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In the world of watches there are the big players; Brand names which even the average Joe knows.. Then there are a couple of less known expensive brands, and a forest of relatively new brands which are not well known, even to the average WIS. Nomos is in the latter category. To be honest, I had only a vague knowledge to the brand before I spotted the rep at Trustytime last month. Then, starting to investigate the history of the brand and the accuracy of the replica, I got interested. List of references at the bottom. Much of the information is cut and paste from the net. THE BRAND Wikipedia "Nomos": In Greek mythology, Nomos is the daemon of laws, statutes, and ordinances.. Nomos was founded in 1990, by Roland Schwertner in the small but famous watchmaking town of Glashutte. With three employees, Schwertner travelled to Glashutte just two months after the collapse of DDR. The first watches were made in 1992. By January 2012, the company had 81 employees. Their first building was in the hillside above the village, but in 2005 Nomos moved into the old train station in Glashutte. Just across the road from A. Lange & Sohne. 2005 also marked the release of their first automatic movement. Prior to that, Nomos was most known for their manual wind movement. The old building, which is now the Chronometrie. (Picture from TZ.) The new office/ factory. The old Railroad station. Nomos is a true “Manufactory” that designs and builds their own movements. According to their website, they are one of only 3 watchmakers in all of Germany to wear the label of Manufactory. Thereby, they are allowed to type "Glashutte" on their dials. By law, 75% of the value of the movement must be created in Glashutte, to use this name on the dial. Nomos does between 75 and 95 percent of the work on the calibers itself. Nomos has also created several tourbillions for Wempe. This is the current line of Nomos watches: Current line of Nomos watches. MOVEMENTS The current line of movements used by Nomos. Note the "Sonnenuhr", which one can wear around the neck.By setting the date and point it to the sun, you can read the time on a lazy summer day.. A truly environmentally friendly watch.. No batteries or polluting oils. Nomos movements. Manual and Automatics. Nomos name their movements using letters from the Greek alphabet. The original hand wound models introduced in 1990 used the tried and true Peseux Caliber [ETA 7001], to which NOMOS added continuous improvements over the years and starting in 2005 only the updated calibers alpha (base movement), beta (incorporates date function), gamma (with gangreserve/power reseve indicator) and delta (date and gangreserve) are used for the manually wound models. The Caliber Alpha is the most basic movement, 23.3 mm in diameter and 2.6mm high, with hours, minutes and subsidiary seconds as the only functions. This manufactory caliber manual wound movement has 17 rubies and a power reserve of about 43 hours. A movement that is perfectly matched for the minimalist watch-a watch like the Tangente, the Ludwig, the Orion or the Tetra. The automatic movements used in the Tangomat, is called Epsilon. It is a 26 jewels with ca 46 hours power reserve. The finish is nice, with sunburst pattern and blue screws. Sunburst pattern on the cog wheels. The Nomos Epsilon movement, detail view. A bit different from the ETAs or Mioyta clones.. Genuine Nomos movement. The “Glashutte Ribbing” on the movement plates is different from Swiss style Cotes de Geneves. Apparently it is the angle used which is slightly different. Nomos has excellent webpages, free from the annoying wait for flash graphics to download and fuzzy design which are so popular with other brands. Easy to find information, even technical stuff. Just in style with their no-nonsense Bauhaus design! Interestingly, Nomos has the following mention of "Fakes" on their online Encyclopedia: ""Fakes All over the world and in all walks of life, the number of fakes has soared. There are Chanel T-shirts, which aren’t Chanel, Louis Vuitton bags which have never been anywhere near the Louis Vuitton company, there are cigarette lighters, trainers and silk scarves which are nothing more than cheap copies. You can find fake Lange & Söhne watches, toy cars and food processors. According to the dictionary, a fake is a modified or copied version of an article, a work of art, a literary work, a historical document, a signature. There were already fakes back in the 18th Century: The “Prillwitzer