In watchmaking, as in life, it is tricky to get every single detail right on the first go. The key, of course, is to be able to recognize what can be improved and then go about making those refinements.
Take the NOMOS Glasshütte Club Sport neomatik, for example. When the first, understated edition launched in 2019 – with its deep-black dial, quick-set date, and 42mm steel case featuring 300-meter water resistance and a newly-developed bracelet – it was generally well received, especially among larger-wristed watch aficionados.
However, that rectangular-link, non-integrated bracelet – which looked great on the brand’s more Bauhaus-heavy Tangente Sport neomatik – didn’t quite do the business on the sportier-looking Club Sport neomatik. Likewise, the jet-black dial was perhaps a bit too sober, especially for a watch that is part of NOMOS’ more youthful, color-tinged Club family.
On top of that, the Club Sport neomatik’s 52.3mm lug-to-lug distance was simply too large for some wrists.
Then, last fall, the Saxon watchmaker went some way to bettering that first Nomos Club Sport neomatik when it launched a second 42mm date edition with a blue dial and a reworked, integrated bracelet.
Not only did the navy dial, with its sun-brushed surface, burst with life, but the three-link bracelet – with satinized outer links and polished central links and clasp – was a far more coherent complement to the overall sporty aesthetic. Now, even the black dialed edition comes with this bracelet upgrade. Now, building on those black and blue 42mm time-and-date editions, today NOMOS Glashütte has added two new time-only Club Sport neomatiks to the Club family, both carrying further design tweaks.
The general look, including the updated three-link bracelet, may remain the same; however, today’s new releases not only boast fresh, dynamic dial tones – polar blue and petrol green – but also a slimmer, more universally wearable 37mm case.
“Demand for Club Sport with this diameter was more than obvious,” says Sven Schönberger of the NOMOS Product Management team. “It simply fits the times.”
While the new case is 5mm slimmer than previous Club Sports, at 8.4mm in height, it is also 1.8mm thinner. Its water-resistance, meanwhile, is a little less – 200 meters rather than 300 meters – but it can still be worn with confidence in and under water. The smaller case diameter makes the bezel appear a tad plumper but not excessively so.
The new “unisex” case dimensions are possible thanks to a switch of movement on the inside.
The Nomos Sport neomatik 42 date featured NOMOS’ sizeable in-house, automatic DUW 6101 calibre, which allowed for a harmoniously positioned date along the periphery of the dial. But the two new models use the far more compact, time-only DUW 3001 calibre.
Of course, it still features all that in-house mechanical goodness that NOMOS is known for, such as its “swing system” regulating organ with tempered blue hairspring, plus a stop-seconds mechanism, so never fear.
The decoration is also as we would expect from the independent brand, with Glashütte ribbing and NOMOS perlage on the rhodium-treated surfaces, gilded engravings on the bidirectional winding rotor and three-quarter plate, and screws blued by tempering.
While the back of the watch is certainly worth checking out occasionally, it is, of course, the fresh faces of these two novelties that we’re most interested in here.
Building on the success of the blue-dialed Club Sport last time out, NOMOS has chosen even lighter dial colors – polar blue and petrol green – for these 37mm versions. And in tandem with the sun-brushed finishing, these hues lend each watch face a subtle zing and vivacity. The hands and numerals, meanwhile, are treated with lume to deliver legibility at night or underwater. The hour numerals, in particular, are recessed so as to accommodate a significant amount of luminescent material to ensure a durable glow.