Nomos Ludwig

[dlgates]

(These are old photo reviews rescued from the original RWG site; I didn't want them to get lost forever! Old hands will already have seen them; some newbies might be interested.-- Dave)

Nomos Ludwig

Received from Narikaa 16th May 2005

SS, diameter 39mm, hand-wound, seconds subdial, no complications

This is a very unusual and rare replica from Nomos of Glashütte, the Ludwig. The home website is incomplete and only in German ( http://www.nomos-uhren.com/ ). This is the simplest (and in my view most elegant) version, without a date aperture at the bottom or a power reserve under 12 o'clock, all of which are available as variations of the Tangente models.

Receipt from Narikaa was quick and efficient, and it arrived nicely wrapped and in a red velvet bag. Actually I had ordered the Tangente model but received the Ludwig instead. Now that it's on my wrist, I am just as pleased to have the Roman numerals of the Ludwig instead of the Arabic numerals of the Tangente.

Here is what the original looks like in basic stainless steel (approximately $800 USD). This is the least expensive of the genuines, other variations in gold ranging up to the $4,000 level.

Before any further comments, let the pictures speak for themselves:

If you look very closely or magnify the images, you may think there is a slight flaw on the 'M' in 'NOMOS'. There is no flaw: in my haste to take pictures as soon as possible tonight, I thought I had adequately polished the watch with an appropriate cloth, but later, after shutting my camera, etc., down for the night, realized there was a tiny piece of lint there! I'm simply too tired at past midnight now to re-take the photos.

Again, the photographic flaws on the back of the watch are due to unnoticed lint and my failure to re-polish the case back after moving the watch around on the black velvet backdrop. The watch is also labeled "Tangente" on the back although this particular one is in fact a copy of the Ludwig.

On the wrist, the watch actually appears to be larger than 39mm -- it feels at least as big as a 41mm Aqua Terra but much thinner. This is the kind of elegant simplicity that I most admire in a dress watch. My only negative comment at all: the strap is quite awful and must be replaced with, I think, either a rouille or black aligator or plain leather strap. (I'm sure I may receive advice from Clive or Brian in this regard!)

Finally, for the photo buffs, the pictures were taken with my new Dimage A200 using the following settings:

200mm Macro

ASA 100

Tungsten light white balance

Hard sharpness

Vivid colour

Contrast +1 and Colour +1

2-second self-timer, tripod mounted

Black velvet backdrop within large EZCube light box

(No polarizing filter, only because it has not yet arrived for the new camera)

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THE END

Thanks for looking!