Picnic or BBQ? This is Nomos

For all the publicity they have as a brand, Nomos does not have an authorized retailer in Singapore. So when I went to Hamburg some time back, I had to seek them out. And what a pleasant surprise it was - well at least for my wife.

Nomos probably has one of the most varied range of Limited Editions many of them for the Germany company Wempe. So when I was in Hamburg several years back, I walked into a Wempe store and what greeted me were the last few pieces of some Nomos Limited Edition pieces. Oddly enough, the LEs are priced cheaper than the regular range Tangente!

The three pieces available were the BBQ, Rosemarie and the Picknick. BBQ because the checkered patterns resemble that of a table cloth used for outdoor BBQs. The two BBQ and PickNick look nice as a pair.

The Rosemarie has an intricate rose motif and the blued hands lends a nice contrast to the pinkish dial.

The limited editions come limited to 100 pieces and are engraved at the case back. But I understand that Nomos is willing to do limited dials in as small a quantity as 20. Nomos changes the dial and hands colors to create different LEs.

The open case back reveals the Tangente Manual winding Calibre Alpha. Featuring the Glashütte three quarter plate with Glashütte ribbing. The Alpha is an in-house developed movement.

One feature of all Nomos watches is the strap - they all come with Shell Cordovan hand made straps. And the buckle is also engraved with the brand name.

Nomos also makes automatic pieces they call Tangomat. I am particularly taken by the grey yellow combo of this piece. So three for my wife and one for me - fair right?

The dark grey dial with the contrasting yellow numbers and markers is outstanding. Clean. This version is called Tangomat Ruthenium. The watch measures 38.3mm across. As with the Tangente, the watch comes with a Shell Cordovan leather strap.

At the back houses the in-house Epsilon automatic movement. As with the Alpha movement, the Epsilon comes with the Glashütte three quarter plate, Glashütte ribbing and NOMOS perlage. The movement features a bidirectional automatic rotor.

Nomos makes honest watches - they don't charge an arm-and-a-leg for their watches. I consider them reasonably priced especially when they are developed in-house and the level of finish is better than many Swiss brands 3-4 times more expensive. I recall the outrage (for most except the hardcore supporters) several years ago when a particular P-brand fitted an unfinished UNITAS movement into their Limited Edition piece and sold it with a closed case back hoping no one will be none the wiser. Well, all I can say is that Nomos stands far higher than the P-brand.

And in recent years, they have develop some more interesting pieces like the Tangomat GMT, Zürich Weltzeit (world time) and lately the Lux and Lambda range. For more information, please go to Nomos website. And for the limited editions, here is somewhere you can check out Nomos Limited Edition.