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Getting to Know Nomos: 6 Important Nomos Watches

Nomos watches are well-known in their native Germany, but not nearly as familiar to tag heuer replica watch lovers in the U.S. as other Glashütte-based watch brands such as A. Lange & Söhne and Glashütte Original. Nomos watches, in fact, have their own distinctive look (the brand has won several international design awards) and are fairly reasonably priced despite the fact that they all have in-house movements made in the traditional Glashütte style. As the brand becomes more prominent in the U.S., we offer six Nomos watches that you should become familiar with.

Nomos introduced its first diver-style discount fake watch online, the Ahoi, in 2013. The Ahoi Atlantik Datum, launched the following year, carries the theme further with its lacquered “Atlantic blue” dial. The Ahoi Atlantik Datum contains the self-winding Nomos Zeta caliber, which powers the time, small seconds, and date display (“datum”). The watch’s case is 40 mm in diameter and features a sapphire exhibition caseback, fitted with six screws, as well as a screw-down crown. The hour and minute hands are gold-plated, with green Super-LumiNova inlays; the small seconds hand has a red lacquered finish. The Ahoi Atlantik Datum is water-resistant to 200 meters and comes on a distinctively nautical-looking black textile strap with a winged clasp.

Nomos Ahoi Atlantik Datum

The elements on the dial of the Nomos Lambda Rosegold are designed to resemble the motion of a mobile. The big arc-shaped indicator at the top displays the generous three-and-a-half-day power reserve, made possible by the two mainspring barrels in the movement, Nomos’s in-house, manual-winding Caliber DUW 1001. The 18k rose gold case is 42 mm in diameter and just 8.9 mm thick and features a see-through caseback. The hands are gold-plated and the granulated dial is silver-plated. The Lambda Rosegold comes on a hand-stitched brown cordovan leather strap with a rose gold clasp.

Nomos Lambda Rosegold

Nomos’s Lux Weissgold collection is notable for its cushion-shaped case made of 18k white gold (weissgold in German) and for the simplicity of the dial, which reminds one of an old-style kitchen timer. The Lux’s case is 40.4 mm x 36 mm; the dial is galvanized and white silver-plated with a periphery of printed eggshell blue. The hands are rhodium-plated. The best quality replica watch, powered by Nomos’s manual-winding caliber DUW 2002, is mounted on a hand-stitched shell cordovan black leather strap; the clasp is the same white gold as the case.

Nomos Lux Weissgold

The Nomos Metro Datum Gangreserve contains the in-house DUW 4401 manual-wound movement, which is equipped with Nomos’s innovative “swing” system with a tempered blue balance spring. The stainless steel case measures 37 mm in diameter and has sapphire crystals in the front and back. Conceived by Berlin-based designer Mark Braun, the galvanized, silver-plated white dial features a pair of very thin, “quill-tip” hands in oxidized black steel for hours and minutes, a small seconds subdial with red hand at 6 o’clock, just above the date window, and an eye-catching, round power reserve window with red and white areas inside a mint-green wheel.

Nomos Metro Datum Gangreserve

Nomos’s award-winning Tangente collection now features a watch whose proceeds help benefit an international charitable initiative. The Tangente 38 “Doctors Without Borders” Limited Edition USA is distinguished by its red numeral “12” atop the white, silver-plated dial and a special engraving on the back referring to the Doctors Without Borders, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning humanitarian medical organization. It also has black, oxidized hands in place of the traditional tempered blue hands of other Nomos Tangente models. There are four models total in the Doctors Without Borders edition, two specifically for the United Kingdom and two for the United States, each limited to 1,000 pieces. One hundred dollars (in the U.K. editions, 100 pounds) from the sale of each watch goes directly to Doctors Without Borders. The movement, the Nomos manual-winding Alpha caliber, is visible through a clear caseback.

Nomos Tangente 38 "Doctors Without Borders" USA

One of the most understated world-time watches you’ll find, the Zürich Weltzeit is powered by the automatic Nomos Xi movement, equipped with an indicator for 24 world time zones. The high quality replica watch has a 10-part stainless steel case, 39 mm in diameter, with a domed sapphire crystal, and a galvanized silver-plated dial. The hands are faceted and rhodium-plated. Small seconds are on a subdial at 6 ‘clock and the time in 24-hour format is displayed on a disk at 3 o’clock, with a red pointer indicating the hour. The Nomos Zürich Weltzeit (“world time”) comes on a Horween shell cordovan leather strap.

