Norqain has unveiled the "Wild One Skeleton Chrono," the first model in the long-awaited "Wild One" collection. In addition, the concept model "Wild One Skeleton X-LITE Limited Edition" was also announced at the same time. Speaking about this new challenge, which marks the second stage of the company's development, is CEO Ben Kuffer, who is still young, born in 1988.
Photograph by Yu Mitamura
Hiroyuki Suzuki: Interview and text
Text by Hiroyuki Suzuki
Edited by Yukiya Suzuki (Chronos-Japan)
[Article published in the July 2026 issue of Kronos Japan]
The young challenger enters the second stage.
CEO of Norqain. Born in Switzerland in 1988. His father is Mark Kaffer, former owner of Robenta Henex and a member of the Swiss Watch Industry Board of Directors for over 20 years. In 2006, he joined Breitling and served as sales manager for Switzerland and Asia. After leaving Breitling in 2017, he founded Norqain in 2018 with the help of Ted Schneider, a member of the Breitling family, and others.
"When the first Wild One was completed in 2022, Jean-Claude Biver and I discussed what our next goals should be. One was to complete an in-house chronograph. The other was to reduce weight."
The first partner in developing the chronograph was AMT, Sellita's high-end movement manufacturing division. It is a two-counter restarting chronograph with a 30-minute counter and a small seconds subdial arranged vertically.
"For this model, it was also important to showcase the movement's design. The multi-layered bridge and the floating disc for the sub-dial were all made possible because of the open dial."
I had the chance to try out the actual device, and the feel of the pusher, including the flyback mechanism, was fantastic. It's soft yet precise.
"The person who was most particular about that point was Jean-Paul Girardin, who joined us as an advisor last year. He kept telling us to make it soft (laughs)."
Based on a robust yet lightweight Nortec resin case, it features a newly developed X-LITE casing ring. The yellow section is a rubber shock absorber, which is also extremely lightweight. Automatic movement (Cal. NBK26/1). 24 jewels. 28,800 vibrations/hour. Power reserve of approximately 65 hours. Nortec case (41mm diameter, 11.95mm thickness). 100m water resistance. Limited edition of 200 pieces worldwide. 1,980,000 yen (including tax).
The concept model X-LITE weighs just 45g. Inspired by the Swiss mountain range, which boasts peaks of over 4000m, it features a manufacture caliber that the company calls 4K, and achieves its lightweight design by using a new material, an evolution of Nortec, for the case interior.
"The CEO of BIWI, with whom we co-developed Nortec, is the same generation as me. So we have a lot in common. Our goal was to make it lighter while maintaining the Wild One design, but the quality-to-price ratio was also important. Just because it's ultra-lightweight doesn't mean we should make it unnecessarily expensive; that wouldn't be in line with a challenger brand."
The bezel and case sides incorporate rubber (HNBR) shock absorbers, which are also said to be lightweight. With a density of around 1.2, they can even float on water on their own. Incidentally, despite the main model of the new collection being so hardcore, Norqain this year decorated their booth in a pop, mountain lodge style. What could be the reason for this contrast?
"What we aim for is to be the ultimate mechanical brand, but at the same time, we also want to be a brand that fans love. We don't want to limit our customer base to only those who like Norqain right now, and we think it's important to take risks. We want to connect with people who have a youthful spirit."
