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SpotlightA Visit To The German Mecca Of Watchmaking: The Nomos Glashütte Factory

We, at ‘The Watch Guide’ are among the fortunate few to have had the opportunity to visit the Nomos factory in Glashütte, and explore the A-to-Z of the fun, bold, and technically superior German watches from Nomos Glashütte

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Nestled in the picturesque Free State of Saxony in Germany, Glashütte, is home to the state-of- the art Nomos factory. A German watch brand that would be considered a newcomer, compared with a myriad of watch brands that have celebrated a century or more in the business, Nomos has ruffled quite a few feathers in the watch world since its inception, for all the right reasons. Nomos Glashütte made an entry into the luxury segment of watches, two months after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1990. The brand first came under the spotlight, when it made a path-breaking debut with a fresh-faced collection designed by Susanne Günther, reflecting the Bauhaus purist style. Though the brand is already over 25 years old, it has freshness sculpted all over it, be it the designs or its glorious movements.

The Nomos Glashütte factory is nestled in the picturesque town of  Glashütte and was founded by Roland Schwertner in 1990. Standing firmly on the sloping hills of Glashütte, with a red, slanting roof, one thing that gave away the fount of knowledge that was housed inside was ‘chronometrie’ etched on the side of the building.

The brand has received accolades from the watch world for its continuous endeavour to apply the newest technology and produce the best movements. Amidst its journey of innovation, the consistency of the brand has remained relentlessly the same, which is praiseworthy. Nomos is one brand that is so obsessed with perfection and has such a knack for detail that there is not a single component that would irk the watch beholder.

Nomos has constantly stepped up its technological performance because of which it has received accolades from the watch world for its continuous endeavour to apply the newest technology and produce the best movements.

When It All Started For Nomos

Started in a rented flat by founder, Roland Schwertner, a former computer expert from Düsseldorf, with the intention to make Nomos an all-German watch producing company. But that’s not how Nomos watches entered the market. In fact, the brand banked on ETA and Peseux movements sourced from Switzerland. This made the complete concept of ‘in-house’ questionable, as the Alpha movement in the first Tangente collection is altered in Glashütte but is still based on the Swiss Pesuex movement. Nomos decided to change the tide, and make progress with going ‘in-house’ without losing out on its USP: affordable watches with exemplary quality and we were taken through the complete journey and where the brand stands now.

Nomos’ largest stand-alone boutique is a charming structure located in Glashütte, but the brand had a rather modest start. Started in a rented flat by Schwertner, the intention was to make Nomos an all-German watch producing company.

First Impressions: A Walk Down Nomos’ Hallway Of Innovation

As we approached the pristine white building standing firmly on the sloping hills of Glashütte, with a red, slanting roof, one thing that gave away the fount of knowledge that was housed inside was ‘chronometrie’ etched on the side of the building.

Nomos believes that ‘If you wear a watch, you look at it 30 times a day, or more’, as they strive to ‘ensure that even the 300,000th glance at your wrist brings you joy’. This Is what Nomos abides by. As we made our way into the component assembly building, we were first greeted by the professional watchmakers clad in lab coats. That instantly added credibility to the preconceived notions we had about Nomos, of the brand’s potential courtesy its fairly new inception.  This unit comprises a team of 200 dexterous watchmakers who work out of no particular workstation, but rather a spread out workspace that gives the liberty for creativity.

A dexterous team of 200 watchmakers work at the Glashütte factory. As we made our way into the component assembly building, we were first greeted by the professional watchmakers clad in lab coats.

As we walked through the passageways, we were first introduced to the highly acclaimed Alpha movement. Nomos’ numero uno movement, the Alpha is regarded as being robust, accurate and reliable. It ticks inside the Tangente, Ludwig, Tetra, Orion, Club, and all the watches in the 33 series of the brand. As a yardstick to measure the precision and convoluted Nomos movement, even their basic Alpha calibre has 120 components, which can go up to 170 components, as the ‘useful’ complications add up.

