Watch guys’ choice is officially in PHL
VARIOUS models of Nomos Glashutte have been sold in the Philippines for over a year now, but still the German watchmaker’s local distributor deemed it proper to off icially launch the brand in the country. So, on Nov. 23 Its ’Bout Time (IBT), which also carries mainstream marques U-Boat, Glycine, and Jean Richard, turned the Aston Martin Manila showroom into a showcase of Nomos pieces — all of which highly regarded in watch communities here and abroad.
Which is not bad for a company that can still be considered an horological newbie; Nomos first turned up a watch only in January 1990. But in that period the brand has earned its place alongside Swiss watchmakers that boast centuries of heritage and history behind them, its pieces finding their way in the watchcases of serious collectors.
Nomos managed this by sticking to highly identifiable aesthetics that, while honoring classical timepiece design, is also modernist — but stopping short of completely being faddish. The brand’s first models may have leaned heavily toward Bauhaus design, but over the succeeding years, Nomos developed a unique visual language that is only accented by the German school, not completely dictated by. What the brand merely takes from the Bauhaus thought is the philosophy of discarding pure décor, favoring function over form. On the wrist, a Nomos is subtle yet unmistakable.
That this quality is apparent on all Nomos watches is impressive, too — the brand counts 12 collections at present, with numerous variants for each. Yet every model and variant look distinct enough from one another. Such a trait is common among makers of fine watches, and this is not lost on collectors.
Equally, if not more appreciated by watch guys is that Nomos, since 2005, has been making its own calibers. In the horology business brands that rely on their own in-house mechanical movements — even those that make affordable pieces, like Seiko, Citizen, and Orient — often occupy loftier positions over those that do not. And collectors respond to this correspondingly.
Now, consider this: Nomos officially lists 10 calibers to its name. Not a few of the more established and expensive brands can only tick off a couple or so.
Among small, independent watchmakers (or those that are not owned by any conglomerate), Nomos is also unique in the sense that its production is not exactly low-volume, with a run of around 20,000 watches annually, and its pieces are affordable. While the new top pieces hover around the $20,000 mark, the bulk of the models costs less than $5,000, with some even dipping south of $2,000.
In the Philippines, at least eight models are available at any given time. But IBT said it can secure other pieces if a customer so pleases. The company, after all, had even managed to have Nomos build a special piece limited to only 50 copies for the Philippines — the Zurich Weltzeit Manila, a world time watch that has Manila listed among the 24 cities representing time zones across the planet. This puts the Philippines on Nomos Glashutte’s — and collectors’ — map, officially. —