NOMOS Glashütte is launching the swimming pool season with Ahoi: a watch that fulfills a lot of wishes. The combination of fine Glashütte craftsmanship, the best design from Berlin and an unusually robust casing that is almost indestructible: this watch from NOMOS Glashütte combines seemingly incompatible features in the most marvelous way.

In spite of its new coloring, the dial reminds you of the NOMOS classic Tangomat. But although the form created by NOMOS’ designer Thomas Höhnel, 40, in Berlin retains the Tangomat’s elegance, it’s much more sporty—and more upbeat, more modern and with more aplomb than most other watches out there. With or without an extra large date indicator, Ahoi simply offers more.

The new model’s aligned bezel, domed watch glass and flank guard mean it cuts an exquisite figure on the beach, for example; the extra thick sapphire crystal base and crown ensure everything stays tightly sealed: down to 20 bars, or 200 meters. Add to that a new waterproof watchstrap with NOMOS’ own special winged clasp. A small red second hand and a dash of blue also reflect the colors of summer. All this makes you think back to those happy days by the pool in your youth: the teenagers on the five meter diving board, the girls in polka dot bikinis, the faint scent of sun cream. Or that night when you and some friends snuck into the local pool and went skinny dipping—until the cops turned up and drove you all out, screaming with laughter. The new watch on your wrist will also show you where the time has gone: luminous indices and hands also make Ahoi from NOMOS Glashütte the perfect timepiece for use in the dark.

Also new: the watch comes with a strap of black waterproof fabric with NOMOS’ own wing clasp, specially designed so that it won’t come undone when you jump into the water. And for use on dry land, the first purchasers will also receive NOMOS’ classic Horween Shell Cordovan watchstrap free-of-charge—in the starter kit with an original NOMOS watch- strap replacement tool. That means Ahoi wearers are ready for any eventuality, wherever they are.

What about the movement? Time is kept either by the NOMOS Epsilon caliber (without the date) or the Zeta (with date)—both are renowned for their accuracy and the performance of their mainsprings. A 40 mm diameter watch for watersports and holidays, it’s also well-suited too hill-walking and bicycle tours—and for effortless everyday wear as well, whether in the office, chambers, practice or editorial department.

Information and images:

Ute Fischer-Graf
NOMOS Glashütte/SA
Roland Schwertner KG
Ferdinand-Adolph-Lange-Platz 2
01768 Glashütte
Germany

Telephone +49 35053 4040
Fax +49 35053 40480
pr(at)glashuette.com

Product designer Thomas Höhnel was born in 1973 in Dresden, Saxony. This means that he was familiar with watches from nearby Glashütte as a child. After training as an industrial mechanic, he went on to study at Berlin’s University of the Arts and the renowned Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London. Before returning to his original passion, he designed many other things: bus stops and tables, exhibition architecture and interior design catalogs.

But since 2011, Höhnel has been designing something he had wanted to design for a long time: watches. And clasps, tools, packaging and wrist straps for NOMOS Glashütte too. Ahoi—a completely new NOMOS watch, and waterproof up to 20 bar, or 200 meters— is the first NOMOS watch designed by Höhnel. Now, finally, it is coming onto the market. “But good watches,” as the 40 year old says, “need a great deal of time.”

Information and images:

Ute Fischer-Graf
NOMOS Glashütte/SA
Roland Schwertner KG
Ferdinand-Adolph-Lange-Platz 2
01768 Glashütte
Germany

Telephone +49 35053 4040
Fax +49 35053 40480
pr(at)glashuette.com

Gray like the skies over Glashütte, or gray like financial bookkeeping?
Colorless, sad, unprepossessing? Nonsense! Gray is “easily excitable into magnificent tones,” the Bauhaus artist Johannes Itten once said. Gray is credible, the color of knowledge—more elegant than white, more exciting than black. It is really catching on. And now it is also the color of the new large watch from NOMOS Glashütte: Orion 38 grau.

From now on, the model will compliment the range of watches from the Glashütte watchmaker and, with a diameter of 38 millimeters—the Orion is otherwise 35 millimeters across—and in its new color, it offers a more masculine alternative to the standard model. The bigger diameter makes this Orion seem more modern, flatter and more decisive.

Inside the Orion 38 grau, clearly seen through the sapphire crystal back, the original NOMOS caliber runs and runs and runs: the hand-wound Alpha movement. The face is elaborately galvanized and rhodium-plated in silver-gray, which makes it look as if it has been glazed. The watch’s indices are embossed and diamond-coated. This especially beautiful watch will go on sale in May 2013.

