Hello watch lovers,

I love writing these "A month on the wrist" reviews, because by the time I've owned and gently abused a watch for a month, I know whether or not it belongs in my collection. The Nomos Club Dunkel certainly does, but it wasn't all that obvious at first and I almost flipped it.....

...but I am so glad that I didn't.

About three months ago, I started looking for a daily wearer. As much as I love my Reversos, they have angles, and my baby daughter doesn't appreciate the watch constantly poking at her butt when I hold her. Thus I was looking for a round and compact watch and had my eyes on the 36mm Nomos Club, as well as the Stowa Partitio. I settled on the Club Dunkel because it had the display back to show off the gorgeous Alpha movement.



When I first received the watch, I was a very happy man. The look of the dial and movement are both incredible. I especially loved the blue lume and the very slightly grained dunkel dial. The only issue was that the lugs seemed a bit too long, and thought I had the perfect solution to hide them: put on a NATO ! So without ever trying on the watch with the original Nomos strap, I immediately switched to NATOs. But somehow (despite what you might think from the picture below), the club/NATO combo is a bit underwhelming. In particular, it seems that no matter what color, style, material of NATO that I put on it, the watch is always overpowered by the strap.

After a few days, I was ready to sell the watch. I thought that it had too little wrist presence, and this is coming from a guy who typically wears 35-37mm watches. So I put on the original Nomos Shell Cordovan strap to take pictures for the listing, and strapped it on for a few wrist shots. The watch looks very different, all of the sudden.


It is then that I realized that the long lugs are essential to the watch design. When it's on your wrist, the lugs make the watch pop. The distance between the strap and the watch actually helps isolate the dial from the rest of the watch. The long lugs and the smooth shell cordovan strap helps bring out the texture and subtle details of the gorgeous grey dial. While I am usually against long lugs, it really works on the club dunkel (and it is absolutely necessary)

For the next month, I have worn the dunkel more than any other watch in my collection. It can disappear when I need to focus on the task at hand, but when I need to be reminded that I am a WIS, I take a peek at my wrist and see a watch that is subtle and tasteful. And when I really want to get distracted, I flip the watch around and appreciate the alpha movement. Overall, it's just a multipurpose and super-fun watch, and I feel most at ease wearing it out of all the other wonderful watches in my collection.

Most importantly, my daughter loves this watch because it doesn't poke her butt =)

I highly recommend the Nomos Club Dunkel to anyone looking for a tasteful, low-profile daily wearer. But be prepared to learn to love those long lugs!

Cheers,

Peter

 

"Most importantly, my daughter loves this watch because it doesn't poke her butt =)" ... that's all it matters!!

I have been on the fence about this model and their Orion, just because the lug to lug size, is it 45mm? I think the Orion 33 is 42mm and their 35 is 45mm or so. Anyways, you cant go wrong with any NOMOS! Enjoy!

 

Excellent review, though your daughter has the most important POV. [emoji3]

 

Nice review!
The Nomos is on my list, but at the moment I can't get past the sub-seconds. For a 3-hander, I prefer a sweep, or no seconds (a two-hander). And if I'm not mistaken, no Nomos model has a sweep hand.
Is that their "thing" or something?

 

Perfect watch.

Nomos is an up-and-coming brand.
In a few years these will cost small fortunes...

 

Nomos has been very precise about what they produce and when. They will surely produce a center-seconds watch in time.

Mine say "Hello!"

 

Great write up, thanks for sharing. It's very interesting to hear actual experience and feedback like this, because you learn so much more about the watch and how it wears than just trying it on that first time... or pouring hour after hour staring at your computer screen. Interesting that the lug length would change the watch so much like you found.

@Modest_Proposal how are you liking the metro? That's still my favorite, have you had it long?

 

I love the Metro. It's my favorite Nomos and my favorite modern watch, that I own. It has style that harkens to an older era with novel, distinctly unique qualities.

 

^I completely agree. I think I can honestly say that it's the only modern manufacturer where I like every single piece in their line, some more than others, but I would truly wear any of them and appreciate them for their different design aesthetics.

 

I've owned a Zurich Weltzeit for about seven months now and it's truly an awesome watch. It's the only modern watch in my collection, actually, and I think part of it is that I've become a total cheerleader for the brand. As said above, they're extremely smart about controlling what they release and ensuring that no matter what gets added to the lineup, it meets or exceeds the high standards of their previous entries. I can't wait to see them continue growing and would love to see them add another complication to the lineup as well.

 

Reviving this thread to say "thanks" for the pictures and review. I'm secretly smitten with the white-dialled Club 36 and I've almost come to grips with the idea of wearing a 36mm watch on my 7.2" wrist.

Almost.