Why We Love It

The past several years, NOMOS has surged in popularity due to their minimalist and clean designs, German origins, and attractive price points.

These are all elements of modern watchmaking that we can get behind here at Analog/Shift.

Featuring a 38.5mm polished steel case with a satin silver dial, minimalism is at the forefront of the design, which is exactly what draws so many collectors to the German brand. The dial consists of contrasting black painted minute and 5 minute markers, which when paired with the matching black 'syringe' hands, offers a restrained, yet extremely legible display of the time. Within the dial sits a sub-seconds dial, with an orange hand offering a touch of color to the minimalist design.

The Metro embraces and encapsulates the Bauhaus design language that Nomos does so well.

For a look at the original announcement for the model, please click

The Story

The little town of Glashütte, situated close to the eastern edge of Germany and home to only 7,000 people, is the birthplace of German watchmaking. Glashütte is home to brands like A. Lange & Söhne, Mühle, and Glashütte Original, all incredible brands in their own right. But there is another brand that calls this little area of Germany home, and that is NOMOS.

NOMOS was founded by Roland Schwertner on January 10th, 1990, two months after the fall of the Berlin Wall. For the next 15 years the company created multiple patents for watch components--like date mechanisms and power reserve indicators--all in preparation for the day they would build their own movements in-house. That day came in 2005 when the firm released the Tangomat, powered by an automatic caliber all their own, and at a price point that virtually no other manufacturer could touch.

As the years rolled on, NOMOS continued in that spirit of affordable self-sufficiency, one of creating in-house movements and selling their watches at prices that belie the care and quality of construction that go into producing them.