Information and images:

Ute Fischer-Graf
NOMOS Glashütte/SA
Roland Schwertner KG
Ferdinand-Adolph-Lange-Platz 2
01768 Glashütte
Germany

Telephone +49 35053 4040
Fax +49 35053 40480
pr(at)glashuette.com

Bigger, thinner, more elegant: The NOMOS classics Orion, Tangente and Ludwig are now available with a diameter of 38 millimeters—which make these watches, with their Glashütte hand-wound manufactory movement, look much bigger. The watches have grown as the way people see things has changed over the years: the classic watches—which once seemed fine on a man’s wrist—nowadays appear a bit small to many. The faces of the new NOMOS class are clear-cut, their proportions perfect. And ticking away inside is the tried and tested NOMOS hand-wound Alpha movement.

The 38 millimeter watches with a date function have already been in great demand for the last three years. But they haven’t been available without one (and therefore less expensive) until now. So NOMOS Glashütte is filling a gap in its range.

Incidentally, the Orion model—with its wonderfully curved dial and glass which gives this watch an almost ethereal quality—will appear on the market in two versions: Orion 38 and Orion 38 grau. And, for now, the designers at NOMOS think the gray color of the new Orion is the very height of elegance.

Information and images:

Ute Fischer-Graf
NOMOS Glashütte/SA
Roland Schwertner KG
Ferdinand-Adolph-Lange-Platz 2
01768 Glashütte
Germany

Telephone +49 35053 4040
Fax +49 35053 40480
pr(at)glashuette.com

In the Eastern Ore Mountains, past Dresden and on the way to Prague: this is where NOMOS Glashütte makes and finishes its watches “Made in Glashütte, Germany.” German engineering, high-tech, and a great deal of manual craftsmanship are key—NOMOS makes up to 95 percent of every movement itself in Glashütte. This is where NOMOS Glashütte has its department for research and development, construction and complications, turning and milling, surface finishing, engraving, pre- and final assembly and timing checks. There are also separate departments for precision watchmaking, as well as for quality assurance and control. One thing is clear: nowhere else has the craft of watchmaking been developed to such a degree over successive generations as here. One reason is that the valley is rich in qualities otherwise in short supply in today’s world: patience, time and a great deal of peace and quiet.

But this is not the sort of place where artists can thrive. Photographers, copywriters, draftsmen and designers have hitherto seldom flourished in Glashütte. The peaceful valley in which the watchmakers go about their work would provide little stimulus for urban, creative types. That’s why Berlinerblau—the NOMOS subsidiary responsible for branding and design—works some 200 kilometers to the north of Glashütte in Berlin, the international creative hotspot. With 600 galleries, almost 200 museums and every sixth Berliner claiming to be an artist, watchmakers would be driven to distraction here.

Designing the timepieces, describing them, and making them well-known: that’s Berlinerblau’s mission in a nutshell. Around 25 graphic and product designers, copywriters, photographers and communications and online experts work together in a 500 m2 loft in Berlin-Kreuzberg. This is where the designs for the castings, watch faces, hands and all the other bits and pieces for Tangente, Orion and the other NOMOS watches are created, packaging and catalogues designed, internet and trade fair activities planned, strategies and concepts drawn up, copy written and branding plans worked out. The sales management and export departments also work in Berlin, because the German capital has a few more airports than the watchmakers’ home of Glashütte, 200 kilometers away down south.

Information and images:

Ute Fischer-Graf
NOMOS Glashütte/SA
Roland Schwertner KG
Ferdinand-Adolph-Lange-Platz 2
01768 Glashütte
Germany

Telephone +49 35053 4040
Fax +49 35053 40480
pr(at)glashuette.com

1. Early days

Firstly: NOMOS Glashütte was the first brand after 1990 to make a mechanical watch with the Glashütte designation of origin. As early as 1992, the then two-year-old company brought out its first collection of four hand wound watches. This collection was gradually refined, supplemented and perfected as in-house production increased. The manufactory designs, develops and builds its own movements, including the self-winding ones.

2. The owners of NOMOS Glashütte

NOMOS Glashütte was set up by Roland Schwertner, originally from Dusseldorf. Today the company belongs to five partners, four of whom also work there. This means NOMOS is still an independent company, which is very rare in the world of fine watches these days.

3. Why NOMOS Glashütte stands out

The best craftsmanship and the best design at a reasonable price: This is the aim of our brand, which is a member of the Deutscher Werkbund—a precursor of the Bauhaus movement. NOMOS values resource-efficient production and the use of materials that are not harmful to health—and of course, good working conditions for all. NOMOS is currently also participating in ÖKOPROFIT (Ecological Project for Integrated Environmental Technology).

