Glashütte—a small town between forests and hills, halfway between Berlin and Prague—is located in Saxony, Germany. This is where NOMOS Glashütte, one of the few owner-operated watchmaking companies, has its headquarters, and this is where the finest mechanical timepieces are created. The watchmakers that produce them count among the very best in their field; they have mastered techniques that other watchmakers elsewhere struggle to. For watches have been crafted in Glashütte for many generations—since 1845, to be precise.
Work at NOMOS Glashütte is carried out in accordance with the principles of the Deutscher Werkbund: this is how beautiful, functional products are created with a great deal of craftsmanship and a dash of high-tech. NOMOS watches are renowned for their simple dials, elegant and usually slender hands, narrow bezels, and clear forms. Many models have long been considered classics, with well over 120 prizes for design and quality to their names.
When it comes to multiple prize-winning design, the Metro model from NOMOS Glashütte fits the bill perfectly. Combining the highest precision with urbane elegance, its delicate hands tell the time with grace. The dial—featuring a date, power-reserve indicator, and clear minute indexes—is reminiscent of a precise measuring device, displaying the passing of time in the most beautiful way. Despite only being introduced in 2014, the prestigious prizes to its name include the Red Dot Design Award, iF Product Design Award, Good Design Award, and German Design Award. NOMOS Glashütte also recently received the Green Product Award for Metro’s sustainable production. The designer behind this outstanding watch is Mark Braun, who collaborated with NOMOS’ in-house creative agency, Berlinerblau. Located in Berlin — the European capital for art and design a two-hour-and-ten-minute drive north of Glashütte—this is where short films are shot, posters are designed, websites developed, watches photographed, stands and packaging created, and, not least, watches are designed as well. You can pay a short visit to Berlinerblau here:
This is where watches such as the NOMOS Metro 38 Datum and Metro 38 Datum urban gray, the latest Metro models to join the family, are designed. With its fine minute indexes and the NOMOS long-distance date, Metro 38 Datum’s white, silver-plated dial is decidedly clear and composed; blue hour indexes at 3, 9, and 12 o’clock and a seconds hand in red are wonderfully contrasting accents. The attractively dark, almost black dial of Metro 38 Datum urban gray presents the watch in an entirely original way—and is a striking new interpretation of this award-winning watch design.
These appealing aesthetics are matched by groundbreaking technical innovation. The caliber inside Metro, DUW 4401, was the first to feature NOMOS Glashütte’s proprietary escapement, the NOMOS swing system. This essential watchmaking component is critical to the accuracy and robustness of a mechanical caliber; the majority of watchmaking companies source theirs from a single Swiss supplier. By developing its own escapement, NOMOS Glashütte is ensuring more independence in production and quality than ever before.
Developing the NOMOS swing system is the latest mechanical innovation from NOMOS Glashütte, a company that takes pride in producing everything in-house. In fact, the name DUW stands for “Deutsche Uhrenwerke”—a title that underlines NOMOS Glashütte’s credentials as a caliber producer. With 10 proprietary calibers and three patents to its name (including two at work within Metro, for the date and power-reserve functions), this is a company that is committed to continuous innovation—both on the inside and outside of every watch.
All content sponsored and provided by Nomos Glashütte.