We got a peek into the laborious process that translates into clean lines, well-built lugs, vibrant dials, stable cases and fun fonts, which are developed in Berlin

The Breakthrough Year: 2005

The year 2005 really established Nomos as a serious competitor in the watch world as it introduced the Epsilon. It was their first major and almost complete in-house manufactured movement, introduced in the ‘big brother’ of the Tangente, the Tangomat.

The year 2005 really established Nomos as a serious competitor in the watch world as it introduced the Epsilon. It was their first major in-house manufactured movement, introduced in the Tangomat.

Nomos’ Independence Day: The Path-Breaking Innovation, The DUW 3001

The other movement shown to us in comparison to the Alpha movement was the DUW 3001, which was at the centre of our visit to Nomos Glashütte. DUW is not a random abbreviation; it stands for Nomos’ complete name i.e. NOMOS Glashütte Deutsche Uhrenwerke (meaning ‘German clockworks’).  The journey of the automatic calibre DUW 3001 is a well-researched, developed and executed one. The development of the movement did not commence yesterday, but in fact took three years to develop which excludes the seven years that were invested into R&D for the NOMOS “Swing System” , this exemplifies Nomos’ technical prowess. The highly precise movement is extremely flat and measures just 3.2mm, which is a tremendous accomplishment on part of a small independent watchmaking company.

The Path-Breaking Innovation, The DUW 3001 was at the centre of our visit to Nomos Glashütte.  The highly precise movement is extremely flat and measures just 3.2mm, which is a tremendous accomplishment on part of a small independent watchmaking company.

The comparison and differences between the Aplha calibre and DUW 3001 and the impact it made to the overall archetype of the watch left us pleasingly baffled. The watchmaker at Nomos, ran us through every step of the compilation of the old vs the new calibres. The new movement assembly is a crisp and short process, which makes it less susceptible to error. A three-step process, as compared to five, achieves the perfect movement. The gear train is mounted on the base plate, followed by the three-quarter-plate construction, automatic mechanism, and then finally the rotor.

With the execution of DUW 3001 in the latest Neomatik At Work series, Nomos now has a complete in-house movement from its own gear-cutting process and gear train.

With the execution of DUW 3001 in the latest Neomatik At Work series, Nomos now has a complete in-house movement from its own gear-cutting process and gear train. Nomos’ constant endeavour to make all watch components in-house as far as possible, led to even minute details, such as the cutting of the tooth, being worked upon in the Glasshute factory. Despite all of this, the company has achieved the impossible – keeping the watches affordable. Their new watches in the Tangente, Orion, Ludwig, Metro, and Minimatik collection range from just ₹201,600 to ₹237,600. But the seven-year-long research and three-year-long development came at a cost of €15 million.

A Movement Comes Alive: The Swing System

‘In 2014, Nomos Glashütte celebrated its independence day, with the NOMOS swing system’, their in-house manufactured escapement ‘that sent shockwaves through the industry’. This reflects the degree to which Nomos takes pride in its tiny system, which is lighter than a feather, but certainly ruffled the feathers of many competitors, as it proved to be a technical sensation. An experience you can’t have on the internet or through books, every complicated step to assemble the swing system was broken down for us, starting from the ornate balance wheel, which keeps the watch running. This was followed by the tiniest parts like the minute escapement wheel and the barely spottable escapement pin, which is 0.1mm at the ends and yet puts up a gigantic performance.

‘In 2014, Nomos Glashütte celebrated its independence day, with the NOMOS swing system’. Every complicated step to assemble the swing system was broken down for us, starting from the ornate balance wheel, which keeps the watch running, to the minute 0.1mm escapement pin

Nomos partnered with the Technical University of Dresden to pursue the development of the heart of its watches – the escapement and swing system. It isn’t easy to develop your very own watch mechanism, but it’s altogether a different ballgame when you put together a gamut of components with such minute dimensions. We were left awestruck the moment the balance wheel was put in the movement, as the watch sprung to life. With the magnificent swing system, Nomos is one of the very few watch companies who can boast of their own in-house escapement. How much it meant for Nomos is best put in words by the Nomos CEO, Uwe Ahrendt, “Managing to do this feels a little like landing on the moon.” The development of the swing system is very closely guarded. It was even worthy of Apple’s interest, as the Californa-based tech giant kept a watchful eye on the progress, to try and understand the development of such a minute mechanism.

