# This forum needs more Nomos Orion ... Warning, large pics



## Rippin

I recently purchased this modern-classic beauty and I'd thought I post some of my thoughts about this watch.










Firstly, Nomos Glashütte is not widely distributed in North America and there is only ONE authorized dealer in Canada, and they are located in Winnipeg. I'm in Vancouver. So right at the beginning I had a road block - how was I supposed to evaluate this watch for purchase if I couldn't see it it the flesh? My calls went unheard as I couldn't find a Nomos owner in my city. I combed the web for as many personal reviews and pictures that I could find. After reading only positive Nomos owner accounts (I really couldn't find someone saying anything really negative about the current Nomos models) I decided to purchase the Orion on blind faith.

The watch arrived in a simple and clean Poplar wood box, stained in black, with the Nomos Glashütte logo printed in silver on the top. It's lined with black velvet and the watch is held in place by two black elastic straps. There is also a pocket which holds the warranty and information booklet.

*Case and Dial*
I'm very aware of today's trend for large, thick and heavy watches. I was somewhat concerned over the small 35mm case diameter of the Orion. I didn't want it to look as if I was wearing a woman's or child's watch but was delightfully surprised at how nicely it wears for its size. Even though the case is small, the dial itself, is quite large.
Let's look at a few dimensional comparisons to the popular Omega Planet Ocean 42mm.

_Planet Ocean_
Dial Diameter = 30mm
Lug end to lug end (tall)= 42mm

_Orion_
Dial Diameter = 31.5mm
Lug end to lug end (tall) = 44mm

By these numbers, the Orion isn't as puny as one would expect. Then again, this watch will not jump off your wrist as the Planet Ocean will. It doesn't have the same type of presence larger/thicker watches have. But it doesn't make itself out to be that type of wristwatch. You can find dozens of other dress watches that speak louder. The Orion, and for that matter, all of the Nomos models, are understated and elegant in design. The dials and cases are clean and straightforward in their approach. Their beauty is pronounced in its subtlety. The Orion is very reminiscent of vintage dress watch designs and one could mistaken it as such. This watch is thin and light. You will forget that you have it on your wrist. The gently curved sapphire crystal (front and back) and lugs also contribute to its no-nonsense appeal. The display back is large enough to see the decorated in-house movements at play.










I chose the silver opaline dial with gold indices and tempered blue hands. Classy and sporty at the same time. The hour markers are stamped and then gold plated. The gold plating only covers the top portion of the index. All indices are evenly spaced and cleanly printed as well, a problem Nomos has had in the past. The indices and hands are very thin. For the best legibility I would probably recommend the anthracite dial with silver indices. The dial is slightly convex towards the edges, a trait not apparent in Nomos' marketing photos of this watch. It is obviously done to match the curvature of the sapphire crystal. The minute hand is also slightly bent towards the tip to follow the curvature. The small seconds dial has a subtle concentric pattern.









_Pretty from any view, but notice the small gap between the dial and the case._

This may not be indicative of Nomos' general assembly quality but the dial on my watch is not pressed flush against the inner edge of the bezel around the entire circumference. If you compare the gap between the dial and the case on the left and right side photo of the watch you'll see what I'm talking about. It's not enough for me to worry about, but I will bring it to the dealer's attention when it is time for a service.









_Looks good from this angle as well...no gap between dial and case._

*Leather Strap*
All Nomos watches come with the the highly touted handmade Shell Cordovan leather strap. It is supposedly exclusive because the Shell Cordovan leather is obtained from a small section on the hind quarter of a horse. The strap is very smooth and stout, and from the looks of it, will last a particularly long time. It is very simple and matches the Bauhaus design approach of the entire time piece. The tang buckle is as modest as one can get, with the Nomos logo stamped on the end. As a whole, the strap is a bit underwhelming - it reminds me of a standard pants belt. I understand why Nomos chose this strap but the watch deserves something with a bit more character. I think a padded alligator strap, 3-4mm in thickness, would work nicely with the Orion.
I have a thin wrist at 6.5 inches. The regular strap length that ships with the watch proved to be too long for me so I purchased the short length. A long length is also available. Here are the lengths for the regular and short straps.

_Regular Length_
Punched hole end = 118mm
Buckle end = 75mm

_Short Length_
Punched hole end = 103mm
Buckle end = 69mm










*Accuracy and Power Reserve*
I've only had the watch for a very short time but the power reserve seems to be as advertised at 43 hours. The manually wound Alpha movement is currently running about 0.75 seconds fast per day.

