NOMOS Glashütte don’t release figures about how many watches they sell, but it’s clear that they are doing well. It’s the German brand with best sales in terms of number of watches sold, and in 2016, which was a problem year for many watchmaking companies, they had a 10% increase in turnover. Their secret? Simple, Bauhaus-inspired dials, in-house movements of excellent quality, attractive prices. And now, with the Ahoi series, some trendy new colours, and 200 metres water resistance that makes them the perfect sports watch (click here for the Top Ten Sports Watches). The caseback is fixed with 6 screws, and the screw-down crown has a crown protector.
Wide choice
Customers are offered a lot of choice. Case sizes are 36.3 mm or 40.3 mm, so unisex or men’s respectively. The thickness of the stainless steel case is 9.55 mm or 10.64 mm respectively, thin enough to slide under any shirt cuff. NOMOS also give customers the choice of whether or not to have a date window. In any case, the date indications are large for easy reading. Discreet SuperLuminova makes the watch legible in the dark.
Colour contrast
The “signal blue” version above has a lovely contrast between the near-primary blue and the complementary colour orange of the small seconds hand. The version below is all orange. The two colours have been popular in watches for a while now, but the two shades used by NOMOS are pretty much unique.
Slim automatic movement
The Ahoi neomatic is powered by the NOMOS DUW 3001 movement, visible through the sapphire caseback, designed and built in-house. It is slim at 3.2 mm thickness, and it is finely finished, with Glashütte three-quarter plate finished with Glashütte stripes, perlage and blued screws. The calibre has the stop-seconds function for precise time-setting. Power reserve is about 42 hours.
Textile strap
The 16 models in the range have a textile strap in blue-black or light grey, made in France. They have a coarser, tougher weave outside, and a finer weave inside for comfort. They dry very quickly after contact with water.
Date window
The Ahoi Datum has an impressively large date window, with numerals that are similar in font to the dial indications, and almost the same size. It’s one of the best-integrated date windows out there. In the piece below, the movement is the ζ (Zeta) also designed and built by NOMOS.
Ahoi Datum
In this piece the movement is the DUW 5101, self-winding, with a power reserve of 42 hours.
Prices
Prices range from €3,080 for the 36 mm Ahoi with DUW 3001 movement in the classic silver-dial versions, and €3,160 for the bright-coloured blue, orange and Atlantik blue versions, to €3,500 (silver dial) and €3,620 (brightly-coloured dials) for the larger watches with the DUW 5101 movement. Considering that they all have in-house movements of good quality and excellent precision, and that the case is tough and water resistant to 200 metres, they are an attractive proposition. Read more at the NOMOS Glashütte website.
