Tangente Neomatik Platinum Gray: NOMOS Glashütte to the Nth Degree

Who said that fine watchmaking exists only in Switzerland? There is a place in Germany where excellent watches are born, drawing on centuries-long experience, and which has attention to detail and the pursuit of perfection as two powerful inspiring principles. A place that was once part of East Germany, in Saxony, a few kilometers from Dresden and not far from the Czech border. The Glashütte valley.

In what is considered the cradle of high-end German watchmaking we can find manufactures with an ancient tradition, brought back to life in the early 90s after the fall of the Berlin Wall. They produce timepieces with classic shapes, made thanks to a mix of craftsmanship and modernity that makes them unique. Among these realities, NOMOS Glashütte stands out.

NOMOS GLASHÜTTE – BAUHAUS AND QUALITY

The brand stands out from other manufacturers in the valley and from most of the Swiss ones for an original approach to watches in which form follows function, according to the philosophy of the early 1900s functionalism and applying the lesson of the Bauhaus. An approach in which the design of the timepiece is central, guiding the entire production process.

The clean lines, the very few complications, the attractive design make the brand’s watches very appreciated by enthusiasts, and not only by them. What is hidden inside the cases is the other (beautiful) side of the brand. We’re talking about the movements – eleven calibers – that NOMOS Glashütte produces in house, according to a strict procedural guideline.

The name Glashütte can only be used if at least 50% of the value of a caliber is generated on site. NOMOS Glashütte’s production autonomy is around 95%. This means that the company has almost absolute control over the quality of its products.

On many of them it boasts patents including those for various mechanisms with a date window, one for displaying the date of the DUW 6101 caliber and one for the power reserve indicator. In addition, since 2014 NOMOS Glashütte has been mass-producing a proprietary escapement, the real heart of the watch. It’s called NOMOS Swing System, and it required seven years of research and development in collaboration with the University of Dresden. When it came out, it broke the almost absolute monopoly of Swiss manufacturing, making NOMOS Glashütte technologically independent. All watches are equipped with proprietary mechanical calibers, one manually wound, others automatic.

LOTS OF DESIGN, VERY LITTLE MARKETING

Founded in 1990, the company is still family-run, managed by the owners. Founder Roland Schwertner runs it together with partners Uwe Ahrendt, CEO, and Judith Borowski, Creative Director. NOMOS Glashütte has applied its design idea to timepieces from the earliest models, with a pure industrial approach to the product. In 1990, Schwertner settled in Glashütte to combine the town’s watchmaking tradition with modern design and manufacturing processes. He started producing watches in an apartment with 3 employees: today the company has 220.

Very little marketing, a lot of research and development, and the reinvestment of profits in the company ensure a constant focus on the watch and, more importantly for enthusiasts, a most interesting and competitive quality-price ratio in the haute horlogerie segment. A ratio that allows you to wear an excellent watch on your wrist by paying no unnecessary surcharges, but just for what the watch is: a design product, of high manufacturing, designed for the modern needs of timepieces lovers.

NOMOS Glashütte is a multi-center manufacturing, with its design heart in Berlin and the production and administration part in Glashütte. Berlinerblau, the NOMOS Glashütte design studio in Berlin, is housed in an austere DDR-style building and uses its spaces by exploiting their width and brightness: a large open space, a creative center in which designers brainstorm every day, sharing ideas and suggestions for sketching the lines of the collections. Pantones, mood boards, sketches and tests hanging on the walls, creativity at work even just to change a font or the design of a hand.

ATTENTION TO MECHANICS

The same philosophy can be found just over two hours away by car, at the NOMOS headquarters in Glashütte: the second center of the manufacture, which since 2005 has been established in the premises of the old railway station of the town. A location from which the brand has embarked on the second step of its history: that’s where the first in-house caliber was produced in 2005.

The mechanical parts of the watches are built in the production site in Schlottwitz, a stone’s throw from Glashütte, the third center of the manufacture. The large mechanical workshop of the brand is in Schlottwitz, where the lathes, milling, CNC and finishing departments are located.

The parts produced in Schlottwitz then return to Glashütte, in the fourth NOMOS center; the technical one, located in an ancient building, the Chronometrie, on the western flank of the valley. This is where the pre-assembly phases of the NOMOS Swing System, the assembly of the calibers and the watches are concentrated.

The NOMOS Glashütte collection has eleven collections of models in almost 80 variants: mechanical watches with steel cases which are positioned in the price range from 1000 to 4500 euros, with some more refined or golden models that have a higher cost. Today we are focusing on a very specific model: the Tangente neomatik 39 platinum gray.

TANGENTE NEOMATIK 39 PLATINUM GRAY: THE CALIBER

This is the latest addition to the Tangente collection and, as the name neomatik reminds us, it is powered by an in-house automatic caliber, the DUW 3001. We now start from the movement to depict this novelty of the Saxon brand.

As befits a NOMOS Glashütte watch, the DUW 3001 caliber is equipped with the proprietary NOMOS Swing System escapement and is only 3.2 mm thick. It beats at 21,600 alternations per hour and has a power reserve of up to 43 hours. In addition to being reliable and precise, it is also well finished, thanks to the Glashütte-style horizontal ribbing and perlage processing that decorate the three-quarter base plate and the bridges.

A process and a technique that the brand didn’t want to hide. The movement is visible through the sapphire crystal case back. Thanks to the very thin bezel ring, the view of the caliber is maximized. There is also a version of the watch with a steel case back, on which it is possible to engrave a personalized inscription of up to 88 characters.

PURE NOMOS NOMOS GLASHÜTTE-STYLE DESIGN

The Tangente neomatik 39 platinum gray has a well proportioned 39 mm polished steel case (there is also a 35 mm version). The extremely thin bezel enhances the view of the dial, in accordance with the NOMOS Glashütte tradition. The even numbers, in the classic typographic font of the brand, alternate with the baton indexes, which recall the thin hour and minute hands.

There is no date window, but a small seconds counter at 6 o’clock finely decorated with concentric finishes. A decoration in contrast with the dial which is plated with rhodium, a rare metal found in platinum minerals. The plating gives the dial a slightly grained finish that makes it very elegant. At 12 o’clock, under the NOMOS Glashütte logo, the writing “neomatik” in gold lettering stands out.

An essential watch, clean but well finished, which combines the rationality of the shape with an excellent fit. The case is less than 7 mm thick (6.7 mm in the reference with steel case back, 6.9 in the one with sapphire crystal), the lugs are short and curved, and the black cordovan strap with pin buckle is very soft.

ATTENTION TO THE PRICE

So, what is there to add about a watch that needs neither additions nor subtractions? The price. Also in this case, as per the NOMOS Glashütte tradition, the price is very interesting for the technical and aesthetic value of the watch: 2,440 euros for the version with steel back and cordovan strap, 2,740 euros for the sapphire crystal case back one.

The same references with a metal bracelet are sold at the same price as those with the strap. A further indication of how much the satisfaction of the enthusiast and the centrality of the product come before any marketing logic in the vision of the brand. This too is an important building block in NOMOS Glashütte’s commercial success.

By Davide Passoni