Nordgreen Philosopher Watch Review

I was sent the watch of my choice by Nordgreen for review. As ever, all thoughts are my own. 

Some people use watches practically, for telling the time and not being late. Some people own watches because they are beautiful to look at.

I am not ashamed to admit that I am the latter – I’m a bit of a magpie, I like shiny and pretty and the wrist is the perfect place to store such an item for frequent admiration.

I had recently seen Nordgreen watches across social media so when they contacted me asking if I would like to choose one of their watches I bit their hand off.

Who are Nordgreen?

Danish Duo Pascar and Vasilij had the desire to create high quality, beautifully designed, affordable watches while maintaining the ideal of a sustainable, honest company which put others first. A VERY successful Kickstarter (605% funded within 48 hours) followed and Nordgreen was born. Nord represents the Nordic identity and Green emphasises the sustainability that is so important to the duo – I like a name with meaning.
They live up to their name too – as well as using sustainable manufacturers and recycled and recyclable packaging, all customers automatically become part of the Giving Back Programme at no extra cost.

Nordgreen Design

The Danish lifestyle is all about removing the complexities of modern living and appreciating the little things – about having less and enjoying more.

It is this that the founders wanted to incorporate into their watch designs and so they teamed up with highly regarded Scandinavian designer Jakob Wagner to create their functional, simple, minimal and stylish time telling dreams, and between them all they’ve done a great job.

Nordgreen Philosopher Watch

Nordgreen offers three simple designs in the women’s range – Native, Infinity and Philosopher. After finally filtering down to women’s rose gold watches I eventually chose the 40mm Philosopher in rose gold. Growing up in the 90s rose gold was always a bit ‘blingy’ – as you would expect with a brand focussing on minimalist design, that isn’t the case with Nordgreen.

The Philosopher watch is available in four colours – silver, gold, gun metal and rose gold. The straps are available in mesh, nylon, leather and vegan leather. Nordgreen also offer strap bundles so you can change your strap to suit your style whenever the mood takes you.

The Philosopher’s elegant, white face with the indices matching the colour of the outer case (in this instance rose gold), create a pleasant contrast, and the conical shape of the case makes it just a little different. The Philosopher design also has a small, unobtrusive date window in the dial which, paired with the fact that the crown is shaped like an actual crown, is something that pleases me greatly. A closer look at the second hand and you notice that it’s created to look like a blade designed to “slice through time” – simple design is far from simple it seems. Although I chose the biggest face size it isn’t clumsy, ostentatious or over the top. It’s also not too heavy, just heavy enough to remind you that it’s there and you should probably look at it again.

Nordgreen Philosopher Watch Verdict

The Philosopher watch really is a thing of beauty – stylish, modern, minimal and timeless (though obviously it keeps time perfectly).  When I first got the watch I was going to keep it for special occasions but I am so enamoured with it I have declared every day a special occasion. It really is a lovely piece of design and I’m glad it’s mine.

What I really enjoy about Nordgreen is their adamance to stick to their original vision of teaming clean, Danish design with the Scandinavian values of generosity and social responsibility. As mentioned above, as a customer of Nordgreen you instantly become part of the Giving Back Programme – choosing whether you want part of your purchase to go toward providing clean water in Africa, education to a child in India or preserving rainforest in Latin America.

This is a company giving me all the feels.