4. Research and Development

NOMOS has been allowed to call itself a “manufactory” since 2005—the designation recognizes that NOMOS designs and makes all its own movements. A great deal of emphasis is placed on in-house production: indeed, with the exception of rubies, NOMOS produces almost all its components itself. Depending on the caliber, NOMOS makes up to 95 percent of the parts it needs itself and even has its own research and development department, which currently employs eight people. The company also holds several patents.

5. Steady growth: NOMOS in numbers

Since 2010, the company has doubled its workforce and now employs around 145 people. Approximately 20 of them work in NOMOS’ two subsidiaries: NOMOS Schweiz AG in Zurich and Berlinerblau GmbH in Berlin, which takes care of the design and marketing. A dozen or so freelancers round out the workforce. And NOMOS is still growing: the company will invest several million euros in infrastructure, technology and jobs over the next two years, ensuring the company’s continuing independence and the jobs of its employees. Although NOMOS still sells about two-thirds of all its watches in Germany, the share of foreign sales is growing fast; NOMOS’ reputation is reaching country after country.

6. The watches and their “motors”

All NOMOS watches contain the company’s own manufactory calibers, made in Glashütte. The models stand out through their excellent value for money. Uncluttered faces, elegant (and usually very slender) hands, narrow bezels and a clear-cut form are features all NOMOS watches share. Most NOMOS watches are now seen as design classics: timeless but still contemporary, functional, unobtrusive and yet highly individual.

7. Awards

NOMOS Glashütte watches have won many prizes. In the first few months of 2013 alone, NOMOS has been awarded the Goldene Unruh (Tangomat Datum 1st place, Zürich braungold 2nd) as well as the iF Product Design Award (Tangomat GMT Plus). Over the last 10 years, NOMOS watches have picked up more than 100 awards in total, including both the prestigious “Charles Eames Prize” and the Good Design Award from the Chicago Athenaeum twice, in 2011 and 2012.

8. Double A plus

For the third year running, a credit analysis by Germany’s central bank—the Bundesbank—has judged NOMOS to be eligible for central bank lending. “Eligible status” represents a particularly strict standard of corporate assessment, and NOMOS’ top class rating corresponds to AA+ from the major rating agencies (S&P, Fitch and Moody’s). This is rare among German businesses.

Information and images:

Ute Fischer-Graf
NOMOS Glashütte/SA
Roland Schwertner KG
Ferdinand-Adolph-Lange-Platz 2
01768 Glashütte
Germany

Telephone +49 35053 4040
Fax +49 35053 40480
pr(at)glashuette.com

We have already been able to transfer 200,000 Euros to the emergency aid organization’s accounts.  In March 2012, NOMOS Glashütte und Ärzte ohne Grenzen (the German arm of Doctors Without Borders) launched their first collaboration with 2,000 watches, making 1,000 each of the limited editions of Tangente and Tangente 33 in Glashütte for the benefit of Ärzte ohne Grenzen Germany. Now this successful aid project is being taken a step further—with another 2,000 watches. And whilst 100 Euros from the sale of each watch goes directly into emergency aid, the customer does not pay any more than he or she normally would for the standard NOMOS models.

This works because both NOMOS Glashütte and its retailers waive their profits. And because these watches are highly sought-after: the first special editions of the Tangente and Tangente 33 for Ärzte ohne Grenzen quickly sold out nearly everywhere. In the second round of this successful cooperation, there will be different NOMOS models for the benefit of emergency aid—once again with a red 12 and once again with the small inscription “Ärzte ohne Grenzen” beneath the 6: the special edition Tangente 38 for Ärzte ohne Grenzen and the special edition Tetra 27 for Ärzte ohne Grenzen. Available in the shops from May onwards. “We are delighted that so many watch lovers have chosen the best option of all: to help others and also to treat themselves with an excellent timepiece,” says NOMOS boss Uwe Ahrendt. “Every glance at your watch also reminds you about all the people around the world who need help right now—and are hoping to get it.”

Another reason to celebrate: there are currently also collaborations with other sections of the Nobel Prize-winning organization—for example, with Doctors Without Borders in the United Kingdom and the United States, where sales begin this spring.

