Nomos Club

[tribe125]

At long last I have a Club. It’s been eleven years since I first fancied having one.



Nomos

I like Nomos, and on top of that, I’d say it was the emblematic watch company of our times. Starting from scratch in 1990, the brand had definition from day one, and steady growth has made it Germany’s largest manufacturer of mechanical watches. A different mark of its success might be that Nomos is Philippe Dufour’s recommendation for a relatively affordable watch. Plus, if you do a tour of the Lange & Söhne manufactory, the watch you'll see most often on the wrists of the technicians is a Nomos (maybe no surprise with the Nomos shop a one-minute walk away - in the building where Ferdinand Adolph Lange started his business). Nomos is a good thing, a continuing breath of fresh air, and its ‘no fuss’ approach can make more established companies look like yesterday’s thing.

Not wanting more than a handful of watches has had the effect of narrowing my focus to brands with a clear identity, and that has led to a preference for independent companies. Rolex sorts me out at the upper end and Nomos feels like home in the sensible sector. Rolex and Nomos are strikingly different, but for me they’re complementary. One an Establishment monolith, the other a youthful interloper. One old Europe and Swiss, the other new Europe and German. Both twentieth century in origin, but from opposite ends of the century. Both distinctive, and with the sharp-edged identity of independent companies. It’s a kind of counterpoint.

I have the two Rolexes that I most wanted, but my one purchase of a Nomos didn’t work out. In retrospect, I bought the wrong Nomos. I had been intending to buy a Club, but switched to the Orion at the eleventh hour. The blue-gold version seemed like the archetypal Nomos but I found it too low-key. The Anthrazit version might suit me better, but for now I've done the obvious thing and bought the Club.








The Club

It’s like a schoolroom clock from Planet Cool (sophisticated pupils don’t need all the numbers). The Club was the first watch to come out of Nomos after the initial ‘Bauhaus’ four (Orion, Tangente, Ludwig and Tetra). It’s Modernism with an open and friendly face, and it’s Nomos doing everyday informality rather than more formal refinement. A simple, traditional watch with flair.

Nomos marketing associates the Club with ‘youthfulness', but I've never seen it that way (apart from the schoolroom thing) - just as I've never seen the Metro as metropolitan. To me, the Club looks like a versatile and relatively affordable watch for everyone.

For all of its fresh-faced appeal, the general appearance doesn't come from nowhere. If you look hard enough, you'll find vintage Omegas with similar proportions and Rolex bubblebacks with similar dials (with the Club's red-orange hands standing in for discoloured lume). Sub-dial seconds add to the ancient-but-modern effect. Relative affordability comes from the two-piece case, printed dial and hand-wind movement.

• For a case that is said to be robust in comparison to dressier models, the Club is very slightly slimmer than an Orion, if both are specified with crystal case backs. Water resistance is 100m, a useful increase on the Nomos standard of 30m.
  
  
• The lugs are long for a 36mm watch, giving an overall length close to that of a 40mm watch - but that's the style. Of more concern to some is the gap between case and strap, which allows a glimpse of your wrist (horror). The Orion had a similar gap and I never really noticed it. Given a magic wand I suppose I might reduce it by a millimetre, but without the internet to tell me, I wouldn’t have known that the ‘Nomos Gap’ existed. You could banish it with a fabric strap but then you’d lose the gorgeous Horween strap.
  
  
• The dial is silver-plated and does that silvery thing of changing hue from cream to white, stopping off at silver. The sub-dial is recessed with fine concentric engraving (or stamping) that doesn't always show up in photographs. The hands are the signature feature, providing boldness and vibrancy. The unnameable shade of red is somehow more interesting than crimson or scarlet. Lume would complicate things and is absent.
  
  
• The dial is printed in not-quite black and not-quite red, giving prominence to the hands. The mixture of even numerals and index markers is just right - no over-crowding and no '5' and '7' to intrude on the sub-dial. The lower markers even look like little supports for the sub-dial, which is neatly suspended in its own space.

• And it’s hand-wind. Hand-wind is simple and sure. Doesn’t matter if you move around or not, the watch will keep on ticking. No date, no rotor, no lume, no upwardly-mobile indices, seconds relegated to a sub-dial, no screw-down crown, simple (but very high quality) leather strap. Couldn’t be better, and in fact it’s closer to my personal ideal than any watch I own.
  
  
• On the wrist, it’s slender rather than thin, which probably suits me best - and it demonstrates how 36mm can be ‘medium’ on a 7.5” wrist. It has some presence, but mostly it sits there being quietly stylish in the Nomos manner.

