NOMOS Glashütte Club Campus
The NOMOS Glashütte Club Campus has proved a popular choice for graduates seeking an honest watch to accompany them as they embark on their professional journey. The German brand has recently unveiled four additional models to its ever popular and beautifully simple ‘Club Campus’ collection. Carl Eady conducts an in-depth review of these latest models.
Introduction
Ferdinand Adolph Lange brought watchmaking to the small village of Glashütte, near Dresden in Saxony. He opened his Manufactory with 15 apprentices in 1845. Today, Glashütte is known for producing watches of the finest quality. Indeed, this watchmaking enclave has continuously grown and is now widely considered the home of German watchmaking. The village boasts some of the finest brands, including A. Lange & Söhne, Moritz Grossman and Glashütte Original. Despite its rich heritage, some of the region’s brands are comparatively young.
Image – Glashütte 1855
One of the relatively recent brands is NOMOS Glashütte, a firm that was established in 1990 after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The company was founded by Roland Schwertner, a German entrepreneur. His vision was to create a new brand subscribing to the principles of the Deutsche Werkbund, producing functional, high-quality watches, offered at affordable prices. He resurrected the NOMOS name, which previously existed in the early 1900s. This name had remained dormant ever since a series of controversial lawsuits led to the original firm’s demise.
To call NOMOS Glashütte’s beginnings humble is an understatement. Their first timepiece was equipped with a simple ‘off the shelf’ ETA movement. Called the Tangente, it was designed by Susanne Gunther, and it featured long narrow lugs and a slim bezel.
Since the advent of its initial model, NOMOS Glashütte has gone on to become one of Germany’s premier watch brands. In just over three decades, several designers have masterminded collections which unite simplicity, functionality and robustness. Over its comparatively short lifetime, the German brand has been the recipient of more than 160 horological and design awards. Most notably, the firm was awarded the prestigious ‘Challenge Award’ at the GPHG 2018 for its ‘Tangente Neomatik 41 Update’.
Image – NOMOS Glashütte Tangente Neomatik 41 Update
Initially, NOMOS Glashütte was reliant on external suppliers such as ETA for its movements. Whilst these Swiss movements are reliable and credible, the German marque was keen to be the master of its own destiny. Therefore, NOMOS Glashütte, eager to be immune from potential supply issues, decided to invest in making its own in-house movement.
In 2005, NOMOS unveiled its first movement, the Alpha. Later, in 2014, the watch firm released its own ‘Swing system’, a term used to describe the escapement and regulating organ. One year later, the brand unveiled the DUW 3001. This story of innovation and independence has continued with numerous additional in-house calibres emerging from the Glashütte-based Manufactory. With these initiatives, NOMOS Glashütte has gained a reputation for making movements that are credible, accurate and blessed with impressive finishing.
Today, NOMOS employs some three hundred staff. Its design and branding departments are based in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin, whilst watch production takes place at the brand’s unique Glashütte headquarters, located in a converted railway station. The company has two additional facilities in the town.
The brand’s thirteen collections encompass a multitude of styles and are all powered by hand wound or automatic movements. Despite investing significant sums into its production facilities, NOMOS Glashütte has managed to maintain its reputation for keen pricing. The Club and Club Campus are among the brand’s more accessible collections but no less virtuous. In some cases, these models feature effortless styling and incorporate some playful use of colour. In recent months, NOMOS Glashütte has added four new pieces to its popular Club Campus collection, with a choice of two case sizes and the option of two dial colours.
Case
Over 90% of NOMOS Glashütte’s timepieces are fashioned from stainless steel, enabling the firm to compete within the affordable watch segment. The vast majority of the brand’s models have slim, elongated lugs and narrow bezels. The NOMOS Glashütte Club Campus has slightly broader horns and substantial bezels making these watches appear sturdier.
Prospective purchasers have a choice of case sizes; 36mm or 38.5mm. While these sizes may sound on the small side, in common with other NOMOS watches, they ‘wear’ larger when affixed to the wrist. Both cases are wonderfully slim at 8.5mm in depth and slip neatly and discretely under a shirt sleeve. With modern tastes favouring smaller case sizes, these models are very much on trend, though given the brand’s design ethos it is doubtful that ‘trend’ is something it subscribes to. The German marque has always preferred designing watches that deliver lasting appeal.
With inclusive sizing and unisex styling, the NOMOS Glashütte Club Campus has widespread appeal. The case benefits from a high polish, exhibiting a refined appearance usually found on much costlier watches.
