Like we promised in our previous article on Nordgreen's spring collection, we'll go more in-depth about one particular piece in their range: the Philosopher. We have tested Nordgreen's Philosopher watch for some time now and this is our review!
We'll start off by introducing you to the Nordgreen watch model that we'll be reviewing. We'll have a look at its design features, movement, the experience of wearing it, the price point, delivery times, as well as the giving back program of the Nordgreen Copenhagen watch brand. Needless to say, we have taken a lot of photos of the watch, to give you an idea of how it looks on the wrist, about the packaging, and overall shopping experience. Let's discover the Philosopher!
The Philosopher Watch by Nordgreen Copenhagen
The Nordgreen watch we'll be reviewing and that you can see in all of the photos in this article is the Philosopher watch, with a 40 mm rose-gold dial and navy blue leather strap.
There is a beautiful philosophy behind the watch's design, and we invite you to read more about it on the Nordgreen website, in order to understand the meaning of its every detail and interesting feature. Now let's dive into the specifics!
1. Minimalist, high-quality design
As you can probably tell from the photos, the Philosopher watch comes with a stunning minimalist design, impressive through its luxurious simplicity.
The leather strap of the watch is of very good quality. It's strong, it doesn't tear or wear out easily and you can tell that it's made to last. Moreover, Nordgreen offers the possibility to order multiple straps for your watch and change them depending on the occasion. Changing the straps is very intuitive since they come with a special clasp that allows you easily detach the strap from the watch and place it back or exchange it with another one.
This is a detail that we found useful and exciting: giving everyone the possibility to change their watch strap effortlessly and individually, whenever they prefer.
The dial. We have opted for the 40 mm, rose-gold dial for this watch model. You can personalize the size and color of the dial. They come in two size variations: 36 mm and 40 mm, as well as four color options: gold, silver, rose-gold, and gun-metal.
There's no question about how good-looking the Philosopher's dial is. Every detail plays its part in telling the story of the watch: the interesting display of the time indicators, the subtle date-display feature, the "asymmetric second hand that slices through time" as they say, as well as the little leaf detail on the crown of the watch, which speaks of Nordgreen's commitment of giving back to the world.
2. Movement, watch functions and price point
This Nordgreen watch comes with Japan quartz movement, with 3 ATM water resistance, date display, and a stainless steel case. We can argue that a price point of over $200 is quite high for a quartz movement, on a watch that does not come with any special functional features.
However, there are differentiation points that could partly justify this price valuation, such as the fact that the watch design is made in-house, by a renowned Danish designer, as opposed to it being outsourced like many other watch brands nowadays do. Nordgreen also donates a part of their earnings to three charity causes around the world.
By purchasing a Nordgreen watch, you get to support one of these three causes, through their Giving Back Program:
- Providing clean water to a resident in the Central African Republic for two months.
- Sponsoring the education of a student in India for two months.
- Restoring 200 square feet of the Amazon rainforest.
3. Packaging and buyer's experience
Another sustainable initiative of the Nordgreen Copenhagen brand is the fact that watches are shipped in sustainable packaging. As they mention on their website, the watch boxes come from responsibly managed forests, and the felt inside is formed using up-cycled plastic bottles. Overall, the unboxing experience is great, and tastefully designed to highlight the timepiece inside:
You will also find the papers of the watch inside the box, a 24-month warranty, as well as a little guide on how to select the cause you want to sponsor through your purchase on the Nordgreen website, by using the serial number of your watch.
In terms of shipping times, we ordered the watch in Germany, and it arrived the next day.
4. Wearing the watch
Versatile, luxurious-looking, Nordgreen's Philosopher watch can be worn with a variety of styles and colors, thanks to its minimalist design. The timepiece looks quite impressive on the wrist, and as we mentioned before, the high-quality strap makes an important difference.
The glass of the dial is resistant and does not appear to scratch easily, and thanks to its stainless steel, conical-shaped case, the watch has the necessary weight and the right form to sit on the wrist nicely.
One thing that we would improve about the way the Philosopher watch feels on the wrist is either the placement or the finish of the crown. The crown of the watch is placed very close to the wrist and it doesn't have a smooth finish, which can become unpleasant for the skin once you wear the watch for a long time.
This is our review of the beautiful Philosopher watch by Nordgreen Copenhagen. All in all, we've been very impressed by this timepiece and we would recommend the brand to anyone looking for a durable, versatile minimalist watch. From our perspective, the strongest qualities of the Nordgreen watch experience are the graceful Danish design, the effort to create a timepiece of higher quality than most of the brands competing in the minimalist watch market, as well as the sustainability factor.
What is your experience with Nordgreen watches?
Do you already own a Nordgreen watch? Let us know in the comments about your experience with the brand so far. If you don't have a Nordgreen watch already, but you'd like to know more about the brand and their designs, check out our article where we take you through their Spring watch collection.
We also invite you to read more about their story and brand values on their website.
Disclaimer
Nordgreen Copenhagen has gifted us the watch in this review. This is a review based on our experience with the product, we have not been paid to say any of these things.
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