Information and images:

Ute Fischer-Graf
NOMOS Glashütte/SA
Roland Schwertner KG
Ferdinand-Adolph-Lange-Platz 2
01768 Glashütte
Germany

Telephone +49 35053 4040
Fax +49 35053 40480
pr(at)glashuette.com

As announced on Thursday evening at a gala in the BMW Museum in Munich, Tangomat Datum and Zürich braungold, both from NOMOS Glashütte, belong to a handful of the “best watches in the world.” Tangomat Datum was the clear winner and received 4890 votes to come in 1st place in the up-to-2,500 Euro category. Zürich braungold (with nearly 4000 votes) was runner up in the under-5,000-Euro category behind a watch from Tag Heuer. This was the verdict of 25,246 readers of “Focus” and “Uhrenmagazin” magazines in the vote for the “Goldene Unruh 2013” (“Golden Balance Wheel 2013”).

Competition was stiff again this year, with 426 mechanical watches from all the big makers in the running. Between December 15 and January 31, readers of the two magazines, “Focus” and “Uhrenmagazin,” cast their votes for what they thought were the world’s best watches. Now the results have been announced and the prizes awarded in the Bavarian capital. The “Goldene Unruh” has been one of the watch industry’s best-known awards since 1998. Over the previous years, watches from NOMOS Glashütte have repeatedly managed to impress the readers of  “Uhrenmagazin” and “Focus.”

Thomas Wanka, editor-in-chief of “Uhrenmagazin,” has been keeping score: “I’ve added it up: It’s the seventh Golden Balance Wheel for NOMOS Glashütte and the 18th time in all that NOMOS has been on the podium since 2000. And it’s always been with the Tangente and Tangomat models, too. That’s what I call consistency.” In all, NOMOS watches have won over 100 awards for design, watchmaking quality and value for money—for instance the iF Product Design Award, the Good Design Award, the Red Dot, and Watch of the Year in Germany and Austria.

Information and images:

Ute Fischer-Graf
NOMOS Glashütte/SA
Roland Schwertner KG
Ferdinand-Adolph-Lange-Platz 2
01768 Glashütte
Germany

Telephone +49 35053 4040
Fax +49 35053 40480
pr(at)glashuette.com

The Berlin International Film Festival today saw the award of the epd-Film Reader’s Prize, the eighth to be endowed by NOMOS Glashütte: following Lars Kraume and Andreas Dresen, this year’s accolade went director Christian Petzold, born in Hilden in 1960. His drama “Barbara” (2012) has attracted a lot of attention both at home and abroad and now also won over the readers of the prestigious film magazine.

Petzold’s powerful film movingly portrays the fate of a woman living in communist East Germany and paints a picture of a divided land without lapsing into cliché. It is the fifth time Petzold has worked with actress Nina Hoss, who plays the heroine in the film’s title: after Barbara, a doctor, submits an application to leave the country, she’s transferred to a provincial hospital on the Baltic coast as punishment. There she waits for her future—and escape to the West.

Watchmaker NOMOS Glashütte has been supporting the epd-Film Reader’s Prize since 2006: on Tuesday, Petzold received a NOMOS Tangente—which, as the first mechanical watch to appear in Glashütte after the fall of the Berlin Wall, is not only a design classic but also symbolic of a fresh start in a reunified Germany.

Information and images:

Ute Fischer-Graf
NOMOS Glashütte/SA
Roland Schwertner KG
Ferdinand-Adolph-Lange-Platz 2
01768 Glashütte
Germany

Telephone +49 35053 4040
Fax +49 35053 40480
presse(at)glashuette.com

Around about now, Tangente from NOMOS Glashütte is turning out to be the ideal Valentine’s Day gift: a gift of love, for one’s love. And a watch some will steal back on the day after – to wear it themselves. And with a clear conscience: NOMOS Glashütte has built a special edition of the famous classic for the benefit of Ärzte ohne Grenzen Deutschland (the German branch of Doctors Without Borders). It comes in two sizes, each in a limited edition of 1,000, and on the dial is, in tiny script “Ärzte ohne Grenzen” and a red 12. A hundred euros from the price of each of the watches with its handmade Glashütte caliber goes directly to the aid organization: NOMOS Glashütte and its specialized dealers forgo these earnings—but the purchaser pays no more than for the standard model.

So it’s a great time all around: boyfriend, girlfriend, husband and wife—and better times, too, for those in need. The NOMOS special model for Ärzte ohne Grenzen is only available in Germany. List of NOMOS retailers

Information and pictures:

Ute Fischer-Graf
NOMOS Glashütte/SA
Roland Schwertner KG
Ferdinand-Adolph-Lange-Platz 2
01768 Glashütte
Germany

Telephone +49 35053 4040
Fax +49 35053 40480
presse(at)glashuette.com