As with any watch, buy what talks to you, not what impresses others. This is especially true for the Nomos Orion. At a glance it can be easily overlooked. But if you are in the market for a clean and quiet dress watch without breaking the bank, the Orion is worth considering.


----------



## Guest

Thanks for your write up :-!


----------



## jporos

*Great review.*

I appreciate the honest review of the Orion. I have a Tangente Sport Index Datum with the anthracite with silvered markers which as you indicated may be easier to read, particularly because when you rotate it in the sun the markers catch the light. In low light conditions, however, it can still be difficult. I have not noticed the gap in between the dial and the case on my watch, however. Thanks again for the great photos and careful writing.


----------



## Panama

Mine says hello and Happy new Year!


----------



## scm64

Excellent review and nice photos.


----------



## Rippin

Panama said:


> Mine says hello and Happy new Year!


Same, right back at you. I see that your dial seems to be flush up against the case. :-!
Small detail, but I prefer the "GERMANY" at the 6 o'clock position on your watch better than the current "MADE IN GERMANY" that's on mine.


----------



## Panama

Rippin said:


> Same, right back at you. I see that your dial seems to be flush up against the case. :-!
> Small detail, but I prefer the "GERMANY" at the 6 o'clock position on your watch better than the current "MADE IN GERMANY" that's on mine.


You're right, I did not notice the change, but in fact I find the "made in Germany" a bit too long on the dial.
The dial is indeed flush against the case. I have bought this watch in december 2007.


----------



## Beau8

Fantastic photos~Thanks for the warning! ;-)


----------



## andy tims

Cracking watch & stunning shots


----------



## Ax

Nice wright up and shots!
here's mine:


----------



## Rippin

I'm glad you all enjoyed the read and thanks to the others that posted up their Orions as well. Cheers.


----------



## Panama

You're welcome! It was a nice thread subject as we do not see Orions very often here...and it is too bad because they are just great watches with in house movements!
;-)


----------



## Sgian Dubh

Nice review and very nice looking piece.

Edit: While the Alpha movement is manufactured in-house at Nomos, it is still based on the Peseux 7001 movement.


----------



## Panama

Sgian Dubh said:


> Nice review and very nice looking piece.
> 
> Edit: While the Alpha movement is manufactured in-house at Nomos, it is still based on the Peseux 7001 movement.


You've got that right! Sorry for the confusion...:-!


----------



## XavierI

Great pictures on your posting... I discovered NOMOS on this forum about a year ago. Like you, I had nowhere to see them. So I planned to go to Glashütte during my vacation.

By pure chance, in October (after vacation plans were made) I stayed in a hotel not a block away from the WEMPE store in 5th Ave., and surprise, they have NOMOS! I tried some models on and was tempted to purchase, keenly aware that pricing in NY shipping to a FL resident may even be better than what one typically finds in Europe. Mind you, the assortment at this store was far from complete.

Anyway, I did end up buying a Tangomat at the company store in Glashütte last week. I would have preferred a 10 ATM watch such as the Tangente Sport, but the looks and size of the Tangomat drove me to a 3 ATM-only product.

My watch reads "Germany", although most NOMOS product literature by far photographs "Made in Germany".


----------



## Rippin

Sgian Dubh said:


> While the Alpha movement is manufactured in-house at Nomos, it is still based on the Peseux 7001 movement.


So do you know approximately how much of the 7001 movement that they keep as-is, and what is Nomos-original? I was under the impression that no parts are out-sourced for this movement anymore.



XavierI said:


> Anyway, I did end up buying a Tangomat at the company store in Glashütte last week. I would have preferred a 10 ATM watch such as the Tangente Sport, but the looks and size of the Tangomat drove me to a 3 ATM-only product.
> 
> My watch reads "Germany", although most NOMOS product literature by far photographs "Made in Germany".


I almost got the Tangomat, but in the end, obviously decided on Orion. I really like raised or applied indices 

Nomos only recently went back to printing "Made in Germany" at the bottom of the dial. As I mentioned previously I think they should have stayed with just "Germany".


----------



## Sgian Dubh

Rippin said:


> So do you know approximately how much of the 7001 movement that they keep as-is, and what is Nomos-original? I was under the impression that no parts are out-sourced for this movement anymore.
> 
> I don't have exact numbers, but I believe Nomos manufactures about 90 percent of the parts. There are some things that it just make sense to buy from an outside source (e.g., perhaps the screws). Nomos watches are pretty much built and assembled in-house. It's just that the Alpha movement isn't exactly a Nomos design. Nomos took the 7001 and modified it, adding things like the 3/4 plate.
> 
> I certainly wasn't picking. Enjoy the Orion. It is a cracking watch.


