# New Nomos Escapement Technology



## Sandalwood

So a lot of coverage is being given to the new Nomos Metro, but I think the much cooler news from the brand is that they've developed a proprietary escapement mechanism: Baselworld 2014: Nomos presents the Nomos Metro, the Nomos escapement called Swing System and the Ahoi Atlantik

The new Spring System should also feature a tempered blue balanced spring, which looks gorgeous. The article mentions that Nomos will be integrating the technology into their lineup...Does anyone have any thoughts on how long this might take? I was actually about to purchase a Ludwig 38 when I read about this news, and would love to get the new feature if the timeline is soon enough.

Also, to those more familiar with the finer points of horology: is there any chance that this new technology might need a few versions before it's worth buying? I've heard that developments like this often need a few years for the manufacture to really perfect and troubleshoot. Any thoughts?


----------



## flyingpicasso

*New Nomos movements*

I found this little gem under the movements tab on the Nomos site. They've been busy beavers over there.
In-house built caliber DUW 4301NOMOS caliber with in-house built NOMOS swing system. Some of the technical details: manual winding, power reserve indicator in gold, tempered blue balance spring, movement individually numbered on the three-quarter plate, 17 jewels, fine adjustment in six positions, Glashütte sunburst and NOMOS perlage.


----------



## monsoonmalabar

I'd also be interested to hear from those more knowledgeable on these things.

From the link above:


> The new *Nomos* "*Swing System*" will be integrated step by step in all of *Nomos*' calibres.


What will the implications of this be for existing owners, if any, as regard servicing and repair? Will Nivarox continue to make the old springs available to Nomos?

Either way, looks beautiful!


----------



## jferreir

monsoonmalabar said:


> What will the implications of this be for existing owners, if any, as regard servicing and repair? Will Nivarox continue to make the old springs available to Nomos?
> Either way, looks beautiful!


I'm especially interested in this, largely because I _just_ bought a Tangente Gangreserve (arrived yesterday). I wonder if they could update the movement during regular servicing, or would they charge some exorbitant fee for this?


----------



## StufflerMike

*Re: New Nomos movements*

I dare to say it is not a new movement, it is a movement with the new in- house escapement. The Tetra Kleene out of the Berlin collection is said to feature the new escapement, DUW 4301.


----------



## Sandalwood

*Re: New Nomos movements*

So I sent an email to the Nomos Store just to check when we can expect the new technology to hit the market...will let everyone know when they respond!


----------



## jonobailey

*Re: New Nomos movements*



stuffler said:


> I dare to say it is not a new movement, it is a movement with the new in- house escapement. The Tetra Kleene out of the Berlin collection is said to feature the new escapement, DUW 4301.


Exactly, this movement is the Alpha movement (modified with date/power reserve indicators as already done for other versions of the Tangente etc).

Other than the altered engraving this the same as the Alpha movement in my Orion, I'm sure if you needed a replacement part, Nomos could and would just use their new escapement.


----------



## jonobailey

*Re: New Nomos movements*



Sandalwood said:


> So I sent an email to the Nomos Store just to check when we can expect the new technology to hit the market...will let everyone know when they respond!


Look forward to it. Will buy a manual wind date club once the change is made


----------



## tomek123er

*Re: New Nomos movements*

You forgot to mention DUW4401 ,looks like same as 4301 + date wheel


----------



## Sandalwood

*Re: New Nomos movements*

So I heard back from Nomos today (quick response time) regarding when we can expect the new models with the new escapement. Here is what they said:

Thank you very much for your kind message.
Up to now we can't give you an exact appointment, however all of our watches will be produced with the new Spring System in the future. First of all, it's our new watch Metro - published at the beginning of June, which will be equipped with the Swing System. 
As soon as our other models are ready to follow, we will gladly inform you.

We are looking forward to see you joining the NOMOS family.
Cordial greetings from Glashuette,


----------



## Kid_A

*Re: New Nomos movements*

piece of art...love it....



flyingpicasso said:


> I found this little gem under the movements tab on the Nomos site. They've been busy beavers over there.
> *In-house built caliber DUW 4301*
> 
> NOMOS caliber with in-house built NOMOS swing system. Some of the technical details: manual winding, power reserve indicator in gold, tempered blue balance spring, movement individually numbered on the three-quarter plate, 17 jewels, fine adjustment in six positions, Glashütte sunburst and NOMOS perlage.


