ReviewAll That Glitters: Nomos Introduce A New Edition Of Their Dress Watch, The Tangente Neomatik Blue Gold
With Nomos’s instantly-recognisable minimalism, the Glashütte-based watchmaker release their first offering of 2023, the Tangente Neomatik—blue gold, a dress watch with a shimmering deep blue dial
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Unapologetically minimalistic with their designs, Glashütte-based watchmaker Nomos have a very targeted approach to their craft, one that has served them well since 1990. Tangente, Nomos’s most successful collection, has undergone many a transformation in the 32 years since it was first introduced, and each new model has been as popular as the last. Today, the Tangente collection is instantly identifiable by its flat profile with bent lugs, iconic alternating numerals and markers, and crisp, clean dial. After last year’s über-successful ‘platinum’ edition—which had a platinum-coloured dial—the brand’s first offering for 2023 is the Tangente Neomatik blue gold, a dress watch with a shimmering deep blue dial.
Iridescent Blue Gold Minimalism For A Formal Setting
Not that the other Tangente models can’t function as dress watches—the versatility of the minimalistic design ensures that the timepiece fits right in, whether in a boardroom, running errands, or at a formal event. Having said that, the new blue gold timepiece has a sunburst polishing on the dial which is gold-plated before being galvanised, giving the dial a majestic sheen, and making the Tangente Neomatik blue gold dressier than other models.
Heavily influenced by the Bauhaus school of design, which essentially emphasises minimal form and maximum function, Nomos’s designs reflect an elusive—yet, somehow, obvious—simplicity that few other watchmakers can boast of.
Much like its predecessors, this rich blue gold version is also set in a flat, coin-like case, with a barely-there flat bezel, and bent lugs for greater ergonomic comfort. Elongated, silver indexes, alternating with Nomos’s recognisable Arabic numerals, and rhodium-plated hands perfectly balance the blue of the dial. Also in blue gold, Nomos’s quintessential small seconds in a concentric circular-grained sub-dial sits at six o’clock, with a rhodium-plated hand.
Similarly, while the brand logo stands out in silver, the word ‘Neomatik’ shines through in gold, to highlight the movement that powers this timepiece. Cosmetic changes to the Tangente over the years have been striking—yet, minimal—but it is the movement inside that has seen the most drama in three decades.
Made With Pride For Their German Heritage
The brand was born in Glashütte, a small German town with a rich 176-year watchmaking history that was interrupted by World War II. Nomos’s idea was to put Germany on the map of the Swiss-dominated horological world, but, technically, they could only add their ‘made in Germany’ tag if more than half the watch’s components were produced in Glashütte. This was easier said than done, given that most mechanical watch components are manufactured in Switzerland.
The brand started with using Swiss movements, but after having changed too much of a third-party calibre, they were asked not to use the manufacturer’s name. This inspired them to tinker with, and change even more of the calibre, and in 2014, they created a new escapement called their ‘swing system’, 95 percent of which was produced in-house, in Glashütte—and finally, Nomos had their coveted ‘made in Germany’ label.
Tiny Heart With A Massive Complication
Today, their calibres made in-house are extremely thin and feature their proprietary swing system, with enhanced precision, which, according to Nomos, ‘is now at 94.2 percent—an achievement that experts find almost unbelievable, because it means that friction loss is down to 5.8 percent. This makes the calibre extraordinarily efficient as well; 20 percent is typical’. Naturally, the brand’s pride in having achieved their place in the world of mechanical timekeeping, is almost palpable. ‘And, of course, there are many typical characteristics from Glashütte in this movement, which denote its rich heritage: the three-quarter plate, ribbed polishing, tempered blue screws, and so on.’
Available in two sizes—35mm and 38.5mm—with a steel back or sapphire crystal display caseback, each version of the blue gold timepiece is powered by the in-house automatic calibre DUW-3001, sized at 28.8mm in width and 3.2mm in thickness. Incidentally, the word ‘Neomatik’ in gold, which essentially translates to ‘new automatic’, a distinction that puts the spotlight on Nomos’s calibres (as opposed to the Swiss movements they used earlier).
While the smaller blue gold timepiece offers a water resistance of 30m, the larger is resistant to 50m, and both have a power reserve of 43 hours. The leather straps these timepieces are delivered in are from horsehide—Chicago’s Horween Genuine Shell Cordovan remborde, which ‘only gets more beautiful the more you wear it’. That’s pretty much like the Nomos Tangente minimalism—which becomes more gorgeous with every time you look at it.
