I don’t like watches with a date window

Simeon Kremzow-Tennie

You hear this phrase rather often when it comes to discussing watches and many people, including me, prefer watches without a date for the more balanced dial. While many collectors also enjoy the purity of a no date watch, especially when considering vintage recreations, a date function is a truly useful feature in our times and I usually appreciate having one, although I don’t like its looks.

Nomos Glashütte’s catalogue

German watchmaker Nomos currently has 154 different watches in their catalogue of which 123 come without a date function. The other 31 however feature a date function, on which the brand has two different approaches. The best known is the classic date window we all know, which can be found at three or six o’clock depending on the model.

Date window

However, this date window is not the usual small window we see on most watches, but a larger one that allows for great legibility without the need for a loupe. By extensive development Nomos was even able to produce this movement without increasing the thickness of it compared to the no date version, as they managed to cleverly build the date wheel around the movement and if you know the brand, you know that this is not their only proof of great movement design.

Nomos Glashütte Tangente and Nomos Glashütte Neomatic Update 41

But back to the new Tangente and Metro Neomatik Update 41. These two watches feature an updated date display, which is my most favorite date indication ever. As you can see in the picture below, the dial of the Tangente Neomatik Update is encircled by the up to 31 days of the month. These seamlessly integrate into the dial, without putting anything off balance.

Clever highlight

Upon closer inspection of the sixth day of the month, you will see two vibrant green markers next to each side of said date. This clever highlight tells you the current date and visually doesn’t distract the dial symmetry at all. Furthermore, the date can be set in either direction via the crown, allowing for an even easier use of the function. Moving a little further away from the dial, the date function becomes nearly invisible and only the most relevant feature of the watch remains legible.

What Nomos has done with the Nomos Glashütte Neomatic Update 41, is bring the date indication to the next level of their understated and functional design philosophy. Such as the Tangente and many other watches from the brands collection, the Bauhaus design language ensures symmetry and a form that follows the function.

New type of date display

With this new type of date display, Nomos does not cut away any hour or minute numerals, but cleverly highlights the date that remains nearly invisible when not needed. Of course one could argue that there are different ways to display the date, such as with another hand (so called pointer date), but that would not fit into the Nomos design DNA and also would increase the thickness of the watch.

The vibrant green indication

With the vibrant green date indication for the Tangente Neomatik Update 41 midnight blue and the vivid orange date indication for the Metro neomatik Update 41, Nomos has created a date function I truly adore. Fitting perfectly into the brands design DNA and being completely unobtrusive, this date indication is there when you need it and doesn’t bother you when you don’t.

Technical specifications: 41mm stainless steel case; latest generation neomatik movements (caliber DUW 6101) with automatic winding and 42 h power reserve; water resistant to 50m; available on leather strap, nylon strap or steel bracelet; sapphire crystal on top and bottom

Metro neomatik Update 41: 9.1mm thick; EUR 3500 

Tangente neomatik Update 41 midnight blue: 7.8mm thick; available with a silver or grey dial; EUR 3200