Farer. Just more unfortunate price gouging for a fairly interesting design.
I quite like the looks and if it had a date I would probably buy the 36mm watch, even at the too high price but there seems to be discounts available. Can't think of many other little watches in that sleek styling. The C63 is alright but the clasp is too big, no good. The CW12 in 36mm will be tough competition though...
I bought the Pioneer in blue abouth 2 years ago(like the picture), I paid about $130, I tested this watch a lot in this time and I am very happy with it, I had not clue about the history to be honest, the quality I feel is good enought for me, no scraches, unexplained deterioration or problems with the funtions, if you compare with brands like DW or MVMT the difference is noticeable, sapphire crystal, japanese movement(Miyota mecaquartz) the downfall I see are the total absence of lume and there are no numbers in the markets on the screen (because the minimalist thing), so is not a good watch to use at night, so sorry but I can not agree with the comparation.