Idole,” fantasy figures of early Slav gods, were made at that time by an East German goldsmith (from Prillwitz). Even though NOMOS Glashütte is not one of the luxury goods manufacturers which suffer from copyists (because it would probably be too expensive for many of them), fakes, particularly of the Tangente do turn up now and again, on internet auctions. The “Tangete” (sic!) model serves here as one example: a customer acquired it at a supposedly reasonable price on the web two years ago, complete with its own special spelling. "" (From Nomos' online Encyclopedia) THE WATCH All Nomos watches are influenced by the Bauhaus industrial design concept of the 1920’s’ where designs are both functional as well as aesthetically pleasing. Bauhaus was a design school in Germany, from ca 1920 till 1933. Seeking to achieve a modernist design style, the primary intention was to integrate art, as well as technology and craftsmanship. For those interested in cars; Audi referenced the Bauhaus styile in their cars around ca 2000. The Tangomat has Nomos’ first automatic movement, launched in 2005. The case size of the gen is ca 38.3mm and 8.2mm thick, quite similar to the replica. Current Tangomat models in sale includes Date models, GMT-models and a black case. The black case model seems to be rare. The current line of models in the "Tangomat" range. PVD-case, GMT-functions and date-models are available. Genuine Tangomat. Note the shape of the "8". Genuine Tangomat. Note shape of lugs and the lugholes. All the Nomos I have seen on the net have display casebacks. There are great varity in the details of the design of the caseback varies. Some say “30 meter”, others “3 atm”, some say “Geschutches” other “gesch.”. So, I guess the replica caseback is ok. Nomos watches can have different lug designs. I recon both designs are inspired from the Omega Seamasters of the 1960ties.. The lug design on the Tangomat seems quite boxy and rigid. The lugs stand out 44mm. THE REPLICA The first Nomos replicas came out on Watcheden some months ago, without any fuzz.. The large, white dial and thin bezel makes the watch wear larger, and will satisfy those who are used to wearing 40-42mm diameter watches. The flaws I have spotted on the dial is a slightly thinner text, and a more square “8”. For me, none of these are dealbreakers. The slightly thinner “Nomos” text is more elegant. The strap is ok. It is a thin leather strap that feels very cheap and nasty at first encounter but it quickly gets better. Its minimalistic design flatters the watch. Nomos uses Shell Cordovan for their straps. Engraving on the strap buckle is ok. I like the slightly wider "M" in the "Nomos". The case design with the odd lugs does not feel familiar at once. The lugs are very thin compared to the case, and you immediately think that this is not a “Tool watch”. But, it is stylish. Replica crown and case. I like the dial, with the silvery shimmer and crisp text and numbers. The subdial has a very slight concentric pattern, like the genuine. Replica. Note the difference in the shape of the "8". Very slight cocentric pattern on the subdial. Lenght of the seconds hand is ok. Good finish on case. Well made. Minutes hand too short. Replica crown is good. Hand length on the replicas is one of my replica “obsessions”. As usual for many replicas, the Nomos rep has a slightly too short minute hand, ca 1mm. For most buyers this will not be a problem. The movement is of course the biggest tell. The display caseback immediately communicates that this is not a manufacture German movement, but rather a run of the mill Seagull ST16? Nice finish, never the less. Quite loud rotor, but all in all it does the job. Replica movement. Position of the seconds subdial seems to be correct. The crystal is flat and has no AR. To my knowledge this is correct. All in all, I am happy. I have a test of "Would the watch fool a "normal" watch interested guy?" From the front, the watch definently pass the test for a watch interested guy who has heard of the Nomos brand. From the back, the watch would not fool a normal WIS, who knows the look of a basic Chinese movement. If you like the style, buy it! Keep in mind that the genuine is not expensive and you can get a true Manufatcure movement for less than the price of a basic Tag Heuer or Breitling... This replica has opened my mind for a new brand.. A sign that "fakes" are not all bad.. References. Nomos homepage Nomos Glashutte. Article on Timezone WUS Review on the Tangomat Datum Details on the Epsilon movement ( clubnomos.de)