|
|
|
| Nomos watches |
When a watch fan says Nomos, he or she usually means Tangente. It's easy to forget that these inventive Saxons have developed more than a dozen variations from one and the same base movement.
Whether Tangente, Ludwig, Orion, or Tetra - Nomos watches are more than just timepieces for their loyal following. They acknowledge the
traditions of German watchmaking history and the clear, functional language of good design. Prior to the Bauhaus movement, whose philosophy had put its stamp on industrial design in the 1920s and '30s, it had been the German Manufacturer's Association that had formulated the fundamental principles of good design for German industry without ever uttering the phrase "form follows function." The association of artists, craftsmen, and industrialists that was formed in 1907 searched for an ideal compromise between beauty and functionality, and for a way of linking the craftsmanship of skilled workers to industrial
|  |
production in a way that made good sense. That the principles propagated at that time are just as valid today can ultimately be seen in Nomos watches. With their clear, functional shape, they also embody a high level of aesthetic beauty.
After the Berlin Wall finally tumbled, Roland
Schwertner was one of the first to set up business in Germany's traditional watchmaking center of Glashotte. His Nomos watches were the first new products to come out of Saxony after almost forty years of utility-watch manufacture in the large GUB combine that had been run by the East German planned economy.
The current level of success is proving that Roland Schwertner and Nomos were right. In 1999 the team moved into its smart, new corporate building on the "Glashotte Watch Mile" (Altenberger Strasse), where its closest neighbors are Lange GmbH, Glashotter Uhrenbetrieb, and the Union watch factory. In
2000 a part of the production department moved into the old chronometry building as more room was sorely needed, and - barring any more natural catastrophes in Glashotte ¬the town's former train station will become the company's future corporate headquarters after renovations are completed. Nomos is prospering, thanks ultimately to an increasingly larger clientele of consumers who appreciate design and quality, and can now turn to new projects that, in view of the fact that the design of the watches can hardly be improved, will focus more on the inner values of the timepieces.
The inventive watchmakers at Nomos have souped up the good little Peseux caliber (alias ETA 7001). The addition of a Triovis fine adjustment was followed by date display, stop-seconds, and last year's exchange of the traditional Swiss bridges for a nobly sandblasted three-quarter plate in best Glashotte tradition, complete with a Glashotte-style click (click spring and pawl) and a beautiful Glashotte sunburst decoration on the crown wheel.
The lavish manually wound movement, 1 TSDP (stands for Triovis fine adjustment, stop¬seconds, date, and three-quarter plate) is not the last stop on the train of developments Nomos has in store for the Peseux movement:
The company's developer, Thierry Albert, has now designed a power reserve into the mechanism. The Tangente Power Reserve, featuring movement 1 TSDPG, will be available from fall 2003.
|
Nomos Watches
53 Milford Street
New Milford, CT 06776
Tel: 860-354-8765
Fax: 860-354-8620
|
|
|
|
|
|
