On December 22, 1971, a group of 13 doctors and journalists founded Médecins sans Frontières (MSF), aka Doctors Without Borders, in Paris, with a goal of providing aid and comfort to people in war zones and those suffering the effects of natural disasters. Fifty years later, the Nobel Prize-winning charitable organization operates in more than 70 countries and employs more than 65,000 medical providers, lab technicians, logistics experts and other volunteers to aid in its mission, and in 2011 began a partnership with German watchmaker Nomos Glashütte, which has helped provide funding to MSF with the release of 14 different special edition timepieces over the course of the decade. The latest one, which celebrates both a half-century anniversary of charitable work and the 10-year anniversary of the partnership, dropped in late December. Here’s a look at the Nomos Glashütte Tangente 38-50 ans de Médecins Sans Frontières watch.
Like the more than 10,000 pieces that have preceded it in the series of special editions for Doctors Without Borders, the new watch features a bright red “12” at the 12 o’clock position, an inscription below the 6 o’clock marker, and a special engraving on the solid caseback. Also in keeping with established tradition, Nomos donates between 100 and 250 euros from the sale of each watch directly to Doctors Without Borders.
Appropriately modest in its dimensions, the watch’s 37.5-mm two-part case is made from stainless steel and its galvanized, silver-plated white dial hosts oxidized black hands for the hour and minute and a subdial at 6 o’clock for the small seconds. Ticking inside the 30-meter water-resistant case is Nomos’s manually wound, in-house-made Alpha caliber, which stores a power reserve of 43 hours and boasts chronometer-tested rates of timekeeping precision. The watch is mounted on a dark gray, woven waterproof textile strap.
The Nomos Glashütte Tangente 38 – 50 ans Medecins Sans Frontières is limited to 2,021 pieces worldwide and retails for $2,030 in the U.S.
| Manufacturer: | Nomos Glashütte/SA, Roland Schwertner KG, Ferdinand-Adolph-Lange-Platz 2, 01768 Glashütte, Germany |
| Reference number: | 165.S50 |
| Functions: | Hours, minutes, small seconds |
| Movement: | Caliber Alpha, manually wound, made in-house, adjusted to chronometer standards, diameter = 23.3 mm, thickness = 2.6 mm, 17 jewels, 43-hour power reserve |
| Case: | Stainless-steel bipartite case, solid caseback with MSF engraving, sapphire crystal, water resistant to 30 meters |
| Bracelet and clasp: | Dark gray woven textile strap, waterproof, with winged, square steel clasp |
| Dimensions: | Diameter = 37.5 mm, height = 6.7 mm, lug width = 19 mm |
| Price: | $2,030 |
