Not all that long ago, one of my favourite Glashütte watchmakers launched a trio of 33mm-sized watches with beautifully coloured dials. Yes, I’m talking about NOMOS and the three Metro 33 watches introduced a few weeks ago. Just from the simple imagery provided by the brand, I had a strong feeling these watches were going to be beautiful and would suit smaller, feminine wrists like my own.
I also definitely have a bit of an obsession with shades of blue or green on watch dials right now. I’m not talking about those overused shades of navy or khaki, but hues of turquoise and pastel green. My enduring love for my Tissot PRX 35 Mint Green is a testament to that. So of course, when NOMOS asked me if I wanted to try on the new NOMOS Glashütte Metro 33 watch for size, and none other than the reference with the sage green dial, I of course said yes.
A Bit of Background on the NOMOS Metro
The NOMOS Metro was originally designed by Mark Braun back in 2014 and the clean, modern timepiece has since become a long-standing flagship for the German watchmaker. Its minimalist style has also gained the attention of many big-name watch awards including the German Design Award, the Goldene Unruh and the iF Product Design Award.
For several years, the majority of the NOMOS Metro collection offered cases with dimensions varying between the 37mm and 41mm mark. Although this may sound large for some female watch wearers, the slender architecture of these designs still makes them very wearable. That being said, I’d always hoped they’d launch a smaller iteration and like magic, in 2019, they released the first Metro 33 watch.
The inaugural Metro 33 arrived with an 18ct rose gold case and a stunning clean white display. It’s a beautiful watch, but sadly for a 30-year-old female with a mortgage and wedding to pay for, the price of £6,800 was not realistic. So, I’m sure you can imagine my excitement when the recent trio of Metro 33 watches arrived with steel cases and a price point of £1,820.
Ok, so how did the Nomos Metro 33 Sage fare?
The Case
NOMOS’ cases are always fairly simple, and that’s what makes them so popular with lovers of contemporary design. The Metro is no different, with a thin polished cylinder and unique wired lugs protruding out for easy wear. In the case of the Metro 33 Sage, the architecture measures to 33mm wide and only 7.5mm tall with a lug-to-lug width of 40mm. It’s an incredibly compact and comfortable little watch.
Every surface of the NOMOS Metro 33 is polished including the thin, almost non-existent bezel which leaves room for the sage green dial to take centre stage. At 3 o’clock, a simple but nicely detailed crown is added. It appears knurled but on closer inspection, the decoration includes several are tiny half spheres acting as the grip. The crown’s tip is signed off by the NOMOS logo.
Like most NOMOS watches nowadays, the Metro 33 Sage can be ordered with a closed or exhibition case back. The model I had the opportunity to trial was one with a glass back. The reverse sees a simple steel ring surrounding an insert of sapphire crystal engraved with the Metro name and the watch’s water resistance of 50 metres. The case also has domed sapphire crystal glass, and although there’s no mention of any anti-reflective treatment, I had no issue with reflections myself.
The Dial
The new range of steel NOMOS Metro 33 watches comes in a choice of three dial colours, each inspired by different aspects of the New York. The silver dial evokes the gleaming facades while the muted red model mimics the same hue of Brooklyn’s red brick buildings. Meanwhile, the NOMOS Metro 33 sage represents the green of the metropolitan parks and more obviously, the Statue of Liberty.
NOMOS have been very clever about the colours here. They’re neither stereotypically feminine nor masculine, but perfectly unisex. Of them all however, the sage green model is my favourite. It’s a muted shade of green that isn’t too daring but still stands out against the mass of emerald green and khaki green dials on the market. Plus, the yellow details on the minute track and running seconds hand add a nice touch of playfulness.
The familiar Metro hallmarks are still present on the dial. The brightly polished hands for the hours and minutes still retain their syringe-like shape while the dotted hour and minute markers lift off the sage green surface ever so slightly. The small seconds dial is nicely recessed for a touch of legibility and decorated in a classic azurage finish.
The Movement
One of the things I enjoyed most about wearing the NOMOS Glashütte Metro 33 Sage watch this past week was the tactility of the manual movement. I only have one manual-winding watch in my collection, and it’s one that doesn’t get enough wear. But after enjoying the Metro these last few days, it’s made me miss the hands-on approach of habitually winding a watch every morning.
The NOMOS Metro 33 is powered by the brand’s well-known Alpha movement. It offers up to 43 hours of power reserve, so it certainly doesn’t need winding every day should you not feel like it. Through the case back, the in-house calibre is nicely finished to NOMOS’ standards. It has the famed Glashütte three-quarter plate structure decorated with perlage and Glashütte rubbing. You can see some of the 17 jewels on display and several tempered blued screws.
The Strap
Finishing off the NOMOS Metro 33 Sage watch is a vegan velour remborde grey strap. The light grey colour matches nicely with the muted green dial and it’s a nice, comfortable strap with a velvet-like finish. The underside of the strap is embossed with the German watchmaker’s logo and on the ends, the strap is equipped with quick-change spring bars. So, should another strap style call you, you can easily swap it over when the occasion asks. The strap has a lug width of 16mm.
Price & Availability
As previously mentioned, the NOMOS Metro 33 Sage watch is significantly more affordable than its solid gold counterpart. It retails at £2,040 with the exhibition case back or £1,820 with the closed steel back. All three dial colours in the new line-up are priced the same and are part of the permanent collection.
Conclusion
All in all, the NOMOS Metro 33 Sage is a beautiful watch and one that I could quite happily wear on a day-to-day basis. The case is incredibly compact and thin, so much so that it goes barely unnoticed on the wrist. That is until you notice the bright polished finishing and olive-green dial. As someone who loves a colourful watch dial, the latter is a huge selling point for me, and I particularly love the added accents of yellow against the Statue of Liberty-inspired green.
As I mentioned, the manual winding movement was also a pleasant surprise. It’s truly nice to see a watch brand creating affordable hand-wound watches, especially within cases sized for smaller wrists. You don’t see that enough nowadays. It would be a waste not to purchase the NOMOS Metro 33 without an exhibition case back in my opinion, as the finishing of the movement is also lovely. As for the price, £2k seems very reasonable for a watch of this standard and I’d recommend it to anyone looking to purchase their first entry-level luxury timepiece.