----------



## beechcustom

*Re: New Nomos movements*



Sandalwood said:


> So I heard back from Nomos today (quick response time) regarding when we can expect the new models with the new escapement. Here is what they said:
> 
> Thank you very much for your kind message.
> Up to now we can't give you an exact appointment, however all of our watches will be produced with the new Spring System in the future. First of all, it's our new watch Metro - published at the beginning of June, which will be equipped with the Swing System.
> As soon as our other models are ready to follow, we will gladly inform you.
> 
> We are looking forward to see you joining the NOMOS family.
> Cordial greetings from Glashuette,


I spoke to them yesterday and I asked when the new completely in house movement would be available to purchase in the Orion and they said "we're thrilled to be able to present this groundbreaking news at Baselworld 2014! While the new NOMOS swing system is being launched in our new Metro model and Kleene in the Tetra Berlin set, it will also be introduced into our entire watch range over the course of time. However, unfortunately we cannot give you a specific time frame for the introduction of the NOMOS swing system in our Orion models in particular."
It appears that this will NOT come with an increase in price. Looks like I may be in for a bit of a wait!


----------



## Nokie

> I'm especially interested in this, largely because I _just bought a Tangente Gangreserve (arrived yesterday). I wonder if they could update the movement during regular servicing, or would they charge some exorbitant fee for this?_


Good question as I was wondering how this will affect those of us with the older movements when it comes to servicing/upgrading as well.


----------



## flyingpicasso

Nokie said:


> Good question as I was wondering how this will affect those of us with the older movements when it comes to servicing/upgrading as well.


Since we're not expecting a price increase on existing models with the new escapement, I would expect the upcharge to be nominal/none in the event an ETA escapment had to be replaced with a Swing at service. I wouldn't expect the same to be true with most other well-known brands. If this were GO or Omega or IWC, you can bet they would get their pound of flesh for their "new, in-house" escapement.


----------



## eliz

*Re: New Nomos movements*

I hope there'll be an option to switch my Club Dunkel's escapement to the Swing System during service.
I'd be more than willing to pay!

Nomos just keeps getting better and better.


----------



## mleok

*Re: New Nomos movements*

Is the new Nomos escapement simply a standard Swiss lever escapement that happens to be manufactured in-house without the use of a Nivarox hairspring?


----------



## StufflerMike

*Re: New Nomos movements*



mleok said:


> Is the new Nomos escapement simply a standard Swiss lever escapement that happens to be manufactured in-house without the use of a Nivarox hairspring?


It is said that Nomos invested five years of time and 11,4 Million Euro to develop its *own anchor, anchor-wheel and balance-spring*. It is not a standard swiss lever escapement. The spring was developed together with Carl Haas in Germany, a specialist in balance-springs. Nomos got support from the Dresden University to set up the in-house "Swing System".


----------



## mleok

stuffler said:


> It is said that Nomos invested five years of time and 11,4 Million Euro to develop its *own anchor, anchor-wheel and balance-spring*. It is not a standard swiss lever escapement. The spring was developed together with Carl Haas in Germany, a specialist in balance-springs. Nomos got support from the Dresden University to set up the in-house "Swing System".


Isn't the Swiss lever escapement also referred to as the anchor escapement? Were the geometries of the anchor and anchor wheel somehow optimized in the new Nomos escapement? I'm just trying to get a sense how how evolutionary/revolutionary this truly is.


----------



## StufflerMike

Well, what NOMOS did is kind of declaring independence from Nivarox/Swatch Geoup in thenfirst place. And to quote Mr. Schwertner: “The hardest part is not to make a spring, but to make the whole system work together.” So, they did not optimize an existing swiss system they constructed a completely new one and that's why Nomos needed the technical expertise of the Dresden University to get the system work together flawlessly; the spring has always been a Made in Germany product and still is.


----------



## Timeless: Now WoS

It will be very interesting to see if Nomos will promote any advantages to the new swing system down the road. At Basel they seemed to focus more on the business aspect of being independent. Of course, Nomos watches were already performing very well, so they don't really need a big improvement anyway. 

I believe that as all-new movements come out from Nomos in the future, their increased manufacturing capabilities will give them more control of their designs. Right now they are somewhat hampered by design limitations because the swing system has to be retrofitted into a pre-existing movement. It's similar to the Omega 2500--Omega wasn't really able to maximize the strengths of their new technology, but by the 8500, the design was built around the technology and was an overall better performing and more reliable movement. 

So this is more about a bright future for Nomos than enhancements we will see in movements this year or next.


----------



## Timeless: Now WoS

*Nomos Zurich Weltzeit (GMT) Overview! Tons of photos!*

*Nomos Weltzeit Overview *by Timeless Luxury Watches










Today I have the pleasure of discussing one of the most sought after watches from Germany's rising star, Nomos. The Weltzeit is a model I have been looking forward to seeing ever since its release, but they sell so fast I never get a chance to really examine it the way I'd like. Now that I have, however, I can see it's very much worth the hype.