Nomos Zuerich Weltzeit

Review Swiss copy dive watch

Most watch enthusiasts can identify a dive watch at a glance even if the watch only emerges from under a cuff for a few seconds. The bezel is the typical giveaway, but a watch’s brand may be more readily recognizable: the name, DNA and ubiquitous presence. Monochrome-Watches writes that Swiss brand Clerc differentiates itself by putting a square peg into a round hole, a design reference to the Hydroscaph’s inimitable bezel (a topic for further elaboration), and constructs a high-end, hand-crafted, low-production high quality replica dive watch. Two offerings position the brand; the three-hander Clerc Hydroscaph H1 and the Clerc Hydroscaph Chronograph Limited Edition (the latter we explored here). Becoming acquainted with Clerc clarifies what sets a Hydroscaph apart from the crowd.

Clerc-Hydroscaph-4

The term “Hydroscaph,” like Homer’s Odyssey, comes from the Greeks. It is the amalgamation of two Greek words: hydro, meaning sea (water) and scaph, meaning vessel. The company refers to its watches as explorations machines that are capable of above- and below-water adventure and designed for the associated rigors. Clerc’s meticulous attention to detail unites luxury and power in each Hydroscaph.

Clerc-Hydroscaph-3

The luxurious aesthetics of a Clerc watch are best represented in the three-dimensional, cut-away bezel – the square within a circle. When viewed from above, the cutting of the bezel leaves a flat square on the surface with four beveled slopes on each side, bearing an engraved 15-minute marker or a downward timing arrow. The beveled slopes’ outer curve maintains the original circle perimeter around the upper square. The visual effect is seeing a square within a circle, and the caseback mirrors the same design. When you already have an 81-piece (H1) or 103-piece (Chronograph) case, this kind of bezel design not only gives every H1 and Chronograph a visual significance of a da Vinci-esque perfect square within a perfect circle, but also adds to the complexity of the case’s construction.

sm15On the Clerc Hydroscaph H1, the fold-out bezel crank is on the right, and on the Chronograph, it is located away from the pushers on the left. This mechanical setting and external locking of the bezel removes any issues with grip or accidental default when using the bezel, adding yet another level of refinement to the watch’s function.

In addition, luxury and power are united in Clerc Hydroscaph H1 and Chronograph high-density steel cases. The safest bet when constructing a rugged discount fake dive watch is to offer a solid caseback, but Clerc provides two portholes on its hind side, a larger and a smaller. These windows have the necessary crystal thickness for the depths and create a submarine viewing experience. The off-center larger window clearly shows the balance wheel and flashes of the circularly vented rotor when it pivots; the smaller window shows flashes of the rotor’s edge. The Clerc Hydroscaph has a water-resistance rating of 500 meters and mobile lugs to ensure a secure fit and comfort over a dive suit. Each case, surrounded by its own peripheral case guard construction, is ready for anything.

Clerc-Hydroscaph-chronograph-1

The consistent power moving the interpreted plongeur hands is the H1’s caliber C609 and Chronograph’s caliber C608. The workhorse reputation of these base calibers is historic, but in the hands of Clerc, they are reworked with detailed decoration and refined into precise instruments with the H1 earning a certified chronometer designation. It is the fusion of luxury and power that distinguishes the Clerc Hydroscaph.

The H1 is the mainstay of the Clerc Hydroscaph collection, but each iteration of the Chronograph is a limited edition of 500 pieces. What further distinguishes the Chronographs from the herd is that they are central chronographs, meaning the chronograph functions are displayed on two central hands rather than two subdials. The two subdials, which do exist, are a 24-hour day/night indicator on the left, and a small seconds display on the right. Alternatively, the two thin, central hands — not to be confused with those on a split-second rattrapante chronograph — are the chronograph seconds hand and minute hand (recording up to 60 minutes), which are read against the outer dial’s chapter ring. From the perspective of diving, seeing a larger chronograph display on the center dial rather than on small subdials is a marked preference.

