Simply Abu Dhabi XXX

1 8 0 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I N O M O S G l a s h ü t t e A u t o b a h n B ased in Glashütte, the German crucible of watchmaking, with design duties being executed in Berlin and New York, NOMOS is a watch company that is going from strength to strength. The rise and respectability of the brand just keeps growing and growing. For a relatively young watch manufacture—the ultra-cool brand with a cult following was founded in 1990—they have racked up a seriously impressive array of in- house movements: it produces eleven calibres in Glashütte—all entirely proprietary. Since 2014, NOMOS Glashütte has been producing a proprietary escapement in series: the NOMOS swing system. When launched it broke the quasi-monopoly of Swiss producers and it makes the watchmaking company independent today. The project took seven years of R&D and nearly €12 million in investment. Fast forward to 2018 and NOMOS Glashütte is now presenting a neomatik calibre with a date (DUW 6101). The eleventh proprietary calibre features a cutting-edge date mechanism, with a date that can be set quickly and easily forwards or backwards via the crown. It also allows the date window to be placed at the edge of the dial, even in larger watches. With a height of just 3.6 millimetres, this neomatik movement is also exceptionally slender. This year at Baselworld 2018 the brand updated three of its iconic timepieces, the Tangente, Orion and Ludwig models, which were all well received. However, there was a lot of buzz around the Autobahn watch that the brand unveiled—a generously sized and sporty automatic watch, powered by the new neomatik movement, which is the result of a collaboration with the famous German furniture designer Werner Aisslinger. It’s a distinct launch from the brand and right off the bat the Autobahn is noticeably large for a NOMOS at 41mm in diameter. However, the case is still slim, and the downturned lugs means it’s very comfortable to wear. The most striking thing on the dial is the fan of indented lume from eight o'clock to four o'clock which is evocative of an old-style speedometer from a cool vintage automobile, and secondly what NOMOS call its “three-lane date window,” which displays three days at a time. The seconds sub-dial at six o'clock is also curved and recessed and adds to the retro feel. Whilst these vintage elements work well, the watch still looks utterly contemporary.