Athletics Outfielder Wears Norqain Wild One Skeleton in an MLB Game
WatchPro reported on 25 August 2026 that Athletics outfielder Lawrence Butler took the field on Friday night wearing a Norqain Wild ONE Skeleton Gecko, the first known instance of a Major League Baseball player wearing a mechanical watch during an official game. The Swiss independent sports watch will be auctioned by MLB for charity. Retail is $6,790.
Why this watch was the vehicle
The Wild ONE Skeleton weighs 78 grams. The case is NORTEQ, Norqain’s carbon fibre, described as six times lighter than steel and 3.5 times lighter than titanium. A rubber shock absorber sits around the movement. The brand states shock testing to 5,000g. Those figures are marketing claims aimed at contact sports; baseball adds bat vibration, dives, and collisions that a dress automatic is not specified for.
The model launched at Watches and Wonders Geneva in 2024. Stan Wawrinka has worn related Wild ONE pieces at Wimbledon. Norqain’s athlete list also includes Sidney Crosby and Gianluigi Buffon. Butler is a known collector; the game-worn piece is now a charity lot rather than a personal keeper.
- Player: Lawrence Butler, Athletics outfielder
- Watch: Norqain Wild ONE Skeleton Gecko
- Mass: 78 grams
- Case: NORTEQ carbon fibre
- Shock claim: up to 5,000g, rubber absorber
- Retail: $6,790
- Next step: MLB charity auction of the game-worn example
- Launch: Watches and Wonders 2024
League rules on jewellery and equipment are not restated in the WatchPro piece. The news value is the “first known” mechanical on-field wear, not a rule change. Quartz and smartwatches have appeared in other sports; a running mechanical with an open-worked dial is a different risk profile for shock and magnetics.
Sports watches and aftermarket tool builds
Carbon cases and rubber shock mounts are factory answers to mass and impact. Hobbyists building dive or field watches from Seiko-compatible parts usually stay with steel and a standard NH automatic, then manage shock by avoiding hard knocks rather than a 5,000g spec. A starter toolkit is still the barrier to assembling a tool watch; it will not make a steel 42mm case weigh 78 grams.
Open-worked sports dials also force a lume and legibility trade. Butler’s Gecko skeleton is a brand colourway, not a night-diving instrument. Builders who want glow on a closed dial use a different recipe; a lume upgrade path is how aftermarket hands and indices are specified when the movement is an NH35 rather than a shock-mounted manufacture calibre.
Independent brands have spent years putting watches on tennis, hockey, and football ambassadors. Baseball’s on-field mechanical is rarer because of impact and uniform codes. Norqain now has a dated, televised moment and a charity serial to sell. That is the commercial remainder after the “first known” headline.
FAQ
Was this a quartz or a smartwatch? No. Coverage describes a mechanical Norqain Wild ONE Skeleton, a Swiss sports watch with an open-worked dial and carbon case.
What happens to the watch now? MLB will auction the game-worn example for charity. List price of the model is $6,790; the hammer will include provenance from the Friday night game.
Is 5,000g a baseball-specific rating? It is Norqain’s stated shock test for the Wild ONE platform. WatchPro treated it as relevant to high-impact play, not as a league certification.