First Norqain Experience Review

The first thing I must mention is that photographs do not do this dial justice, thus I am going to refrain from pictures for this review, outside of the cover picture. The fine asymetrical fissures never “read” in pictures and those are an outstanding feature of the dial that is best experienced outside under bright direct sunlight. Many of these fissures are filled with gold highlights that are seemingly randomly placed though looking at other examples of this watch, the location of the fill is the same. While random, some thought has been given to placement of these highlights. Norqain says these dials are inspired by the crevices in of Mt. Everest and imho, they succeeded.

The watch is a 41 mm affair with 48.9 mm lug to lug and 14.94 mm high. Many will consider this too big of a watch for thinner wrists and it well may be so. However for larger wrists it sits quite majestically on the wrist. Satin finish is the order of the day for the case but bevels are polished to a high gloss. The side of the case features a tag that can be custom engraved though my example is simply engraved NEVEREST, which I assume is standard. The bezel is bidirectional stainless steel with a 24 hour ceramic insert. The gold (plated) indicator at 0 hour clicks nicely into place in 24 increments. Turning is aided by the knurled edge of the bezel.

The hands are gold plated and filled with Superluminova as are the markers. The GMT hand is distinguished by its triangular arrow which is slightly larger than the similarly shaped seconds hand. The hour and minute hand are simple sword shaped.

The bracelet is satin with the exception of a fine polished line at the middle of the links. This line is actually is cut into the links and can be felt with a finger nail. The clasp is a single fold over deployment clasp that bears the Norqain logo engraved in it. Two buttons release the clasp which is a personal favorite method. There is no safety clasp if that is important to you but I find the clasp to very secure. A major advancement is the micro adjustment contained inside the clasp. To change the lenght, one press a lever inside which allows the bracelet to be shortened or lengthened as needed, whenever needed.

Double domed sapphire glass with anti reflective coating both sides caps the watch. Around back you find a flat saplphire glass exhibition back offering a good view of the movement. This “manufacture” movement was developed in cooperation with Kenisi and is exclusive to Norqain so you know it is a solid reliable movement with COSC accuracy, if not better. Being a traveler GMT, the hour hand move in precise jumps without shaking the home hand while it advances or retreats, the way a well designed and manufactured movement should behave.

On the wrist, I personally find it comfortable. No it does not become “invisible” to feel, you will not forget you are wearing it, but at the same time it is not a burden and it is comforting to know where your watch is. The bracelet easily adjusts so flopping around on the wrist is easily neutralized. And the height is such that slipping under a cuff is easy as long as it is a loose fitting cuff.

With a MSRP of $4690 (US), the “threshold of pain” is considerable, but relatively speaking, it is a fair and competitive price vs the competition. Is it worth it? IMHO, yes. Granted this is my first Norqain, but I am impressed and that is not easy to do. I also ought to mention that 10% of Neverest sales are donated to the Butterfly Help Project in Nepal which benefits families of Sherpa who have lost their lives. So certainly that money goes to a worthy cause.