The workshop
Nothing you don’t need
How Nord Time makes the Field Watch 38, one piece at a time, and why it takes longer than it has to.
Words by Lena Kraus · Photos by Jon Ash
Field Watch 38 is a watch for people who check the time, not their notifications. A 38 mm case, a sapphire crystal that shrugs off keys and coins, and a dial you can read at a glance in any light.
The workshop sits at the end of a gravel road, in a building that used to be a dairy. There is no sign on the door. Inside, it smells of wood oil and coffee, and the radio plays quietly while six people do one thing at a time, carefully.
Slow by design
Every piece is made in small batches. Materials are chosen by hand and left to rest before they are worked; parts are fitted, checked and fitted again. It is not the fastest way to make anything, and that is exactly the point.
We could make it faster. We just don’t want to.
Nord Time, founder
Look closely and you see the decisions: an edge rounded just enough to feel soft in the hand, a joint you can only find with your fingertips, a finish that will look better in ten years than it does today.
Built to stay
The green canvas strap softens after a week and becomes your own. Wind it, wear it, forget it: it simply keeps going.
When a piece leaves the workshop it carries a small card, signed by the person who finished it. It is a promise, really: that it was made to be used every day, and to be repaired rather than replaced.
