Watchbi

スイス · 創業 2018

Norqain

One of very few outside brands supplied with movements by Tudor's Kenissi.

編集記事は英語です。

Norqain is a family-owned Swiss sports-watch brand based in Nidau near Biel, founded in 2018 by Ben Küffer with Ted Schneider and ice-hockey player Mark Streit. Its Adventure, Freedom and Independence lines use Kenissi-made NN20 calibres and, since 2024, the 8K flyback chronograph. Most watches list between about €2,500 and €6,500.

歴史

Norqain grew out of a watch-industry family. Ben Küffer's father, Marc Küffer, co-owned the Roventa-Henex production facility in Tavannes, where Ben worked during school holidays. After a spell at Breitling, Ben Küffer founded Norqain in 2018 in Nidau, near Biel, as a fully independent, family-owned company aimed at the gap below CHF 10,000. The name joins NOR, for the north and the Swiss mountains, with QAI, for Quality, Adventure and Independence. Marc Küffer chairs the board.

The founding team included Ted Schneider, son of former Breitling owner Théodore Schneider, and Swiss defenceman Mark Streit, a Stanley Cup winner. Norqain presented its first watches to Swiss retailers on 21 January 2019 and launched in North America at the NHL All-Star Game three days later. Three collections, Adventure Sport, Freedom 60 and Independence, were priced from CHF 1,500 to 4,500, and every case carried the Norqain Plate, an engravable panel on the left side.

In February 2020 Norqain announced a partnership with Kenissi, the movement maker founded by Tudor, which supplies very few outside brands. It produced two exclusive calibres, the NN20/1 three-hander and the NN20/2 GMT with jumping local hour, both chronometer-certified with 70 hours of reserve. During the 2020 lockdown Jean-Claude Biver contacted Küffer and later became adviser to the board. His challenge to design a watch unlike any other led to the Wild One, launched in September 2022.

The Wild One introduced NORTEQ, a carbon composite developed with component specialist Biwi that can be dyed through its mass, in a multi-part case with rubber bumpers. By 2023 the company had grown from three to 60 employees, with production in Tavannes. In September 2024 Norqain added the 8K calibre, a column-wheel flyback chronograph made with Manufacture AMT, a Sellita division, launched in the Independence Skeleton Chrono.

創業者

Ben Küffer
Founder and CEO
Son of watch industrialist Marc Küffer, he worked at Breitling before founding Norqain in Nidau in 2018, and runs the company as CEO.
Ted Schneider
Co-founder
Son of Théodore 'Teddy' Schneider, the former owner and CEO of Breitling; part of Norqain's founding management and board.
Mark Streit
Co-founder
Swiss ice-hockey defenceman and Stanley Cup winner, part of Norqain's founding team and board.

主要な出来事

  1. 2018

    Founded in Nidau

    Ben Küffer establishes Norqain as an independent, family-owned watch company in Nidau, near Biel.

  2. 2019

    First collections launched

    Adventure Sport, Freedom 60 and Independence are shown to Swiss retailers in January and launched in North America at the NHL All-Star Game.

  3. 2020

    Kenissi partnership

    Norqain gains access to Kenissi, Tudor's movement maker, for the exclusive chronometer-certified NN20/1 and NN20/2 GMT calibres.

  4. 2022

    Wild One and NORTEQ

    Three months after Jean-Claude Biver joins as board adviser, the Wild One debuts with a case in NORTEQ carbon composite.

  5. 2024

    8K flyback chronograph

    The Independence Skeleton Chrono launches the 8K calibre, a chronometer-certified column-wheel flyback made with Manufacture AMT.

コレクターが知る3つのこと

A text at 06:15 on Good Friday

Küffer says Jean-Claude Biver first contacted him by text at 06:15 on Good Friday in 2020, during lockdown. Biver's brief for the Wild One was to make a watch that did not look like any existing one.

Colour runs all the way through

NORTEQ, the carbon composite used for Wild One cases, is dyed in the mass rather than coated, so the colour goes through the material. It was developed with Biwi, a maker of rubber and polymer watch components.

A plate for a personal message

Every Norqain has the Norqain Plate on the left side of the case, a small panel that owners can engrave with a name, date or message.

代表モデル

  • Adventure Sport2019

    One of the three launch collections: a steel sports watch with a patterned dial and the engravable Norqain Plate.

  • Freedom 602019

    Vintage-inspired design drawing on the 1960s; listed from CHF 1,790 in early 2020.

  • Wild One2022

    42 mm NORTEQ case with rubber bumpers, 200 m water resistance and the Kenissi NN20/1 calibre.

  • Independence Skeleton Chrono2024

    42 mm skeletonised flyback chronograph with the 8K calibre, column wheel and 62 hours of reserve.

よくある質問

Who owns Norqain?
Norqain is independent and family-owned. It was founded in 2018 by Ben Küffer, who is CEO; his father Marc Küffer chairs the board, and Ted Schneider and Mark Streit are co-founders.
Does Norqain make its own movements?
Norqain designs exclusive calibres but has them produced by partners: the NN20/1 and NN20/2 GMT by Kenissi, Tudor's movement maker, and the 8K flyback chronograph by Manufacture AMT. All three are chronometer-certified.
Where are Norqain watches made?
In Switzerland. The company is based in Nidau, near Biel, and its production is in Tavannes in the Bernese Jura.
What does the name Norqain mean?
According to Ben Küffer, NOR stands for the north and the Swiss mountains, and QAI for the brand's values: Quality, Adventure and Independence.

出典

  1. The New Independent Swiss Watch Brand Going Its Own Way – NORQAIN
  2. NORQAIN World – NORQAIN
  3. Introducing Norqain Watches and Partnership with Kenissi – Monochrome
  4. Lunch With: Norqain CEO Ben Küffer – Swisswatches Magazine
  5. Norqain Introduces Lightweight Carbon Sports Watch – SJX Watches
  6. Interview: Jean-Claude Biver and Ben Küffer on the Norqain Wild One – Monochrome
  7. Norqain Launches the Independence Skeleton Chrono with the New 8K Flyback Caliber – Worn & Wound