As its name implies (essentially German for GMT) the Weltzeit is an extremely elegant watch capable of tracking two time zones, both aesthetically and functionally. It's nice to see that Nomos takes its ultra-minimalist design into consideration when deciding how their watch will actually work in addition to simply how they look.










The dialwork on the Weltzeit is as simple as it is astonishing. Nomos took the idea of a GMT watch's dial and removed absolutely everything that wasn't necessary, and this is the incredible result.










I most appreciate the beveled edges of the dial and subdials, which give the watch an extremely "soft" look-and perhaps I'm being dramatic, but the very gentle edges reminds me of freshly fallen snow.










The magic happens here at the red 3:00 marker. This is our hometime wheel, often confused by onlookers as a date complication. This wheel is on a 24 hour scale and operates independently of the hour hand. It displays what time it is at your home location wherever you are and lets you know whether it's AM or PM there.










The independence of the home time disk means you can change time zones as you fly from one location to another without affecting your ability to see what time it is at your home, a very useful function for world travelers and businessmen who do a lot of work with offices in other countries.










The feel of this pusher is excellent, and I dare say there's almost an addictive quality to using it. It works like a camera-the pusher gives a millimeter before you actually start actuating the mechanism. An audible click lets you know you have advanced the hour and time zone. It feels a lot like starting a chronograph.










Here we see the actual time zones. This wheel rotates every time you use the pusher.










You can actually advance the home time wheel just by pulling the crown and moving the time forward. That's a fairly inelegant way of going about things, so Nomos has added a recessed pusher on the other side of the case. Using an included pin (although just about anything will do) you can advance the home time directly. This is much faster than moving the hour hands around the dial 20 or so times.










The hands of the Weltzeit are of the typical Zurich variety, a collection the Weltzeit is a member of. They are high-polished sticks. While normally I prefer Nomos' heat blued hands, here there is a splash of color from the blue printed indices and red arrow to keep things interesting.










That said, they do follow the design motif of Nomos and Bauhaus in general-absolutely functional with no unnecessary flourishes.










The seconds subdial is also of the typical Nomos variety, featuring beautiful guilloche finishing. The fact that the subdial has a different texture, yet no real border, is a very nice way of separating it without calling attention to itself.










The signed crown has only two positions, one for hand winding and one for setting the time. Like all Nomos watches aside from the Ahoi, it does not screw down. An interesting benefit of Nomos movements is that even the automatics can be hand wound frequently. Most automatic watches advise the owner to minimize hand winding, but not Nomos--it's built to take it. The second pusher advances the main hour hand.










With each press, the hour hand advances and the time zone ring around the dial rotates, indicating the time zone you're now looking at.










The 40mm case is fully polished and uses more conventional lug designs than most other Nomos watches. I would say the Zurich line in general, which includes this Weltzeit, has probably the broadest appeal of their collection, attracting people who are not necessarily fans of Bauhaus design. The high polish will also make it very easy to touch up scratches in the future.










The watch is nicely complimented by its dark Shell Cordovan strap. These straps, again embodying Nomos' design tastes, do not have any attention-drawing textures to them like an ostrich or alligator strap might. The Shell Cordovan straps appeal to those who like the leather to be a little firm, although it breaks in nicely.










The in house Nomos Xi automatic is used for this watch and is one Nomos' most sophisticated movements.










Its gorgeous finish is not obscured by its almost equally beautiful rotor, thanks to extensive skeletonization.










The automatic winding system is just as elegant a design as the rest of the watch. The "teeter totter" gears just below the balance wheel change position depending on the direction the rotor is moving. This means that the movement is wound whether the rotor spins clockwise or counterclockwise, but with far less complexity than the typical Swiss approach.










The large, low frequency balance wheel is adjusted via the triovis fine adjustment regulator. Among various technical advantages, it also leaves the movement relatively uncluttered by eliminating a visible regulator index.










The mainspring barrel is, amazingly, one of the best looking features of a Nomos movement, with its incredible spiral finishing.










Here we can see the benefits of that skeletonized rotor.










The movement has a very pleasing array of colors between the heat-blued screws, red rubies and gold text.










Nomos has managed to extend their brilliant simplicity to a style of watch that is normally overly busy. While there's plenty going on with the dial, it's never cluttered-and the fresh face is welcome in Nomos' lineup, giving the brand greater versatility.










