“Enjoy Life”: Norqain’s New Ice Cream-Themed Freedom 60 Chrono Reminds Us to Have Fun This Summer
A simple phrase and a beloved summer treat come together in the brand’s most classic collection to become a wrist-borne reminder to stop, look around, and enjoy life to the fullest.
By Cait Bazemore
Contributor
Each year, as warm weather approaches, we begin talking about the watches of summer. Oftentimes, these models are made from something super lightweight, like titanium or ceramic; or, they could be a diver; or perhaps, they feature an ultra-playful and colorful design. And while the start of the season is still a few weeks away, I think the official watch of summer has already arrived.
I dare you to find a model that embodies the spirit of summer more clearly than Norqain’s new Ice Cream Freedom 60 Chrono “Enjoy Life” Special Edition.
It Started with a Simple Idea: Enjoy Life
The story of Norqain’s newest addition to its classic Freedom 60 line begins one year ago. The brand’s founder and CEO, Ben Kuffer, a father of three, noticed himself watching his kids at play throughout the summer months. “You can learn a lot from kids – when you see them and how they move through the world,” Kuffer shares.
“You remember what it felt like before the struggles of paying rent, seeing wars, or understanding political problems. Kids really just enjoy life, and that idea inspired me.”
As Kuffer allowed his creative juices to tinker with this notion, he thought of the quintessential summer dessert. “When you have three kids, there is always ice cream in the house!” says Kuffer.
Soon, his vision was coming together, and he enlisted the help of Norqain’s Product Manager, Matteo Mercan, to bring his concept to life as the Freedom 60 Chrono “Enjoy Life” Special Edition.
“Matteo is such a talented product developer and designer,” describes Kuffer. “He joined our team just last year after working in the industry for a decade with groups like Movado and Swatch. He brought in this idea of the colors for the registers that look like scoops of strawberry, pistachio, and blueberry ice cream.”
These sub-dials were the most obvious place to employ this ice cream concept on the dial, but the color extends a step further to the tachymeter scale, giving the dial a beautiful balance – the vision was coming together. Flip the watch over, and the “enjoy life” motto and ice cream theme become even more literal with the Freedom 60 Chrono “Enjoy Life” Special Edition logo printed on the exhibition caseback, revealing the Norqain calibre N19 movement.
“Once I saw that design printed on the glass caseback with the ice cream cone, I felt this was missing from the front of the watch,” Kuffer confesses. “So, I put Matteo back to work!”
After a few more rounds of trial and error – placing an ice cream cone at a single index and other locations around the dial – Mercan came through with another *chef’s kiss* solution. “Putting the ice cream cone on the date wheel was brilliant,” explains Kuffer. “It fit perfectly with this idea of encouraging our community to enjoy life.”
One day each week, the ice cream cone appears in the aperture instead of the actual date, serving as that subtle reminder to stop, look around, and enjoy life to the fullest.
Ice Cream with a Cherry on Top
The new Freedom 60 Chrono “Enjoy Life” Special Edition made its official debut, fittingly, at an ice cream-themed pool party at the annual Couture show in Las Vegas, Nevada, but the celebration doesn’t end there.
Throughout the summer, the brand will host ice cream socials around the globe in its boutiques in Zürich and Zermatt, and with its retail partners across Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Germany, and the US.
“Watch events so often take place at night – alcohol is flowing – they are for adults, but with this watch, we wanted to create events for the whole family,” Kuffer explains. “This, for me, goes beyond the inspiration from my kids and the theme – it’s an opportunity to introduce young people to watches, to show them how watches can be fun,” he continues. “I hope that maybe one of the kids we hand out ice cream to this summer in 10 or 20 years from now will remember this moment and decide they want to start collecting watches.”
The Freedom 60 Chrono “Enjoy Life” Special Edition is just the first big launch that Norqain has planned for this summer. Later this season, the brand and one of its ambassadors will be launching a very special limited edition model that will be the cherry on top of Norqain’s summer festivities.
So, stay tuned – this is going to be another big release you don’t want to miss.
Pricing & Availability
Norqain’s 40mm Freedom 60 Chrono “Enjoy Life” Special Edition has officially joined the brand’s lineup. While it’s not a limited edition, production will be capped at 400 pieces this year. The model is priced at $5,190 for the stainless steel bracelet version and slightly less at $5,050 for the rubber strap variation. For more information, head over to Norqain’s website.