Nomos Glashütte, a brand that has been around since the early 1990s, has seen a surge in popularity in the last 5 years or so. Thanks in part to a growing love for their watches on the internet and social media, and in part due to what is on offer at their price point, making for an overall package you can’t ignore. But to see for ourselves what all the hype is about we got two of the Club Campus references into HQ. Are they all they’re cracked up to be? Let’s find out.
NOMOS Club Campus
Tucked away in the foothills of the Eastern Ore Mountains lies the sleepy town of Glashütte. For those not immersed in the watch world, it’s a beautiful German mountain town with a population of only around 7,000. But this town is actually the powerhouse of German watchmaking. Home to many large brands including A. Lange & Söhne, Glashütte Original, Mühle Glashütte, Moritz Grossmann, and of course Nomos. With hundreds of years of watchmaking expertise and craftsmanship encapsulated in this town, any watch produced here will be almost certainly a piece of extremely high quality.
Nomos is a little bit of an outlier when compared to its neighbours. A. Lange & Söhne and Glashütte Original have a very distinctive design language that is classic in its approach and derived from a deep sense of brand history. Nomos has a slightly more modern approach to design which I’ll touch on later. The starting price for an entry level model from Lange is now £15,000, and for Glashütte Original its right around £10,000. You can pick up a new Nomos for under £1,400, remarkable value even when you take its neighbours out of the picture.
I’ll expand my last point about design. Nomos has implemented a design movement known as Bauhuas. Named after the art school in which the movement begun, the art style is minimalistic and prioritises function over ornamentation. It’s aims in design were to create objects that are functional but beautiful in their simplicity. You can see this design philosophy across the Nomos range; they offer nothing more than you could ever need.
This brings me nicely onto the watches we have here today, the NOMOS Club Campus. We had both the 36mm and 38mm in with the ‘Starlight’ and ‘Night Sky’ dials respectively.
The 36mm case size would suit a wide range of wrist sizes due to Nomos’ famously long lugs. That has been a discussion point on the Club series for some time now – some people love it, while others find them a bit lengthy. I’m leaning more towards loving them as they shape the case nicely to my wrist, and it means that you can get away with a smaller case diameter without it looking too small.
As someone who loves and wears watches from 34mm-40mm the 36mm was a lovely size, but of the two I think the 38mm is the better size. It complements the case proportions and design more and highlights the thinness of the construction. I also think that for this style of watch having that extra empty dial space makes it feel more special. A hard thing to put into factual statements but I found myself falling for the 38mm a lot more than the 36mm.
The dials in the club campus range also draw on the Bauhaus design. Featuring a mix of indices and numerals, a minute track, a seconds sub dial, and the logo, it’s everything you need and nothing more. Speaking of the numerals, I love the mix of baton indices, Arabic numerals for 10, 12, and 2 o’clock, and roman numerals for 4 and 8 o’clock. The index at 6 has been removed to leave room for the sub dial. It’s like a half hybrid California dial and I love it.
Both colours are beautiful to look at with a matt texture to them. There is also a great selection of colours that are fun and bold. I love the ‘Night Sky’ but if I was to buy one, I think I’d go all out and choose something like the ‘Endless Blue’ which is a bright baby blue shade or ‘Cream Coral’, a light salmony-orange. Every dial colour is complemented by the ‘neon orange’ small seconds hand adding another pop of colour. That’s another thing I love about Nomos; they have fun with design and colour. Using Bauhuas as a design principle but never letting it restrict their creative freedom.
Simplicity in design is also evident in the case design. The bezel is beautifully curved and polished. I love how it slopes down into the case sides. The lugs are very simple in design but curve nicely to sit comfortably on your wrist. The case back is simple too, decorated with a cute smiling whale and an indication of the water resistance, which is 100m and plenty for a fun all-rounder watch like this. The overall height is a superbly thin 8.5mm for the 38 and 8.2mm for the 36! I am a big fan of how thin these watches are, it makes them feel like a part of you when you wear them.
Part of what makes them so thin is the amazing movement inside. This watch features Nomos’ in-house designed and produced ‘Alpha’ manual wound calibre. While many brands are going down the in-house movement route, not many have achieved it at this price point. But regardless of price, the movement still features 17 jewels, a 43hr power reserve and is beautifully decorated and has blued steel screws despite being hidden by the solid case back.
I am amazed at how Nomos have been able to achieve such a high standard of watchmaking at this price. And the operation of the movement is wonderful, a super satisfying winding feel and setting the time feels smooth and accurate.
Overall, I have fallen in love with not just this watch, but Nomos as a brand. I had always been a casual follower, seeing people talk about them online and occasionally in stores. But it wasn’t until I got to spend some real time with these watches that I truly began to appreciate what the brand stands for. Quality, design and value.
Let me know your thoughts on this watch and Nomos in the comments, I’m sure it won’t be the last we see of them on WatchGecko…