My watch box had been turning grey with conventional things like Rolexes and old pilots’ watches. But one thing at a time - I could fix that later with a Nomos. You need some fizz, and it’s also good to have something that isn’t weighed down by heritage or brand ballyhoo. That part of ‘youthful’ I can go along with.

It’s good to have a Nomos again. I should have a Nomos - and even a small collection should have a watch with an umlaut.







Data
Model: Nomos Club 703
Case width: 36mm
Case depth: 8.37mm
Water resistance: 100m
Movement: Alpha hand-wind



My collection now
Rolex Datejust (116200)
Rolex Explorer II (16570)
Nomos Club
MkII Hawkinge
Orient Star Classic
Victorinox INOX

[stew77]

An absolute stunner Alan! Congrats!

Thanks for taking the time to provide such a nicely detailed summary and excellent pics! The only thing I wish this particular Club had is Lume, but it is an absolute beauty and I love the simplicity of the design.

Like you said, "I SHOULD have a Nomos"...I could not agree more, I really think I NEED to add a Nomos at some point in the future! Enjoy this beauty!

[iyonk]

This one look so great on your wrist Alan!
i really enjoy the review and i dont know if this one is a keeper for you or not, but it sure look like an awesome purchase and complement your Datejust so much..
it is the kind of watch like if you got to stuck with it -- you could live with it and really enjoy it..

i'm waiting when you find another "better" tool watch quartz that spark your interest and you want to sell the Titanium Inox..

ps: any good news about the Stowa? (Edit: just saw your update.. so Glad that Royal Mail found it! )

[mlcor]

It's a lovely, simple watch with lots of character--not surprising that you're happy with it.

[FuzzyB]

Well done, Alan! I’m glad you finally got the Club! Like most watches made by Nomos it is deceptively simple in that most people don’t realize how great they are.

You mentioned how it complements Rolex and I wholeheartedly agree. Both brands make excellent watches. From my experience, I didn’t truly appreciate that until I actually owned a watch from each brand. There is a sense of practicality that you don’t always get with other brands.

[tribe125]

Like most watches made by Nomos it is deceptively simple in that most people don’t realize how great they are.

There’s something about Nomos that I can’t fully articulate, but it’s to do with the combination of great care and modest cost. They feel like they could be the work of one fastidious person and yet they’re produced by the thousand. I guess that’s what good design and good quality control is about.

There’s one or two that don’t quite hit the mark for me, but I can’t think of another brand where I like just about everything.

[skywatch]

Congratulations, Alan! Another Nomos fan here (as you know.) I love how the Club manages to be playful and yet classy. Nomos is very good at using a conscious design vocabulary without letting things get stuffy. Enjoy!

[FuzzyB]

There’s something about Nomos that I can’t fully articulate, but it’s to do with the combination of great care and modest cost. They feel like they could be the work of one fastidious person and yet they’re produced by the thousand. I guess that’s what good design and good quality control is about.

There’s one or two that don’t quite hit the mark for me, but I can’t think of another brand where I like just about everything.

I believe part of it is the lack of gimmicks.* They picked the aesthetic they wanted and stuck with it. How many other brands have models that are nearly identical to the models sold almost 30 years ago? Rolex has made more changes to some of their models than Nomos over that time period.

*The lack of gimmicks is what surprises me most about the new Autobahn model. Even though the design is well done and contains 90% of the Nomos look and feel, I have trouble reconciling the remaining 10% with my perception of Nomos. And that even takes into consideration all of the wildly colored editions they have had over the years. I may yet come around once I finally see them in person.

[tribe125]

i dont know if this one is a keeper for you or not, but it sure look like an awesome purchase and complement your Datejust so much..
it is the kind of watch like if you got to stuck with it -- you could live with it and really enjoy it..

I suspect it will be a keeper. We could all say it (repeatedly, after yet another change of course), but I think I’ve reached a kind of steady-state in what I like. I could still buy or sell just about anything on a whim but I’m less inclined to do it.

As it happens, I do think about the Datejust and Club in a similar way. Strip away the prestige and lineage of the Rolex and you have two everyday watches with much of the same appeal.

[tribe125]

Congratulations, Alan! Another Nomos fan here (as you know.) I love how the Club manages to be playful and yet classy. Nomos is very good at using a conscious design vocabulary without letting things get stuffy. Enjoy!

We could almost write each other’s posts on Nomos.