orqain’s journey continues with the Wild One Tortour Limited Edition, a special timepiece created to coincide with the company’s new role as official timekeeper of Tortour, the world’s largest multi-day non-stop ultracycling event. There will be just 15 examples of the ultra-robust and ultra-light watch, each with a red dot at the 3 o’clock, or 15-minute position, to celebrate the 15th edition of the event. The Tortour 500 will also be this year’s Norqainer Challenge.

Tortour is one of the most demanding physical challenges in the world. For elite solo participants and teams, the brief is to ride 1’000km non-stop, day-and-night through Switzerland, up winding mountain roads and over rough terrain. The first riders set off from the start/finish line in Küsnacht on the banks of Lake Zurich early in the evening of 17 August and are unlikely to finish until two days later. This is a race that pushes riders to their limits.

This year, Norqain will serve proudly as Tortour’s Official Timekeeper. Norqain is a challenger brand, always pushing the limits and always innovating in line with its philosophy: my life, my way. To celebrate the collaboration, Norqain is introducing the Wild One Tortour Limited Edition, a 15-piece reference that continues the innovation story of the Wild One – the ultimate high performance sports watch.

The ultra-robust and ultra-light Wild One is defined by its revolutionary case design consisting of 25 parts. This limited edition features a black Norteq cage and a visible white rubber shock absorber that surrounds the titanium container housing the movement. Despite its complex construction, the Wild One weighs just 84 grams and has been-tested to 5’000g, making it resistant to the sort of impacts a rider might experience on a bumpy road or during a heavy fall.

The high-concept dial is a symbol of this complexity. It features a three-level laser-cut mandala-like pattern that adds to the watch’s multi-dimensional form. Both the dial and the skeletonised indexes are detailed with high-grade white X1 Super-LumiNova^®. The red dot at the 15-minute position is lumed too to honour the 15th edition of the Tortour.

The watch is powered by the manufacture calibre NN20/1 by Kenissi, a chronometer-certified Swiss made automatic mechanical movement boasting a 70-hour power reserve. The movement is visible through a sapphire crystal case back decorated with the red Tortour logo and the words “Limited Edition One of 15”.

The watch is water-resistant to 200 metres, confirming its sports watch credentials and comes with a choice of two integrated animal cruelty-free rubber straps with a “Milanese” pattern finish, one in all-black and a second in white with a black trim.

As with previous examples of the Wild One, the watch is finished with the Norteq Norqain Plate, left blank for owners to engrave as they choose. Perhaps the date of the race or the finishing time, to make it the perfect memento for a Tortour participant or fan.

Norteq is an innovative, highly shock-resistant carbon-fibre material that was created exclusively for Norqain and its watches in a close collaboration between Norqain, Jean-Claude Biver and BIWI SA. As well as being six times lighter than steel and three-and-a-half times lighter than titanium, it can also be colourised, giving Norqain’s designers the freedom to create and innovate. This carbon-fibre composite is made of carbon fibre, which is commonly used in the aerospace industry, and a high-performance polymer matrix containing 60 percent bio-sourced material (castor oil). Norqain is the first watch brand to offer a mass-dyed carbon fibre composite case allowing a variety of colours in addition to the standard black carbon look.

Earlier this summer, Norqain announced the Norqainer Challenge 2023, inviting its community to enter a competition to win a fully funded place on the Tortour 500 Challenge, a 500km version of the ultracycling event, and to represent the Norqain Cycling Team. A team of six international cyclists has now been chosen. This is the fifth Norqainer Challenge, and follows events such as the TCS New York Marathon last year and the Matterhorn climb of 2019, when the Norqainer team scaled Switzerland’s iconic peak.

The Norqain Wild One Tortour Limited Edition is priced at CHF 5’250 and is available now.