By Jovan Krstevski
Ace Jewelers and Nomos Glashütte, have partnered for the 100th-anniversary celebration of the Dutch art movement “De Stijl”. To those unfamiliar with this watch, it is created with Bauhaus in mind or the use of primary colors and cubism in a watch resulting to absolute minimalism. Bauhaus art is fun with clear emphasis on vertical and horizontal lines which when applied on a watch is just impressive. So without further ado, here is the new Nomos Orion “De Stijl” Limited Edition built with art in mind and of course the awesomeness of pure watch mechanics. Note that this is the collaborative brands’ first Limited Edition release so expect some special highlights.
The Nomos Orion watch features several distinctive elements which are obviously inspired by the De Stijl watch, however, it has its own unique touches that make it really standout from the rest of the “artistic” watches in the wild. This is made possible by Bauhaus style and of course the movement that powers the watch.
First of all, the Nomos Orion watch comes in stainless steel, in highly polished format. Its minimalist profile is impressive with the right size of 38 mm for the Limited Edition which is also seen on the production line watch. You can see lots of the qualities of the original Orion models here such as the narrow bezel and the elongated and angled lugs. The 8.86 mm height is thin but nothing new. These qualities make the Nomos Orion a perfect dress watch but silently a sporty one too. I’ve always liked minimalist watches so I may sound repeatedly bias for the Nomos Orion but oh well, you’d recognize one when there’s a good one.
Moving on to the watch face, the Nomos Orion watch is plain and simple but it isn’t dull. I like to think of it as a refreshing approach to what a clean watch face should be. In today’s technology, one can easily get lost in the myriad of controls and UI (user interface) designs seen on both digital and mechanical watch designs so a minimalist design offers some relief. Besides the watch is nowhere near utter simpleness because its art hides in plain sight.
Furthermore, the galvanized, white silver-plated dial which receives most of the touches for the occasion comes in an unbalanced fashion which can be seen on the hour markers that are different in length and line weight. As said earlier, you will only notice this after a close inspection which is the true spirit of minimalism and abstraction. The asymmetrical composition of lines, squares, and rectangles seen on the dial is astonishing. The black coated baton hands look impressive and highly visible including the small seconds subdial at 6. Reading time with the Nomos Orion is remarkably easy and precise.
Powering the Nomos Orion is the Alpha movement produced in-house in Glashutte by Nomos. It is said to have important modifications done to it but for now, it’s quite hard to guess its origins. As far as I know, the thin hand-wound movement pays tribute to the principle of the primary colors seen on the “De Stijl” watch. The sapphire crystal caseback of the Nomos Orion features blued screws, red synthetic rubies, and a yellow balance wheel. The movement cranks 43 hours of power reserve and wears on a black Horween Genuine Shell Cordovan strap.
For more info, please visit acejewelers.com.com
