Some of you may be surprised to be reading a review for a watch that, in my TD's own words, the factories "stopped making years ago". The mere uttering of those words would usually be enough for me to move on and consider my next rep, since my last dalliance with buying a watch from a non-TD was also my firs replica watch purchase many years ago and I haven't look back since. However there was something about the simplicity of the Bauhaus-style Nomos design that led me to pursue it more doggedly and decide to take a risk - with the dreaded Chinese car-boot sale, Aliexpress.
Before I go further into the watch, let's have a look at the Nomos brand and a bit more into the Gen:
Glashütte
The small, remote village of Glashütte is by no means an attraction, and yet, it is world famous. The town is often referred to as the new Geneva of the watch world where the watch makers within its borders are quickly being seen as the world leaders in fine watchmaking. Despite its recent prominence, Glashütte has been an epicenter of horological ingenuity since 1845 and due to such a strong lineage, it affords its watchmakers with capabilities those elsewhere would struggle to achieve. Similar to branding a watch as “Swiss Made”, in order for a company to label its timepieces from Glashütte, they must adhere to a set of strict rules and regulations that govern and protect the local manufacturers. In an effort to emphasize these stringent quality standards, the appellation was placed under special protection: Only watch makers that create at least 50 percent of the value of a watch’s caliber in Glashütte may benefit from the reputation of using the Glashütte name. Located within the small town protected by such appellations is a contemporary company: NOMOS Glashütte.NOMOS Glashütte however does not just abide by the 50% rule for manufacturing. Instead it builds up to 95 percent of each movement in Glashütte, which is particularly pleasing since they not only meet the standard requirements but exceed them. Within its factory walls sit 170 employees who have successfully obtained a handful of patents that have afforded them the ability to produce watches that have received more than 100 awards for watchmaking performance and design. While other watchmakers in the village such as world-famous A. Lange & Söhne rely heavily on tradition and compete with the trifecta of Patek Philippe, Audemar Piguet and Vacheron Constantin, NOMOS takes a restrained cosmopolitan approach to watchmaking ticking a little bit different than its local and international competitors.Nomos is still a fairly young brand, with its roots only tracing back to January of 1990. It was just two months after the fall of the Berlin Wall, when entrepreneur Roland Schwertner opened the Nomos company. After hiring watch designer Susan Günther, the first collection was drawn up showcasing a Bauhaus purist style that was rarely seen in eastern European watches at that time. Due to this risky endeavor, Nomos quickly made a name for itself winning multiple awards early on. Focusing primarily on manufacturing mechanical watches with hand-wound movements, the basis for the movement was, until 2005, the Swiss-made ETA SA / Peseux 7001.Then in April 2005, Nomos Glashütte began to create their own in-house built movement called the “?” (Alpha), a manual winding caliber that to this day is found in the Tangente timepiece I’ll be reviewing in this particular article. Since then, the range has expanded to include a line of other manual winding movements with additional functions: ? (Beta), with a date indicator; ? (Gamma), with a power reserve indicator; and ? (Delta), with both a date and power reserve indicator.Then in the summer of 2006, Nomos introduced its first automatic movement in the Tangomat, which is powered by the ? (Epsilon) caliber. Following that, they created the automatic ? (Zeta) caliber – which features a date indicator – that can be found in the Tangente Datum models. By 2009, Nomos had grown by leaps and bounds expanding its workforce and range to include several new models and sizes; most notably three world timers – powered by the new ? (Xi) caliber – and the eighth watch model, Ahoi, which was released in 2013.
And a gen image:
Cited from: Nomos Tangente Watch Review — Gentleman's Gazette http://www.gentlemansgazette.com/nomos-tangente-watch-review-glashutte/#ixzz33OihZOpf
Now, the replica that arrived in my hands after around 7 days from placing the order with a seller called AMY CHEN via HK airmail:
DIAL
The dial is clearly the best part of the watch. As you can see from the comparison with the Gen, it measures up well. The not so obvious flaws include the failure to 'bolden' the line at 3, 6, 9 and 12 on the subdial, and the 'GERMANY' imprint at the bottom is from the big brother, the Tangomat (the gen Tangente says 'MADE IN GERMANY'.
The subdial is the least accurate part of the dial. It doesn't feature the subtle guilloche effect on the gen, although there is a minor difference in the face of it (very minor)
The hands are blue like the gen, but the minute hand is a little short.
MOVEMENT and CASEBACK
Here's where the rep, like many at this price bracket, falls into the laughable category. As we know, there are cheaper alternatives to the Nomos offerings in the Bauhaus range - namely Stowa and the Chinese equivalent, Rodina. And if you purchase this watch from this seller, the latter is, bar the dial, exactly what you are getting
The caseback doesn't try to pretend to be anything other than a Rodina R005. The positioning of the 4th wheel at 6:00 suggests it is a Sea-Gull ST17. Compared with the Miyota 8215 it is much smoother but doesn't quite keep time as well. Caseback is nothing like the gen and the massive rotor, whilst helpful at hiding how inaccurate it is, merely serves to make it even more inaccurate
STRAP
Preditably poor. Very soft though compared to some. The buckle is hilarious - someone got the font wrong in the factory I think. I switched it for a mesh bracelet and it looks much better.
CROWN
Another inaccuracy. Rounded rather than flat like the gen. And guess what? It has the Rodina R on it
SIZING
The rep, like one variation of the gen, measures in at 38mm. It wears small and a little flimsy though. Here it is compared to an Omega PO 45mm
OVERALL
If someone had offered me this at the price I paid (around $75 including shipping) beforehand I'd have bitten their arm off. As a dress watch I love it. The inaccuracies I really don't give a toss about, hardly anyone would know a Nomos if it bit them on the arse. If anyone would like the link to the Aliexpress seller, please let me know.