Clerc-Hydroscaph-chronograph-2

Clerc’s uniqueness is a conceptual clarity that meets the functional challenge of exploration in a more-than-capable form whose design, execution and implementation far surpass the average expectation of a cheap replica dive watch. Standing out from the crowd, and in fact above it, is the Hydroscaph’s achievement.

Monochrome Tuesday: Reviewing the Patek Philippe Nautilus Travel Time Chronograph

A few years ago, Patek Philippe introduced a new Ref. 5980/1A with a white dial (for laymen: that’s the Nautilus Chronograph). We at Monochrome Watches were a bit surprised to discover, at Baselworld 2014, that Patek had already discontinued the steel 5980/1A model  and replaced it with a steel Nautilus Chronograph with a second time zone, like the one in the Aquanaut Travel Time Ref. 5164.

 

Patek Philippe 5990 Nautilus

That means that the 5980/1A-019 (the white-dial Nautilus Chrono) will have been in production for only two years. Since we’re talking about Patek here, productions numbers are rather low, and this reference is now a very rare bird which we expect to become very collectible. Although the other steel 5980/1A models are not as rare (but super-rare compared to a replica Rolex Submariner, for instance), we would not be surprised to see their prices climb now that the demand can no longer be fulfilled at Patek boutiques but only on the secondary market. But now, let’s take a look at the newbie in the Nautilus family, whose additional second-time-zone function works just like the one in the aforementioned Patek Philippe Aquanaut Travel Time, introduced in 2011 (see here).

Patek Philippe ref.5990/1A - live

On the dial, we see the chronograph register at 6 o’clock, and, similar to that on the Aquanaut Travel Time, it features a pointer-date, now positioned on the upper part of the dial. The date indication is connected to the local time, which is your travel destination. When traveling, it can be adjusted both forward and backward, to follow the date of the time zone where you are. To the left and right on the dial are two small apertures, which indicate day and night in both the local time zone and the home time zone. The chronograph pushers – to start, stop and reset to zero – are located on the left-hand side of the case, just like on the Nautilus Chronograph Ref. 5980/1A. Where the old 5980/1A had a 60-minute and 12-hour register for measuring elapsed time, the new ref. 5990/1A has just one 60-minute counter. While you won’t be able to measure how long that intercontinental flight took anymore, the new subdial is cleaner and easier to read. And with the additional pointer-date register, that’s a good thing.

Patek Philippe ref.5990/1A - wrist

On the left-hand side of the case are two pushers for changing the local time zone when you’re traveling. Design-wise, Patek Philippe did very well here, because these pushers look like the typical “ears” of the Nautilus case. However, adding them forced Patek to change the model’s typical two-part case for a more traditional three-part case. Although the entire case construction has changed, the diameter is still 40.5 mm and the case is still water-resistant to 120 meters. Also the overall case thickness is not much greater (the official data is not provided) than the 5980’s thickness of 12.6 mm. When we saw the first images, we “feared” the best quality replica watch would be too thick and too busy on the dial. After trying it on the wrist, we’re convinced that our fears were groundless.

Patek Philippe ref.5990/1A - wrist - angle

The movement of the Nautilus Travel Time Chronograph, Caliber 28-520 C FUS, starts with the same base caliber as its predecessor; however, now it has an additional module for the two time zones (called “FUS”) — again, the same module used in the Aquanaut Travel Time. The retail price in Swiss Francs is CHF 47,000 (about $57,300), just a few thousand more than the steel Ref. 5980/1A. That’s still a lot of money, but we’re glad that Patek didn’t set the price even higher. Despite the fact that the Nautilus Travel Time Chronograph is a great addition to the Nautilus collection, I will miss the 5980/1A, because of its sportier look. I still consider the 5980/1A to be the Magnum Opus of luxury sports fake watches. Check here for our extensive review of the Nautilus 5980/1A.

Our conclusion? In terms of size and comfort, the new 5990/1A is more or less equivalent to the 5980/1A. However, in terms of functionality, the new 5990/1A is superior to the older 5980/1A and we believe that this is exactly the type of swiss replica watch that many of Patek’s customers — with their daily business-travel life — are looking for.