Why it belongs in ORBIS
Copenhagen watch brand founded in 2017; every collection is designed by Jakob Wagner, whose work for Bang & Olufsen and HAY has also entered MoMA's permanent design collection since 2006.
Nordgreen was founded in Copenhagen in 2017 by two Danish entrepreneurs aiming to build a watch brand around Scandinavian minimalist design. Rather than design in-house, the founders commissioned Copenhagen-based industrial designer Jakob Wagner, whose three-decade career includes work for Bang & Olufsen, HAY, Alessi, Cappellini, Stelton, and Muuto; Wagner is a five-time recipient of the iF Product Design Award, and a piece of his design work has been in the Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection in New York since 2006. Wagner designed Nordgreen's core lines, including the Native collection, aiming for watches that read as classic rather than trend-driven, in cases running from 28mm to 40mm and finishes spanning silver, gold, rose gold, gunmetal, and black. The brand states it has sold more than 300,000 watches, and pairs its design positioning with a stated giving program tied to purchases. Assembly draws on components sourced from both China and Denmark.