ReviewRevisiting The Icons With The Nomos Neomatik Update Series

Slowly and steadily, Nomos Glashütte has been revolutionising their watchmaking prowess and sending shockwaves through the industry. Nomos takes pride in its in-house manufactured escapements that certainly ruffles the feathers of many competitors. Manufacturing the calibre—the heart of the mechanical watch—proves the watchmaker to be a technical sensation in the world of fine watchmaking. The brand’s first four models were developed within four years after extensive research, but their biggest breakthrough came in 2005 when Nomos developed their first in-house calibre: Epsilon. For the watchmaker, this automatic calibre marked the beginning of a new era, metamorphosed it into a calibre producer and firmly established it as a serious competitor in the watch world.

The Epsilon was the brand’s first major and almost complete in-house manufactured movement, introduced in the Tangomat. Today, they have 11 in-house calibres powering all their watches and all have achieved chronometer level accuracy. As Judith Borowski, chief branding officer, Nomos Glashütte, shares, “We have got 11 calibres, all made by ourselves. To have 11 calibres is something special, and we don’t buy anything, which I think is exceptional. I don’t know many Swiss brands that are doing that—maybe the very expensive ones, but not the other brands. They may have a calibre or two, while they source the rest.”

The Game-Changing Calibre

As is typical at Nomos, traditions undergo a modern twist. This year, the distinctive brand introduced a highly innovative and technologically sophisticated calibre: the Neomatik Date (DUW 6101). DUW stands for Nomos’ complete name i.e. Nomos Glashütte Deutsche Uhrenwerke (meaning ‘German clockworks’). Exemplifying outstanding mechanics, this Nomos automatic calibre Neomatik Date is extremely thin despite being 3.6mm in height.

Reimagining their iconic collections—Tangente, Orion, and Ludwig—the watchmaker has infused this new calibre along with a tailor-made date design for all three. Distinctive in appearance, this mechanism can also be easily set both forwards and backwards. This allows the wearer to obtain a smart view of the entire month. Measuring 40.5mm in diameter, all three watches have considerably grown and yet remained slender. Imparting a novel and completely out-of-the-box style, the date design has been aesthetically placed on the edge of the dial—a unique feat for timepieces with a diameter larger than 40mm.

A closer look at the movement of the new Updates reveals that the Neomatik Date calibre is richly equipped and luxuriously decorated with the embossed and gold-plated engraving on the rotor. In 2015, Nomos Glashütte had introduced DUW 3001, the first Neomatik calibre, which had been a sensation in every sense of the word, as it enabled the production of impressively slender automatic watches. With a successor like the DUW 6101, the watchmaking standards at Nomos attained newer heights and set a new benchmark for date watches.

The Nomos Trifecta

Tangente has been a continuous bestseller for more than two decades. The epitome of the Nomos brand, this prizewinning classic underwent a makeover this year. With the update running gloriously around the clock, the Tangente’s circular date ring features two red dots, which frame the current date and underline Tangente’s design-orientated character. “The date simply shows what this calibre can do,” affirms Nomos designer Michael Paul, who gave Tangente its update.

Known for its understated glamour, the Orion Neomatik embraces a generously proportioned date at three o’clock—balanced, classic and with a highly appealing typography. Orion, the most reserved of the Nomos watches, gets an extra dash of refined elegance and luxury with this update.

Ludwig, the most popular Nomos watches, are now a tick larger with the addition of the Neomatik Date calibre. Making things as convenient as can be, the date window is positioned at four o’clock, elegantly integrated as the one Arabic number among the otherwise Roman numerals in the large dial of this traditionalist series.

Over the years, Nomos Glashütte has been conjuring miracle movements that tirelessly power their timepieces. Originally acknowledged for outstanding hand-wound movements, the one-of-a-kind watchmaking company is now excelling at automatic calibres, which are just as precise and some even just as thin. Ensuring high precision with pathbreaking innovations, the engineers at Nomos strive to challenge the status quo and emerge as an exceptional watchmaker.