On the reverse, NOMOS has opted for a bipartite solid case with a screwdown caseback. Tested to 100 metres, the watch is more than capable of withstanding a daily swim. The Club Campus watches are pitched as a gift for loved ones to commemorate success and special occasions. The caseback can be engraved with up to 88 characters free of charge, no doubt allowing proud parents to acknowledge their offspring’s achievements. Unfortunately, this means owners don’t get to see the beating heart of the Alpha movement through a sapphire window. This is a shame as a NOMOS movement is always a treat for the eyes.
Dial
The Club Campus, perhaps more than any other NOMOS collection, has provided a fabulous vehicle for the designers to express their most colourful and creative sides. The simple rhodium plated hour and minute hands are a functional, pencil shape. NOMOS has paired them with an interesting mix of Arabic and Roman numerals, both sharing responsibility for denoting the hours. Furthermore, the indexes also infuse each dial option with a playful persona. All the indexes, as well as the hands, have a generous coating of Super LumiNova® which emits a vivid blue glow in the twilight hours. As with most of the brand’s collections, a small-seconds display graces the six o’clock position and brings with it an opportunity for an additional hint of colourful expression.
The most striking of the dial options is ‘Future Orange’, a beautifully vibrant and eye-catching colour, suggested by NOMOS to symbolise daybreak and new beginnings. Whilst ‘Future Orange’ is likely to be favoured by those of a more light-hearted character, the more conservative ‘Absolute Gray’ is the perfect accompaniment to a smart suit and serious intentions. Both dial options have a wonderful degree of legibility and are paired with a ‘neon orange’ needle-shaped hand for the small-seconds.
Movement
Powering the Club Campus is the original Alpha movement, used in so many of NOMOS’ creations. The Alpha is a tried and tested calibre that has been offered by NOMOS since 2005. It is a well finished movement, especially given the price point of the Club Campus albeit it remains hidden beneath the solid caseback. All the hallmarks of luxury manufacturing are evident with perlage adorning the baseplate, rhodium plating, Glashütte stripes and heat-blued screws enriching the movement’s specification. The ratchet and crown wheels also feature attractive sunburst detailing.
The seventeen jewelled, 3Hz calibre promises reliability and precision and will keep running for just short of two days between winding. For those who are fastidious about accuracy and keen to impress with their timekeeping, the Alpha also features a hacking (stop-seconds) mechanism enabling precise synchronisation with a reference clock.
Strap
Both versions of the Club Campus 36 editions are paired with a soft grey velour leather strap which appears somewhat feminine. Using such a subtle tone cleverly ensures the dial always remains the focal point of the watch. For the Club Campus 38, there is a bold, black velour band, delivering a striking contrast, especially against the orange dial. Each strap is secured with a simple pin buckle bearing the NOMOS name.
Lug widths are 18mm and 20mm, respectively ensuring versatility for those who wish to express their personality with an occasional strap change.
Closing thoughts
With the introduction of these four releases, NOMOS Glashütte has cleverly chosen colours that deliver a harmonious ‘yin and yang’ balance to the collection. True to the ethos of ‘form following function’, the dials are highly legible and well executed. Mixing Arabic and Roman numerals grants a light-hearted informality to the watch, though it may push those of a conservative nature towards the more conventional models in the Club collection.
One may question whether a hand-wound movement is a challenge for those owning their first mechanical watch, especially given there is no power reserve indicator. However, once owners incorporate the daily winding ritual into their morning routine, they will come to understand it is part of the charm of owning a manual timepiece.
Without doubt, NOMOS Glashütte has once again proven its ability to produce high quality, keenly priced watches. The Club Campus may be pitched at a younger audience and successful students escaping undergraduate status, but it is certainly not limited to such a small demographic. Indeed, the build quality, reliability, legibility and value for money, all true to the Deutsche Werken principles, will ensure these watches have a broad, universal appeal.
Note: all images are Copyright – NOMOS Glashütte
Further reading
Technical specification – Tangente
- Model: NOMOS Glashütte Club Campus
- References:
- Future Orange 36mm – Ref 710.
- Absolute Gray 36mm – Ref 712.
- Future Orange 38mm – Ref 729.
- Absolute Gray 38mm – Ref 727.
- Case: Stainless steel; diameter 36mm or 38mm; water resistance 10ATM (100 metres); sapphire crystal to front; solid case back.
- Functions: hours; minutes; small seconds
- Movement: Alpha in-house calibre; hand-wound movement; frequency 21,600 VpH (3Hz); 17 jewels; power reserve 43 hours.
- Strap: leather velour in black or grey paired with a stainless steel pin buckle
- Price: £1100 – £1200 (RRP as at 25.8.2021)