Experiencing a watch to its fullest, such as the new Nomos Club Sport Neomatik Worldtimer, requires a clear mind – and enough time to parse minute details like dial layout, precision during assembly, and wearability. While it may not be an A Lange and Sohn, or a Patek, it brings to the table its own set of values, that at first glance may not be so apparent.
Most of you reading this are already going to be well aware of what Nomos is known for, and for those that aren’t; this is a German brand that has for years now been producing some of the best value “high-horology” watches at rather attractive prices – without compromising on essential enthusiast driven needs such as in-house movement production and small details such as hand finishing within their movements. All of this, along with highly unique visual design language in the way they choose to display the time on the dial, at great pricing, is a combination that almost every collector find themselves perusing at one time or another.
I’m the proud owner of a Nomos Metro Date Power Reserve that I acquired in 2022, and let me tell you, I think about it everyday even when it’s not on wrist. For a watch that costs around $5150 cad, and sits alongside a Rolex Daytona, Submariner, and Air-King in my Whaler watch box, that’s a telling situation of great watchmaking. The Club Sport Neomatik Worldtimer that we’re exploring today is not much different in terms of its desirability for those that appreciate clean and subdued German watchmaking.
Worldtimer Dial
As to be expected with Nomos, and at first glance of the dial – this is not going to be your traditional full-worldtimer with multiple hands and sub-dials showing all timezones. Alternatively, and again due to the graceful creativity and executed engineering from Nomos’s watchmakers, we have here what is called a “City Ring” on the peripheral part of the dial. The city ring rotates with the simple actuation of the pusher at 2 o’clock, with each city rotation requiring an individual push, allowing you to experience a nice haptic feedback from the mechanical movement. When you do this, the central hour hand also jumps forward by one hour, it’s a very cool function to observe in person and would be super convenient if you’re actually travelling with the watch.
The city ring is labelled with 24 abbreviated city codes, and on this particular model I’ve been enjoying for quite some time now, the ring is in a brown color with cream text. Reading the local time remains quite intuitive as well, simply use the central hour and minute hands based on the city that’s been set at 12 o’clock. The 40mm case size of the watch, and simple but elegantly domed bezel, allows adequate room on the dial to display the time in beautiful fashion. This is a watch that wears slightly larger than it’s 40mm size would suggest, and the dial feels roomy, with the burnt orange numerals really popping for easily legibility. The two sub-dials located on the right and lower central location of the dial add a professional and sophisticated appearance to the watch.
There’s an astounding amount of detail on this dial, from the appearance of an elevated center plate dial due to the lowered and rotating city ring, to the addition of a day/night display found on the 24 hour sub-dial. The dial can be slightly overwhelming on first experience, but as you get to know the watch and begin to use it on a daily basis, it begins to flow and make a lot of sense. The hour and minute hands are modern sword shaped with no tapering, pretty standard for many of Nomos’ watches to date. The numerals and markers are painted on and illuminate in dark settings due to the application of Super-Luminova, same goes for the main hour and minute hands.
Dimensions and Wearability
Nomos invents some of the more creative and intuitive ways one can display time on a watch, and they’re not afraid to test ideologies that have not been explored before – but they have one area that remains predictable, and that’s the sizing and proportions of their watches, which rings even more true with their Club line of watches.
Their Club line, including the Sport Neomatik Worldtimer we’re reviewing, tend to wear larger than their paper credentials would suggest. If you have a small 6.5 inch wrist like myself, you may want to size down. This watch is stated to have a 40mm case size, but the lugs are long and slender, the bezel is skinny and minimal, and as a result – the dial has maxed out sizing. This creates an illusion of a larger watch, and I’d say this particular model we’re looking at today wears more like a 42mm watch.
The larger sizing can be good news for some. It certainly gives the watch a more casual sporty vibe, and small functional details such as the screw down crown with red line indicator add to the charm as well as its 100m water resistance rating. The lug width is a standard 20mm, and the watch comes with a stainless steel three link bracelet, that to be frank, has absolutely exceeded my expectations in terms of its quality and alternating brushed and polished finish. Nomos, a brand that used only offer straps on their watches, is now in my opinion producing some of the best bracelets at their respective price points.
DUW 3202 Movement
Now, the part you’ve all been waiting for, the in-house Nomos Calibre DUW 3202. This is a very thin automatic movement, and as we’ve come to expect from Nomos, is viewable through a generously sized exhibition case back. Again, Nomos’ ingenuitity is at play here, not to re-invent the wheel, but to improve it. This movement is essentially a more streamlined version of a traditional worldtimer that stacks a module on top of a base movement. Instead, on the DUW 3202, the worldtimer mechanism is now fully integrated into the movements gear train. Not only is this simply a cool concept from an engineering standpoint, but it also serves as a functional way to keep the movement as thin as possible at 4.8mm, of course allowing for the use of a thinner than usual watch case at 9.9mm.
The DUW 3202 uses an efficient bi-directional rotor system, is equipped with 37 jewels, and has a rather average power reserve of 42 hours. It’s also using the well known Nomos swing system with a blue balance spring for its escapement. Through the case back you can view most of the artistic finishing, such as the Glashutte ribbing, blued screws, perlage, and decorated rotor globe.
This watch is quintessential Nomos, with all the expected perks we’ve come to expect from the German watchmaker. The watch retails at 3,940 euros, and is limited to only 175 pieces, although other variants with different dial colors are available as well. For more information visit the official Nomos website here.
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