But the Weltzeit is more than just a pretty face. Nomos has utilized the easiest to use GMT complication out there with a single pusher. The recessed pusher for hometime means you will never accidentally change it.










It's a GMT watch, done Nomos style-and the result is brilliant-brilliant appearance, movement and functionality.

If you liked this article, check out some of our others on our new reviews page: Reviews | Timeless Luxury Watches. They are presented with a new, easy to read format.


----------



## hyperpanther

What are the benefits of the new system? I'm excited about the idea of a fully independent movement, but is there a benefit in terms of servicing/accuracy/reliability?

I ask because I've been wanting to get a Tangente but it does not sound like the new system will be in the Tangente soon. 

Thanks to anyone who knows or has insight.


----------



## Timeless: Now WoS

hyperpanther said:


> What are the benefits of the new system? I'm excited about the idea of a fully independent movement, but is there a benefit in terms of servicing/accuracy/reliability?
> 
> I ask because I've been wanting to get a Tangente but it does not sound like the new system will be in the Tangente soon.
> 
> Thanks to anyone who knows or has insight.


At the moment I don't think anyone outside of Nomos knows for sure. We do know they're replacing one metallic spring with another, so we're not talking about a radical material change like Omega's Si-14 hairspring. I have to imagine that if the new hairsprings were superior, Nomos would have mentioned that fact, and as far as I know, they haven't. I think right now the Swing System is more about business and independence, but the capability to make their own escapements etc. will allow them much more freedom when they design their next generation of movements. So I suspect that it's the next all new Nomos movement that incorporates the swing system that will see noticeable improvements.

It's difficult to say when the Tangente will be receiving the new spring. It is part of the Alpha family, however, which the Tetra Kleene and Metro are members of, so while the Tangente may be a ways off, I believe it will get the swing system before the Epsilon based calibres do.


----------



## mleok

I don't really get the sense that the new hairspring and escapement is fundamentally different from existing designs, rather that it is the final step towards total self-reliance in terms of movements. The substantial investment in development is probably due to the profound challenges of producing the appropriate alloys for hairsprings in a sufficiently precise, uniform, and reliable manner, which is no trivial task. The escapement geometries are probably also optimized to work well with the new hairspring properties.


----------



## hyperpanther

Thank you to both of you! I really appreciate the insights and those are the kind of helpful, thoughtful responses I was helping to receive. 

I may get the Tangente as it stands now instead of wait. I love the independence angle, but not sure I want to sit on my hands for it. 

Also, would be excited about new movements. I think the Weltzeit movement is awesome (not to mention the beauty of the watch). I'm sure it'll go up from there!


----------



## Timeless: Now WoS

hyperpanther said:


> Thank you to both of you! I really appreciate the insights and those are the kind of helpful, thoughtful responses I was helping to receive.
> 
> I may get the Tangente as it stands now instead of wait. I love the independence angle, but not sure I want to sit on my hands for it.
> 
> Also, would be excited about new movements. I think the Weltzeit movement is awesome (not to mention the beauty of the watch). I'm sure it'll go up from there!


Well, if it helps to think of it this way, even the pre-Swing System Nomos movements are vastly more in house than in 90% of other watch brands. It really wasn't that long ago that even big name in house movements were using springs from the same source--take the Omega 8500, for instance, a very famous and respected in house movement. But initially, at least some versions (Aqua Terra, some DeVilles) of the movement used hairsprings sourced from their parent company (same company everyone else gets their springs from) and no one raised an eyebrow.

Actually, almost all brands still source some parts, like Kif and Incabloc shock protection, used by Zenith and Patek, for instance.

What I'm getting at is that in house is a matter of degree, and Nomos is actually quite high up on that sliding scale.

We're definitely big fans of the Weltzeit and fortunately, that one is already out. I wrote a review of it recently:

https://www.watchuseek.com/f2/nomos-zurich-weltzeit-gmt-overview-tons-photos-1012699.html

We actually wrote a review of the Tangente Gangreserve (and Club) some time ago, but that might also be a fun read for you:

https://www.watchuseek.com/f2/nomos...ve-review-timeless-luxury-watches-891700.html


----------



## hyperpanther

Timeless Luxury Watches said:


> We're definitely big fans of the Weltzeit and fortunately, that one is already out. I wrote a review of it recently:
> 
> https://www.watchuseek.com/f2/nomos-zurich-weltzeit-gmt-overview-tons-photos-1012699.html
> 
> We actually wrote a review of the Tangente Gangreserve (and Club) some time ago, but that might also be a fun read for you:
> 
> https://www.watchuseek.com/f2/nomos...ve-review-timeless-luxury-watches-891700.html


I saw and read your reviews of the Weltzeit and Tangente Gangreserve! Beautiful photos and one of the reasons those watches really got to me. I really appreciate the effort you make and what you post online. It's awesome.