Before I go further into the watch, let's have a look at the Nomos brand and a bit more into the Gen:
Glashütte
The small, remote village of Glashütte is by no means an attraction, and yet, it is world famous. The town is often referred to as the new Geneva of the watch world where the watch makers within its borders are quickly being seen as the world leaders in fine watchmaking. Despite its recent prominence, Glashütte has been an epicenter of horological ingenuity since 1845 and due to such a strong lineage, it affords its watchmakers with capabilities those elsewhere would struggle to achieve. Similar to branding a watch as “Swiss Made”, in order for a company to label its timepieces from Glashütte, they must adhere to a set of strict rules and regulations that govern and protect the local manufacturers. In an effort to emphasize these stringent quality standards, the appellation was placed under special protection: Only watch makers that create at least 50 percent of the value of a watch’s caliber in Glashütte may benefit from the reputation of using the Glashütte name. Located within the small town protected by such appellations is a contemporary company: NOMOS Glashütte.NOMOS Glashütte however does not just abide by the 50% rule for manufacturing. Instead it builds up to 95 percent of each movement in Glashütte, which is particularly pleasing since they not only meet the standard requirements but exceed them. Within its factory walls sit 170 employees who have successfully obtained a handful of patents that have afforded them the ability to produce watches that have received more than 100 awards for watchmaking performance and design. While other watchmakers in the village such as world-famous A. Lange & Söhne rely heavily on tradition and compete with the trifecta of Patek Philippe, Audemar Piguet and Vacheron Constantin, NOMOS takes a restrained cosmopolitan approach to watchmaking ticking a little bit different than its local and international competitors.Nomos is still a fairly young brand, with its roots only tracing back to January of 1990. It was just two months after the fall of the Berlin Wall, when entrepreneur Roland Schwertner opened the Nomos company. After hiring watch designer Susan Günther, the first collection was drawn up showcasing a Bauhaus purist style that was rarely seen in eastern European watches at that time. Due to this risky endeavor, Nomos quickly made a name for itself winning multiple awards early on. Focusing primarily on manufacturing mechanical watches with hand-wound movements, the basis for the movement was, until 2005, the Swiss-made ETA SA / Peseux 7001.Then in April 2005, Nomos Glashütte began to create their own in-house built movement called the “?” (Alpha), a manual winding caliber that to this day is found in the Tangente timepiece I’ll be reviewing in this particular article. Since then, the range has expanded to include a line of other manual winding movements with additional functions: ? (Beta), with a date indicator; ? (Gamma), with a power reserve indicator; and ? (Delta), with both a date and power reserve indicator.Then in the summer of 2006, Nomos introduced its first automatic movement in the Tangomat, which is powered by the ? (Epsilon) caliber. Following that, they created the automatic ? (Zeta) caliber – which features a date indicator – that can be found in the Tangente Datum models. By 2009, Nomos had grown by leaps and bounds expanding its workforce and range to include several new models and sizes; most notably three world timers – powered by the new ? (Xi) caliber – and the eighth watch model, Ahoi, which was released in 2013.
And a gen image:
Cited from: Nomos Tangente Watch Review — Gentleman's Gazette http://www.gentlemansgazette.com/nomos-tangente-watch-review-glashutte/#ixzz33OihZOpf
Now, the replica that arrived in my hands after around 7 days from placing the order with a seller called AMY CHEN via HK airmail:
DIAL
The dial is clearly the best part of the watch. As you can see from the comparison with the Gen, it measures up well. The not so obvious flaws include the failure to 'bolden' the line at 3, 6, 9 and 12 on the subdial, and the 'GERMANY' imprint at the bottom is from the big brother, the Tangomat (the gen Tangente says 'MADE IN GERMANY'.
The subdial is the least accurate part of the dial. It doesn't feature the subtle guilloche effect on the gen, although there is a minor difference in the face of it (very minor)
The hands are blue like the gen, but the minute hand is a little short.
MOVEMENT and CASEBACK
Here's where the rep, like many at this price bracket, falls into the laughable category. As we know, there are cheaper alternatives to the Nomos offerings in the Bauhaus range - namely Stowa and the Chinese equivalent, Rodina. And if you purchase this watch from this seller, the latter is, bar the dial, exactly what you are getting
The caseback doesn't try to pretend to be anything other than a Rodina R005. The positioning of the 4th wheel at 6:00 suggests it is a Sea-Gull ST17. Compared with the Miyota 8215 it is much smoother but doesn't quite keep time as well. Caseback is nothing like the gen and the massive rotor, whilst helpful at hiding how inaccurate it is, merely serves to make it even more inaccurate
STRAP
Preditably poor. Very soft though compared to some. The buckle is hilarious - someone got the font wrong in the factory I think. I switched it for a mesh bracelet and it looks much better.
CROWN
Another inaccuracy. Rounded rather than flat like the gen. And guess what? It has the Rodina R on it
SIZING
The rep, like one variation of the gen, measures in at 38mm. It wears small and a little flimsy though. Here it is compared to an Omega PO 45mm
OVERALL
If someone had offered me this at the price I paid (around $75 including shipping) beforehand I'd have bitten their arm off. As a dress watch I love it. The inaccuracies I really don't give a toss about, hardly anyone would know a Nomos if it bit them on the arse. If anyone would like the link to the Aliexpress seller, please let me know.