Foversta recounts an unexpected visit to the Nomos boutique in Zürich, offering a detailed photo report that highlights the brand's strategic expansion and design philosophy. The article delves into Nomos's commitment to evolving its Bauhaus aesthetic, showcasing collaborations with designers like Hannes Wettstein for the Zürich model and Mark Braun for the Metro, emphasizing how these partnerships maintain brand identity while attracting new customers.
Several weeks ago, I had the opportunity to spend a week-end in Zurich. Actually, the purpose of this stay was to attend a show at the Opera House... so far from our usual watchmaking stories. Call it sixth sense... but totally by chance, when I was wandering the streets of the town, I met the Nomos Boutique in Zurich. And the second surprise was to meet somebody from Nomos I previously met at Basel. Hopefully, I had my camera with me so I decided to prepare this small report.
Located on the lovely Spiegelgasse square, the Nomos Boutique symbolizes the ambition of the brand which wishes to increase its sales figures and its visibility outside Germany. Zurich is a perfect city to meet this ambition. In addition of the high revenues per head and the strong horological knowledge of its inhabitants, Zurich is also the birthplace of Hannes Wettstein who designed the... Zurich watch. This watch was very important in Nomos history since it embodies the quest for a new style while keeping the details which make a Nomos timepiece recognizable at first glance: the purety of the dial, of the indexes, of the hands and an elegant case design.
The involvement of Hannes Wettstein is also the proof that Nomos doesn't want to be "trapped" in its pure Bauhaus aesthetic approach. It is a strong asset for a brand to have such visual identity but fresh ideas are always welcome to target new customers and to get a dynamic of growth.
It is the reason why Nomos worked with an other designer, Mark Braun to create the new watch, the Metro. To celebrate this fruitful collaboration, Nomos took advantage of its boutique in Zurich to organize an exhibition which made a parallel between objects created by Mark Braun's studio and the Nomos watches. Purety and sobriety lovers, this exhibition was yours!
I propose you to enter the Boutique and to discover some pictures of the exhibition... without forgetting the star of the show, the Nomos Metro!
The nice building at the Spiegelgasse square:
The room on the right side of the boutique was fully dedicated to the exhibition:
On each table were gathered objects from the designer and Nomos watches:
Form follows function... the proof of this key principle:
I could appreciate the sober decoration of the room, fully in line with the spirit of the brand:
Let's have a closer look on the Metro.
I like this watch because it has a very refreshing style. It gets its name because the dial was inspired by a metro map. Look at the dots, the figures, the colours...
Of course, you will recognize an usual dial lay-out with the small second subdial, the typical Nomos power reserve indicator, this time with a touch of light green:
I can say that Mark Braun managed to complete the objective which was assigned. The watch is at the same time very Nomos (the subdial, the power reserve indicator, the case size (37mm)) but it also contains a lot of new details like the peripheral figures, the colours combo and the main hands shape:
The other interesting point about this watch is the movement. It seems to be very similar to the caliber Delta which has the same complications.
But this one is the DUW 4401 which features the in-house regulating organ of Nomos, the swing system.
If you look at the specifications of this movement, its diameter is 32,1mm including the movement holder. So the actual diameter bridges side is closer to the one of the Gamma (23,3mm). It explains the location of the subdial even if it is not a problem here since it allows to put the date window on the dial without any overlapping. Frankly speaking, I would have preferred a solid caseback.
On the wrist, the charm of the Nomos Metro is unquestionable thanks to its very contemporary style which keeps a timeless atmosphere. Due to the very thin bezel, the watch looks bigger than it is actually:
This Nomos Metro was a very good surprise for me. I consider it as a good step for Nomos in a new direction.
As explained before, the Nomos Zurich is also the fruit of the collaboration between a designer and the manufacture.
The Zurich is radically different from the Metro which is an excellent point for Nomos!
The dial features large indexes and thicker hands. The case diameter is larger (39,7mm) but once again, the watch looks much larger. This time, it is due to the very long lugs.
The watch is powered by the lovely Automatic in-house movement, the Epsilon. It fits better the case than the DUW 4401 with the Metro case I must confess.
The watch on the wrist. I'm not a great fan of the white dial version. I much prefer the black or even better, the blue versions. Why? Because the darker colours reduce the feeling of size and because with these colours, the dial becomes more subtle. I find the indexes a bit too ubiquitous here.
Thanks to the staff of the Boutique, I could walk a few minutes outside with the blue version. A gorgeous watch... but it is a true nightmare to take good pictures of it!
After this small walk, I came back to the boutique to enjoy the main room dedicated to the selling points. And here again, I could appreciate the decoration:
A very original display at the end! The safe seems to have local roots!
It was a true pleasure for me to visit the boutique and to spend a large time slot with the Nomos staff. If you visit Zurich, I recommend you to pay a visit to the boutique. First of all because it is located in a very nice area. Secondly because you will enjoy the visit far from the a bit too obvious Banhoffstrasse area.
Fr.Xavier
This message has been edited by foversta on 2014-08-28 14:19:23 
