Introducing: The Nomos Tangente And Orion Neomatik Doré — Bauhaus With A Touch Of Gold
We know Nomos best for its minimalistic, Bauhaus-inspired stainless steel watches. However, the brand has quite a few references with gold accents and even offers watches with full-gold cases. Now we can add two more references to this list because the brand from Glashütte has released the Tangente and Orion Neomatik Doré. Both watches feature an in-house automatic movement and a touch of gold on the dial. Let’s take a look at these chic new references from Nomos.
Nomos Tetra “Ode to Joy”
One of my favorite Nomos watches is the Tetra “Ode to Joy” ref. 445. It’s from the brand’s square collection and features an olive-green dial with gold-colored hands. Those hands give it exactly the extra oomph I sometimes find lacking when I look at Nomos watches. So, yes, I am very excited to see that the brand’s signature Tangente and Orion models have received the same golden treatment.
The Nomos Tangente and Orion Neomatik Doré
But the excitement doesn’t stop there. It’s also great that Nomos chose two of its smaller watches for this fancy release. First up is the Tangente Neomatik Doré ref. 192 in a 35mm size. Its stainless steel case is only 6.9mm thick, and the narrow, angular lugs span 43mm from tip to tip. Its overall design is slightly more “function first” than the Orion’s, which seems more elegant with its gently rounded case and tapering lugs.
The Orion’s case measures 36.4mm in diameter. It’s a little thicker at 8.5mm and slightly longer too at 45mm. If I had to choose, I’d go for the Tangente. Its clean case and lugs and the Arabic numerals on the dial have so much character. It’s the classic Nomos model and offers a style you can’t find anywhere else. Sure, the Orion is nice and slender, but I feel it’s a little less distinctive than the Tangente and other dress watches.
But if you’re already familiar with Nomos, then these cases have no surprises for you. With this new release, it’s all about the dials.
Hands of gold
These Neomatik Doré versions of the Tangente and Orion come with the same gold hands for the hours, minutes, and sub-seconds. They match nicely with the slightly glittery silver-plated dials. The other thing they have in common is the gold “neomatik” printing underneath the brand’s logo at 12. For the Tangente, unfortunately, that’s where the golden treatment ends. Its numerals, hours indexes, and minute markers are all printed in black.
The Orion, on the other hand, also features embossed gold-tone hour markers. I feel this makes the design a bit more cohesive than the hands-only gold treatment of the Tangente.
In-house DUW 3001 inside
The Neomatik Doré versions of the Tangente and Orion are powered by the in-house-built Nomos DUW 3001 automatic movement. One of its standout features is its mere 3.2mm thickness. When you turn the watches over, you can see that the ultra-flat rotor holds most of its weight on the outer rim, below the three-quarter plate. This allows it to “hug” the caliber as closely as possible. What’s also visible is that the movement is nicely finished with blued screws, Glashütte stripes, perlage, and gold-filled engravings. Some of the 37 jewels are also visible through the exhibition caseback.
That’s actually 10 rubies more than before. Those extra ones optimize the dual ratchet wheels, which convert the bidirectional movement of the winding mechanism into a unidirectional movement. In the end, this makes the automatic winding system work more efficiently. The updated DUW 3001 still runs at a frequency of 21,600vph and holds a power reserve of 43 hours. What’s also nice to know is that both watches are water resistant to five atmospheres. Nomos says this means they are splashproof.
On the wrist
As with my favorite Tetra, I love the touches of gold on these two classic Nomos models. The gold-tone hands add a little something extra to the functional and clean Bauhaus dials, making these watches just a little more interesting to look at. I can also imagine that if you have a “regular” Nomos watch for your day-to-day life, you might choose one with touches of gold for more festive occasions.
However, I would’ve loved to see a bit more gold on the Tangente Neomatik Doré. In addition to the Neomatik printing in gold, I would’ve maybe printed the numerals for the minutes in gold as well. Other than that, I think these are beautiful versions of both models.
On my 17cm wrist, the smaller Tangente and the slightly bigger Orion both fit very well. The brown Horween leather strap needs some time to break in, but it’ll age very nicely in the long term. Some of my colleagues thought this strap was a bit too shiny and formal. I, however, think it adds a bit of ruggedness to these clean watches, especially when picturing what the strap will look like after a few months of wear and tear.
Available now
The Nomos Tangente and Orion Neomatik Doré are available now for €2,940 and €3,040, respectively. You can also choose to get the Tangente with an all-steel case back. In that case, the price of the watch drops by €300. As mentioned, each watch comes on a brown genuine Horween leather strap with a stainless steel pin buckle.
Let me know in the comments below what you think of the new Nomos Tangente and Orion Neomatik Doré.
