One of my pervading horological interests is the idea that great quality replica watches don't always have to equate to great amounts of money. When I'm talking about replica watches that straddle the intersections of quality, value and price ?one brand always comes up: Nomos.
The BrandFor many years Nomos has been something of a fake watch aficionado's brand ?quietly making some great replica watches in the east German town of Glashütte. Quietly, but to critical acclaim ?their replica watches regularly winning fake watch of the Year, Goldene Unruh and Red Dot design awards. The noise around Nomos has been growing recently, and their Zurich Weltzeit Travel Time brought Nomos to the attention of a much wider audience. In fact, when Ben got his hands on it in November 2010 he was impressed enough to make an early call on it as one of the best replica watches of 2011, and later reviewed replica rolex watches in great detail here - the result was true admiration.
But for me the heart of the brand has always been its simpler offerings. The three staples that make up the core of the Nomos brand DNA, and encapsulate the brand. The Tangente, the Ludwig and the Orion are all interpretations of a very classic and refined fake watch ?and while the Tangente, with its simple arabic dial and angular case is the epitome of a Nomos watch, it has always been the Orion that has 'sung?to me the most.
ADVERTISEMENT Minimal designThe Orion is a deceptively simple watch; curvy, with a polished case, stick hands and indices, subsidiary seconds at six. Its nothing fancy. But I suspect that, like so many truly simple things it's a very hard thing to get right. The more I wear this watch, the more I think that it's some sort of platonic form of a watch. If you asked someone who knew a bit about replica watches to sketch a fake watch in 5 seconds I think more times than not you'd get a drawing that would, fundamentally, look a lot like the Orion.
It is the design of this fake watch that is its great strength. A design based in a school of thought that is almost a century old and unmistakably German. The Orion is a strikingly clear articulation of this philosophy.
This style has its heart in Bauhaus; a German design school, and overall philosophical approach to design that was hugely influential in modern design across a range of disciplines; including industrial design. Bauhaus design can be characterized by its functional minimalism and the rejection of ornament. The creed 'form follows function?is one close to the ethos of the Bauhaus and modernist design in general, and this Nomos bears more than a passing resemblance to the designs for Junghans of another Bauhaus alumnus ?Max Bill.
The appeal and value of the functional is one well understood in the world of watches. Some of the most iconic and enduring designs; replica watches like the Omega Speedmaster and the Replica Rolex Submariner are products of an absolute prioritization of function in the design process. The same is true with the Orion. It is a fake watch where the design is absolutely focused clearly telling the time with as little fuss as possible.
ADVERTISEMENT DialIt is the dial of the Orion where this is clearest. The dial is stark, with simple stick hands, a subsidiary seconds dial at 6, 11 applied hour indices and an outer minute chapter. The proportions of this dial are perfect and create a harmonious whole. The hour and minute hands are just the right length in proportion to the hour indices, the minute hand extends slightly beyond the hour marker and the hour hand doesn't quite reach ?a very small detail that assists the legibility of the dial.
Another nice touch is that the printed minute markers only mark the 4 minutes between the 5-minute intervals ?again greatly adding to the overall balance of the dial. Another example of this overall balance is the positioning of the sub-dial ?it isn't too low on the dial, eating into the outer dial ?another indicator that this fake watch has been designed as a whole; movement, dial and case all working together. The sub-dial also has a subtle guilloché finish, adding some nice texture.
CaseThe case of this fake watch is just as balanced and well executed as the dial. This Orion comes in at a modest 35mm, but it wears very well for its size due to the long lugs and narrow bezel. The other immediately noticeable thing about this fake watch is that it wears very thin. It's a very slender fake watch already (8.45mm with a curved sapphire caseback) and on the wrist it wears even slimmer thanks to the convex case design. The signed crown is not obtrusive, and surprisingly easy to grip and wind (even with my fat fingers) due to the sharp curves of the caseback.
I like that the lugs are drilled, something I wouldn't have expected on a fake watch of this style ?but I appreciate the practicality. The Orion comes on a very nice Horween cordovan strap (available from Nomos at $90 ?a very good price) that perfectly matches the feel of this watch?not too formal or too casual.
ADVERTISEMENT MovementOf all the elements of this excellent fake watch the movement is the one aspect that has the potential to cause some controversy. This is a manufacture watch, with a movement made in-house (excluding the Nivarox mainspring, rubies and a small minority of other parts) The Orion houses the base Nomos movement ?called the Alpha. The Alpha is very nicely finished; a traditional German rhodium plated three quarter plate, finished with Glashütte ribbing (what they call Geneva stripes in Germany) style perlage. The screws are hand blued and the exposed wheels have a very nice Glashütte sunburst finish.
The potentially contentious part of this very nice, simple movement is that though the movement is made completely inside Nomos?factory, in its design it is essentially a modified Peseux 7001 (Nomos stopped using ebauches in 2005). I'm not at all bothered by the design origins of the Alpha movement ?why reinvent the wheel when a modified, well finished, and very reliable 40 year old design will do just as well? Also, the pricing of the Alpha-based replica watches make it easy to overlook the fact that Nomos may not have conceived the architecture of this movement themselves.
On the WristI was familiar with this fake watch prior to reviewing it, but had never spent any great time with it in the metal. I was expecting a slender, refined and comparatively small fake watch ?and this is exactly what I got. Its size makes the Orion a fake watch you can almost forget you're wearing. This fake watch is definitely on the formal side, comparatively small and slender. Some people may find it too delicate for an 'everyday?watch.
What I wasn't expecting about this fake watch was how much of a fake watch of light and shade it is. The blued hands, gold indices, and silver dial all play together in a very dynamic and pleasing way. Combine this with the curved sapphire crystal and polished case and you get a fake watch with much more visual depth and interest than the minimal and clean design might otherwise suggest.
VerdictRetailing at $2200 ($1870 with a solid caseback) the Nomos Orion represents amazing value for a fake watch of its quality. Furthermore it is a fake watch from a brand with a clear and strongly articulated identity and aesthetic. Wearing the Orion you really understand that this is a completely thought through fake watch that is true to its inspiration; modest, and simultaneously classic and modern.
I understand that minimalist German style isn't everyone's taste; but if it is you can't go wrong with Nomos. And I don't think Nomos is going anywhere but up anytime soon.
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ProGreat value manufacture watch
Variety of models in Orion family
Clean, elegant design
ConPolarizing style
Smaller size
Not stylistically versatile
SpecificationsMovement: α (Alpha)—manufactory caliber with manual winding
Case: stainless steel, tripartite; domed sapphire crystal glass; diameter 35 mm; steel back: height 7.25 mm; domed sapphire crystal glass back: height 8.45 mm
Dial: galvanized, white silver-plated; stamped indexes, diamond-polished, gold
Hands: steel, tempered-blue
Strap: Horween Shell Cordovan black, lug width 18 mm
Reference numbers 301, 309 (with domed sapphire crystal glass back)
Find out more about the Orion at the Nomos site.
Nomos A-week-on-the-wrist