With the new
Club Campus, Glashütte-based manufacturer
NOMOS offers an entry level timepiece that distills all the qualities the manufacturer is known for into a fresh, accessible and tremedously tempting package:
The Campus series comes in three different versions, one
36mm with a silver dial for the young ladies, and two
38.5mm models for the gents (young and older boys!), which offer a choice of silver or dark ruthenium dial.
All watches come in NOMOS' signature
Club case (with those
looong lugs), which has been the value level for the brand for quite some time (the 36mm case existed before, the 38.5mm case is new). Value is a keyword with these pieces as well, as they come between € 1000 (ladies) and € 1100 (gents), respectively. For this money, you get:
- the NOMOS Club Campus in stainless steel with an in-house handwound NOMOS caliber α (Alpha)
- a complimentary engraving on the case back
- a velour leather strap
- a watch box made of poplar wood
- a booklet 'Lexikon des guten Lebens', for German buyers, a booklet with practical everyday advice for the young ('how to choose a suitable roommate?', and the like)
A surcharge of € 200 secures you a display back. As Uwe Ahrendt, CEO of NOMOS, admits, the price of the Club Campus is
slightly subsidised. Its not that they lose money with each watch, but in order to make the price very attractive NOMOS eats a bit of the margin. In times like these, a good move I guess!
Let's take a closer look and start with the dark 38.5mm version, called
Club Campus Nacht (=
night):
One thing you immediately notice is a slight impression of inconsistency, and if you looks closer you'll discover that the numerals are Arabic (on top) and Roman (at the bottom):
PR lady:
'This watch is bilingual!'Your truly:
'No, it's trained in both humanities as well as exact sciences!'... choose what you like....
Besides the slightly-unusual section of numeral types, it's colour and luminosity which define the
Campus watches. Each dial has received a decent helping of SuperLuminova, framed with a coloured outline (turquoise here). The seconds hand is in orange, too.
And this is, as you see, for good measure:
Now the turquoise frame suddenly makes sense as an indicator of the gems hidden from light: the bright luminous shines in the same colour. The lightning paint is very precisely applied and makes for an exciting night life compatible timepiece...
The back, as mentioned, is solid in the base specification, and ready to be custom engraved with a message of your (or your sponsor's ;-)) choice. The engraving is complimentary and thus included in the price of the watch.
One lovely detail is the likeable little smiling whale indicating the 100m water tightness.
As I mentioned before, for those you want to give their graduates the full horological experience, NOMOS offers a display back (against a 200€ surcharge) which would reveal their caliber α (Alpha), the oldest movement in the stable, and without the brand's own Swing System escapement. It's nice looking, though, and decorated like one would expect for a NOMOS:
On the wrist, I think the watch makes quite an impression, partly thanks to the unsual numerals, partly thanks to the velour strap.
The numerals, however, give a certain squareness to the piece, which requires some time to get used to (or not...). But definitely, this piece has character!
A quick look at the
silver version. Everything is equal save the dial's colour and the tint of the framing, ...
... which is red here. the silver has a nice grain to it that adds a cool depth to the dial:
It wears slightly smaller, and also the different numeral types are a bit less obvious here:
Finally, the small 36mm
ladies watch:
On the first view, all the same as the larger brother, but this is deceptive: The luminous material is of a grey tint, ...
... thus giving emphasis to the red outline...
... but it still glows as blue (or orange...) as the remainder of the collection:
Feminine? For sure! Young - check!
And a bit cheeky as well...
(Please make sure the extended lugs fit with your wrist, though...)
Is the details which make this watch work, and details are what we like ever so much, here at PuristSPro.
So, the NOMOS Club Campus is a very welcome twist to an established brand, offering a fresh juvenile sanguineness to the otherwise often too serious and conservatively classic art of watchmaking. The Campus does so without a hint of obscenity or ingratiation, just with a well-devised breeze of liveliness.
Graduation, at least in its German equivalent ('Matura') implies the notion of maturity, and this is exactly what this watch is about. Graduation means you accomplished the final level that prepared you for your own, self-determined life. As such, graduation is a notion of opportunity, not an excuse for resting on your laurels (aka: phlegm).
It is therefore, that this watch can serve both as a a reward and encouragement to fulfill yourself, but also, years later, as a reminder on the opportunities you seized and the challenges you met. As such, the 'Campus' is open to everyone!
Q.E.D.
Magnus
