Back in 2016, NOMOS and The Hour Glass announced their collaboration and behind the scene, a group of collectors floated the idea of a Singapore special edition. And the fine folks at The Hour Glass started the journey of developing the Zurich Weltzeit Singapore Limited Edition.
And what a beauty was unveiled one year on...
The NOMOS Zurich Weltzeit (World Time) Singapore Limited Edition was unveiled with two variants - a Salmon and White dial versions. The Salmon dial was limited to 15 examples while the White, to 35 pieces. 50 in total.
I took to liking the Salmon dial version immediately. Based on press releases, the colour of the dial was a pinky hue and as described, salmon pink. But the final version was anything but.
In most World Time timepieces, the city in feature "by default" is almost always Hong Kong. The Singapore Limited Edition replaced the city to be Singapore. But the Singapore Limited Edition went one step further - the island state is also known to many as "The Little Red Dot". Instead of the "home" symbol on the regular Weltzeit, they replaced the "home" with a little red dot! Brilliant!
And to keep the theme consistent, the Singapore and the little red dot is, of course, in red! Whether it is a coincidence or by design (pun intended), NOMOS has been awarded several "Red Dot Design Awards". I hope the "Little Red Dot" edition wins a "Red Dot Design Award". What an outcome it would be!
When you look at the timepiece itself, the colour of the dial and the texture changes from angle to angle. The dial has a kind of sandy texture. Not only is the dial having a sandy texture, the salmon hue is the first time NOMOS is using this colour.
The way the dial colour comes across to the owner is a vintage feel - lighter in the centre then slowly getting darker as it radiates outwards.
The colour actually looks more bronze than salmon pink, not that I am complaining. The colour combination with the red dot and red Singapore is a stand out. Great job guys!
I intentionally darken the contrast to bring out the sandy grain and the colour graduation of the dial. Note the lighter hue in the centre of the dial and the darkening effects as it graduates outwards.
The steel case is shy of 40mm - a good size case for a World Time.
The crown is signed and the pusher at the 2 o'clock turns the world city ring. The pusher is firm and exact - exactly what I had expected from the folks at NOMOS. On the case back, one can clearly see the words "NOMOS Glashütte Zurich Weltzeit - Singapore Limited Edition" with the limitation number engraved as the bottom of the case.
Now for the movement - the in-house automatic DUW5201 calibre. The DUW 5201 is the first automatic caliber with the in-house NOMOS swing system which I had written about earlier on my NOMOS Metro.
DUW stands for NOMOS Glashütte Deutsche Uhrenwerke and the power reserve on this piece is approximately 42 hours.
Finishing on this piece is as one would expect - finishing worthy of the timepiece.
A close up of the automatic rotor with Glashütte ribbing.
List price on this piece is S$8,560 for both variants which makes it great value.
I believe all the 50 pieces have been accounted for - not surprising really. And with this first piece, I hope that the folks at The Hour Glass will continue with a few more of the same salmon (bronze) dial versions of other NOMOS models. Perhaps the Metro, Tangente or even Tetra... Count me in for the next release!
