Nomos Glashütte has been steadily working their way through the palette of precious metals for their most recent releases. At the end of last year they revealed the Orion Silver and Gold, so the natural progression is to create a platinum themed watch. Which is precisely what they’ve created with the Tangente Neomatik Platinum Grey. Kind of.
While the watch might be called ‘Platinum Grey’, the coin-shaped case, available in both 35mm and 39mm, is made from stainless steel. The name actually comes from the Tangente’s new rhodium-plated dial. Rhodium is a silvery white metal that falls in the same group of elements as platinum and shares many qualities with it. You see it a lot in watchmaking, most commonly on rhodium-plated hands and hour markers.
The dial itself has a time-only display with central hours and minutes and a small seconds subdial at 6 o’clock. As you might expect, the three hands are indeed rhodium-plated. Around the periphery and providing a nice contrast to the grey of the dial are stark black hour and minute tracks, following the Tangente’s typical style of interspersing indexes with Arabic numerals.
Stylistically, it’s understated, drawing you into the design rather than pummelling you with it visually. It’s not quite so bright as the pure white references and nor is it as bold as the black, blue or champagne alternatives. That understatement continues with the choice of a dark leather strap or steel bracelet.
As a Tangente Neomatik, it’s no surprise to see the Nomos Neomatik calibre DUW 3001. It’s an ultra-thin, automatic movement measuring just 3.2mm high with a 43-hour power reserve. Prior to the Neomatik subcollection, which has been around for a while now, the Tangente relied on manual winding movements to achieve similar levels of thinness. Interestingly, the Tangente Neomatik Platinum Grey is the first watch with the neomatik calibre offered with a solid caseback, although you can still get it with an exhibition sapphire crystal if preferred.
In terms of accessibility, the Tangente Neomatik Platinum Grey falls well within the existing Nomos Glashütte bracket. The 35mm version is £2,440 while its larger counterpart is £2,580. That’s approximately £1,000 more than the non-neomatik tangents, but actually a few hundred less than previous neomatik colourways.
Price & Specs:
Model: Nomos Glashütte Tangente Neomatik Platinum Gray 35mm & 39mm
Reference: 188 (35mm), 143 (39mm)
Case/Dial: 35mm or 39mm diameter, stainless steel case, platinum grey rhodium-plated dial
Water resistance: 30m (3 bar) (35mm)
50m (5 bar) (39mm)
Movement: In-house calibre DUW 3001, automatic, 27 jewels
Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
Power reserve: 43h
Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds at 6 o’clock
Strap: Horween genuine shell cordovan black leather
Price/availability: £2,440 (35mm) and £2,580 (39mm)
More details at Nomos Glashütte.