The watch mechanism is reviewed on a high-speed camera to ensure there is not even an iota of miscalculation in the function. Trivia: All it takes is three and a half minutes to manufacture one single balance wheel.

We were exposed to the process wherein the watch mechanism is reviewed on a high-speed camera to ensure there is not even an iota of miscalculation in the function. Such high levels of dexterity are put in place to avoid human error. As per the watchmakers at Nomos, the insights crunched from the high-speed camera review varied from their estimate, which is all the more a reason for such inspections. The boon of producing an in-house movement is being able to keep both the quality and quantity in check. Another supreme advantage is the ability to adjust the escapement, depending on the movement’s requirement.

From Concept To Conclusion

Nomos delivers precision, aesthetics, and performance time and again, all at unbelievable prices. How? The professional watchmakers at Nomos gave us a peek into the laborious process that translates into clean lines, well-built lugs, vibrant dials, stable cases and fun fonts, which are developed in Berlin. But we figured out how the intricate watches can be strapped on the wrist without burning a hole in one’s wallet.

Nomos delivers precision, aesthetics, and performance time and again, all at unbelievable prices. Their new watches in the Tangente, Orion, Ludwig, Metro, and Minimatik collection range from just ₹201,600 to ₹237,600.

In the production unit, we saw, that each brass base plate has 63 different layers drilled onto it and the eye for detail plays a crucial part. The factory also has two extensive processing centres with newer machinery providing more flexibility to the watchmakers to make changes in the parts during execution. The base trays in modern machinery have a chip with information of the watch, picked up by the machine that is intelligent enough to alter itself for every calibre.

A section is dedicated solely to the production of 150 smaller parts, such as the screws, pins, and wheels, made out of brass as well as steel. The boon of producing an in-house movement is being able to keep both the quality and quantity in check.

The factory has a sprawling section away from the base plate and quality check space, which is dedicated solely to the production of 150 smaller parts, such as the screws, pins, and wheels, made out of brass as well as steel. The brass and steel are stored within the facility and the machines use up to 13 different tools to produce all the different watch parts.

Interesting trivia: All it takes is three and a half minutes to manufacture one single balance wheel.

In short, avant-garde machines allow Nomos to produce several units of the same calibre movement, at once. Then to reduce cost, the plates are manually polished and professionals also work on other fronts where excellence can be achieved manually. The German watchmaking company also receives investment from the German government and builds itself on the concept that propagates ‘luxury’ watches at a low cost, which sends their haute horlogerie Swiss counterparts looking for cover.

The new movement assembly is a crisp and short three-step process. The gear train is mounted on the base plate (seen stacked here) followed by the three-quarter-plate construction, automatic mechanism, and then finally the rotor.

The Walk Of Fame

The enlightening visit ended with a walk through ‘Nomos’ wall of fame’, a stretch truly decorated with all the well-deserved and existing top awards won by Nomos. Since they could not pack in all their awards, they have used an innovative style to showcase their performance, using ‘tally bars’ to pronounce their victories. This includes their 2017 win in the ‘Luxury’ category of the ‘Industry Excellence in Brand’, at the German Design Awards, for the Minimatik; the Lambda Weißgold, ‘Gold’ category win in 2016 for the Metro collection of 2015.

Our visit ended with a walk through ‘Nomos’ wall of fame’. Nomos has used an innovative style to showcase their performance, using ‘tally bars’ to pronounce their victories. This includes their 2017 win in the ‘Luxury’ category of the ‘Industry Excellence in Brand’  at the German Design Awards, for the Minimatik.

Discover the complete Nomos Glashutte collection at Ethos Watch Boutiques.

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