----------



## StufflerMike

Just a close up which I just got in


----------



## Timeless: Now WoS

hyperpanther said:


> I saw and read your reviews of the Weltzeit and Tangente Gangreserve! Beautiful photos and one of the reasons those watches really got to me. I really appreciate the effort you make and what you post online. It's awesome.


We love watches, what can we say. We'll definitely have a review of the Metro when we get it. If we can keep the Ahoi for more than a few hours at a time we'll review that and the Atlantik version as well.

Any particular watch you'd like to see reviewed soon?


----------



## urtenmurtel

mleok said:


> I don't really get the sense that the new hairspring and escapement is fundamentally different from existing designs, rather that it is the final step towards total self-reliance in terms of movements. The substantial investment in development is probably due to the profound challenges of producing the appropriate alloys for hairsprings in a sufficiently precise, uniform, and reliable manner, which is no trivial task. The escapement geometries are probably also optimized to work well with the new hairspring properties.


I hav just read an article in a German newspaper (FAZ) about this. It might have been overstated but they made sound that ensamble around mainspring/escapement had never been properly physically described and generally more build empirically and designs extremely protected. 
When Nomos build theirs they apparently decided to do it with the technicial university and develop it together with the mathemaical description/prediction from the ground up.

So the endproduct might not be that different but the way to get there was quite innovative and it would be interesting to see if the involved academics are allowed to publish some of the work.


----------



## mleok

urtenmurtel said:


> I hav just read an article in a German newspaper (FAZ) about this. It might have been overstated but they made sound that ensamble around mainspring/escapement had never been properly physically described and generally more build empirically and designs extremely protected.
> When Nomos build theirs they apparently decided to do it with the technicial university and develop it together with the mathemaical description/prediction from the ground up.
> 
> So the endproduct might not be that different but the way to get there was quite innovative and it would be interesting to see if the involved academics are allowed to publish some of the work.


Rational design from first principles isn't exactly innovative or cutting edge for a simple mechanical system like a mechanical watch movement, and I doubt any of this will result in publishable work. In practice though, there probably still needs to be a cycle of prototyping and refinement in the design process, and modeling serves primarily to reduce the number of prototypes required.


----------



## Cao Cao

From what I heard, the Swing system will be in July for selected Tangente models.


----------



## CitizenM

Cao Cao said:


> From what I heard, the Swing system will be in July for selected Tangente models.


I would suggest the Tangente Gangreserve and Gangreserve Datum since those are the movements most closely associated with the Metro and Tetra Kleene.


----------



## Nomos225

Hi, I was wondering if anyone has an idea of around when we should expect to see the standard Tangente 35 updated with the new Nomos Swing System. As I am currently holding off purchasing one now in order to wait for the alpha movement in this model to be updated. Does it seem likely that the update will come before the end of the first quarter next year?
Thank you.


----------



## flyingpicasso

Nomos225 said:


> Hi, I was wondering if anyone has an idea of around when we should expect to see the standard Tangente 35 updated with the new Nomos Swing System. As I am currently holding off purchasing one now in order to wait for the alpha movement in this model to be updated. Does it seem likely that the update will come before the end of the first quarter next year?
> Thank you.


Best bet is to query Nomos directly. If you get an answer, please post it for others to see. Thanks!


----------



## Nomos225

flyingpicasso said:


> Best bet is to query Nomos directly. If you get an answer, please post it for others to see. Thanks!


I emailed them a couple of days ago, but all I got regarding a timescale was "All our watches will get the swing system in future, of course."


----------



## walfisch

i would suppose that they have already placed orders with nivarox for certain quantities, and they need to sell out watches installed with the nivarox escapements first before putting in their own "swing" system...and of course how fast they can sell them out will depend on demand


----------



## Yrh0413

got an email reply from Nomos saying that the Tangente Gangreserve with Swing system will probably be available early next year.


----------



## CitizenM

The Tangente Gangreserve Datum is available for order with the spring system now:

Tangente Datum Gangreserve (red) sapphire crystal back | Beautiful watches purchased online. Directly from NOMOS Glashütte.










I really want one.


----------



## YellowBullet

A nice review of the Metro, along with some details about the new escapement technology:

NOMOS Glashuette Metro - watch review by ESCAPEMENT


----------



## Heffdog116

Was a good read. Still wish they put it in the Orion sooner than later


----------

