If the term “autobahn” gives you a distinct image of mystique, excitement, and undeniable German quality, the same could be said about the Nomos Autobahn Neomatik. When it comes to luxury watches for men, the Nomos Autobahn earned multiple accolades at Baselworld 2018 for its outstanding form, function, aesthetics, and quality. Yet beyond those awards, it’s the sheer perfection and unparalleled craftsmanship of this watch that is undeniable to any eye. It’s a watch that will, without a doubt, draw envy from all around.
After all, consider its name, which is taken from the German superhighway that provides an exhilarating feeling of freedom by cruising at high speed behind the wheel of a well-engineered vehicle. With the Nomos Autobahn Neomatik on your wrist, you’ll feel every bit as exhilarated, thanks in large part to a design that was more than four years in the making. This collaboration between Nomos and German product designer Werner Aisslinger results in a watch that hints at the vintage streamlined luxury of classic roadsters.
The 41-mm diameter display was designed with judicious intent. Take the dial’s interior, which makes use of eight arcs of a circle to form a 240-degree horseshoe, creating cues of a classic car’s dashboard. And don’t overlook the fact that the window, which features three numerals, is in reference to the autobahn highway’s three lanes in each direction.
The watchmaker intentionally played with the hands of the clock to create visual interest. Unlike most watches, where the slender needle on the dial represents seconds, the Neomatik’s counts minutes. Likewise, the larger hand counts that of minutes, not hours. Instead, hours are represented by the length and color of the arc, which shine with a blue hue. This design highlight is also a distinct solution: between 8 o’clock in the evening and 4 o’clock in the morning, you can read the time the same way you read the speed on your car’s speedometer. And true to its stellar form, after 4 a.m., just when the sky begins to brighten, the glow of the Neomatik becomes unnecessary.
As important as great design in luxury watches for men is the way a watch moves. And the innovative movement of a Nomos piece should not be underestimated. The Neomatik, or “new automatic” movement uses a self-winding Caliber DUW 6101, a slim wheel with quicker meshing times than a typical wheel. Dates display faster than ever before and thus ensures watches are built to maintain time integrity by neither gaining nor losing more than one minute per week.
And finally, it’s also the attention to detail that ensures this a premium watch. The rotor is engraved with the phrase, “Nomos Glashütte Deutsche Uhrenwerke” to remind you that its unprecedented calibers are produced in-house. Finished with a sturdy woven textile strap and pin buckle, you’ll be ready to hit the road in style and speed—and with a