----------



## Rippin

It's all good. I just was wondering what was the make-up of original to out-sourced. I'm not terribly concerned about in-house vs. out-sourced, just as long as the watch keeps good time and robust enough to last, and I'm sure that many watch manufacturers that claim an in-house movement is based off of some type of previous movement.


----------



## Top Cat

The gold hour markers and blue hands are a nice and rare combination.


----------



## lovelacr

Hi Ron,

Those kind of posts do not belong to the regular fora. Please re-post on WATCH DEALS here: https://www.watchuseek.com/forumdisplay.php?f=63

Thanks for understanding.

Kind regards

Mike


----------



## fmattes

Congratulations to your Orion, a very timeless and classic watch. Here are some pictures of mine:


----------



## enkidu

Thanks for the great pics guys!

I'm new to the forum and new to owning watches. After lurking, reading and looking for a few years, I recently purchased a Nomos Orion Anthracite from uhrenmix.de, my first watch ever. The watch looks and feels great and is keeping great time (+2-3 seconds a day). I followed up with an order of a butterfly deployment clasp from RHD at mywatchmaker.net which should be arriving this week. I'm also thinking about upgrading the strap to a nice alligator as the current cordovan, although nice, does seem to be a bit too bland. This watch will be daily office wear and, as my collection grows, stay on as an evening wear watch.

For my next watch, probably in a years time, I'm thinking about getting another German watch, something "sportier", either a diver or a pilot style watch, but haven't decided on what yet. Maybe a Sinn or maybe a Tutima, or maybe just sock it away for my grail watch.

Oh, and my current grail watch: Glashütte Original Sport Evolution GMT in steel on a bracelet.


----------



## enkidu

After some issues my Nomos Orion Anthracite is on my wrist and looking good. Sorry for the casual picture, I don't have time to set up a nice lightbox and dig up my camera so I'm posting a iPhone wrist shot. My wrist is around 6.75"/17cm.










The lack of AR on the crystal makes the watch difficult to photograph in a visually noisy environment like my workplace. I'll follow up with a more complete review on the reviews page and hopefully add some better pictures to this thread. So far I love the bauhaus dial and the curvaceous case.


----------



## rationaltime

When everything in the office looks like plastic, it is nice to bring in your own
metal art. Thanks for posting.

Thanks,
rationaltime


----------



## Rippin

Looks great there enkidu!

Here's mine outdoors:


----------



## enkidu

Very nice Rippin! The blue-gold of that watch is gorgeous. Hmmm, mebbe after I get my tool watch this year, next year...

BTW, in addition to spending money on watches, I think this forum will drive me to new cameras/lenses. I'm beginning to appreciate the "Welcome to the forum! Sorry about your wallet."; that should be the forum sub-motto.


----------



## persco

enkidu said:


> Very nice Rippin! The blue-gold of that watch is gorgeous. Hmmm, mebbe after I get my tool watch this year, next year...
> 
> BTW, in addition to spending money on watches, I think this forum will drive me to new cameras/lenses. I'm beginning to appreciate the "Welcome to the forum! Sorry about your wallet."; that should be the forum sub-motto.


No joke!...

s.


----------



## Cursor

Ooooo! Nice camera, nicer watch! :-!



Rippin said:


> Looks great there enkidu!
> 
> Here's mine outdoors:


----------



## MoreSpinach

fmattes said:


> Congratulations to your Orion, a very timeless and classic watch. Here are some pictures of mine:


Love this strap. Did you have to order it specially, or is this the default strap that comes with the watch?


----------



## adashu

i have the black strap already but decided to go a little different with the brown strap option....after market.
Not enough people are switching it up from the stock strap!


----------



## tiger roach

^^^ That strap looks great. A nice change of pace from the austere stock strap.

I ordered the NOMOS brown strap with my Orion; it hasn't come in yet, but I plan to use the watch for brown belt and shoes days, and keep the original black strap in reserve.


----------



## socketer

Reporting in, with a slight variant...
be it the 100th watch or the first, the thrill is the same...


----------



## cheu_f50

Just got this in the mail.


----------



## Fi33pop

I love my Orion, but does anyone else think the lugs are too long? They throe the dimensions of the watch off a little and leave a large gap between the strap and the case. Actually, this applies to almost all the Nomos models.


----------



## mjscarduzio

Nomos orion with more casual green military-style canvas band. My weekend look.


----------

