Post by timelessluxwatches on Aug 13, 2016 11:04:27 GMT -6
Timeless Luxury Watches is very pleased to announce the Timeless Club II. Our new model makes several revisions to the first, most notably adding a yellow accent model. But both the red and yellow models of the Timeless Club II lack a date complication, unlike the first, and there have been slight improvements in the color of the minute numerals. Both still enjoy 38mm cases, beautiful hand wound movements with Nomos' spring system, and a gorgeous blue lacquer dial. Read on to learn everything there is to know about the Club II.
Although we have produced quite a number of limited editions since we released the original Timeless Club, it still has a very special place to us. In part, that's just because it's our first design, and it's very satisfying to see something you've done hundreds of variations and renders of over the course of months come to fruition.
We were genuinely humbled by the support we received from the community for the original Timeless Club. It sold out in just three weeks and to this day we still receive calls from people hoping to find one. The constant reminders made us revisit old alternative designs and to refine them. Eventually, after making numerous changes, we had produced two new watches that were very clearly related to the original Timeless Club, yet also stood on their own.
I suppose we should start with the obvious: we added a new yellow model. But that's not the only new thing. Just as importantly, the date complication has been removed. This allowed us to obtain an even cleaner dial than we had before with a color-matched date ring. It also had the pleasant side effect of substantially reducing the price of the Club II.
The classic red model does make its triumphant return here, without a date, but in addition to that it has one other small difference.
Namely, we took this opportunity to improve, however slightly, the color of the red minute numerals around the edge of the dial. While the original looked great in our (admittedly completely biased) opinion, we wondered what it would look like with slightly brighter, more saturated numerals. The Club II allowed us to try that. The result is very subtle, but we find that it better matches the red seconds hand, which remains the same color.
Naturally, because all of the Timeless Clubs, all so far at any rate, were inspired by the Club Dunkel, they receive extensive lume. Unlike the Dunkel (but like the original Timeless Club), we used different colors of lume for hands and the numerals to increase legibility at night.
Like every limited edition we make, we use the best movement we have available. While we couldn't bring back the DUW from the original model, because it has a date, we decided to use the modified Alpha with swing system that worked very well for us in our Midnight Orion.
The inspiration for the Timeless Club, be it the original or the IIs, is the Club Dunkel.
The Dunkel has always been one of our favorite Nomoses, in large part thanks to its bright luminescent numerals against a dark dial and its orange accents. Thus, when it came time to design the Timeless Club dials, we didn't stray far from that formula.
We tried dozens of different versions in an attempt to find the right dark dial. We ultimately settled on the lacquered Deep Blue dial of Nomos' top-notch Lambda. This is, unfortunately, a dial that most Nomos fans will rarely see due to the cost and rarity of the Lambda.
However, by offering it in the Timeless Club and Club II, we were able to share this deep, dark blue with a much wider audience. Nomos simply calls it "Deep Blue" and its matte appearance makes a highly legible backdrop for the luminescent hands and numerals.
Of course, there is the new yellow dial. It's not precisely all-new, as it has the exact same dial color as the red version, as well as the original Timeless Club. But the yellow accents really change the whole look.
The yellow comes in the way of a bright yellow seconds hand and the small minute numerals around the perimeter of the dial. They're fairly subtle, but the dark matte blue fits this shade of yellow amazingly well.
The yellow model is certainly the most different from the original Timeless Club, but the red version also received a slight alteration to its color.
The red seconds hand is the same color as the original, but the small minute numerals received a slight update. In the original version, we went with a darker red that was slightly orangish. On the Club II, however, we chose a brighter red that more closely matched the seconds hand. It's subtle, to be sure, and unless you hold them side by side it's hard to tell, but it is nonetheless an improvement.
Whether you choose the Club II Red or Yellow, both receive the most substantial change from the original: the lack of a date.
The date complication is sort of a tricky subject in watch design, particularly with Nomos' dial layouts. Many watch collectors simply won't buy a watch without a date, and some won't buy one with a date. When we designed both the original and this new model, what we really focused on, however, was the aesthetics. One of the choices we struggled with was the fact that, due to the placement of the date window, it required the removal of the 30 minute numeral below, which compromised the symmetry. On the other hand, using a date gave us the ability to do something we've always liked, namely color match the date ring to the dial.
Ultimately, we decided to go with the date complication for the original, but now that we have been blessed with the opportunity to produce a second version, we could really have it both ways. This time we skipped the date, which let us put the minute marker back in. Which is better? Well, I suppose that's for the collectors to decide. I think they both look equally good, although when it comes to Nomos, I value the austerity of the dial a great deal, and that usually favors skipping the date complication altogether. Regardless of the subjective preference for or against dates, it does have the objectively agreeable bonus of substantially decreasing the price.
Internally, we perceive the Timeless Clubs to be an extension of the Dunkel model, and naturally that includes adding a substantial amount of lume. Oddly enough, the most luminescent model Nomos makes isn't their quasi-dive watch, the Ahoi, but the Dunkel. Like the original Club, we opted for the unusual combination of blue and green lume. In theory, this may make it easier to read at night, making discerning hands from numerals even more instantaneous, but really we did it because we think it looks awesome.
All in all, aside from the addition of the yellow model, the changes are few but significant. The most important of these is the lack of a date, and I think that's going to allow the Club II to appeal to a slightly different group of people than the first one.
While the dial and movement have been customized extensively for the limited edition, the case is almost entirely unchanged. That's just fine with us, however, as the Club is one of the most comfortable models Nomos makes.
Once again we've opted to use a 38.5mm case. We were really interested in making both bigger and smaller versions, but the unfortunate reality of small run limited editions is that we have to produce the model that best suits the average collector. We feel that 38mms is roughly the "sweet spot" across the board for Nomos watches, and most customers who try a variety on in person do come to the same conclusion. We're definitely open to the idea of creating a wider variety of sizes of future models, but here we're still using what is, in our view, the best all-around size this case comes in.
In general, Nomos is committed to making their watches quite thin by modern standards, and our Club is no exception. Thanks to the use of a very thin hand wound movement, Nomos was able to keep it well under 9mm thick.
Of course, we did make some very modest changes to the back. It now says "Limited Edition Club for Timeless" and has limited edition numbering (this is [HASH]1, not a prototype or render). We prefer to keep our branding very discreet, only allowing ourselves some writing on the back.
One of the reasons we prefer to use Club and Orion cases is because they use relatively conventional curved lugs, which makes them somewhat more comfortable, in our opinion, than the angular lugs of something like the Tangente.
One of the great things about working with Nomos to release limited editions is that they have such a strong portfolio of well-made and beautiful movements. We always try to use the best movement that a company we work with has available. With the first Timeless Club, we were actually able to debut a new DUW Nomos movement, one of the first with their swing system. Because the Timeless Club II doesn't have a date, however, that specific calibre wasn't a good fit for this application.
This didn't pose any real trouble for us, because we'd already utilized a customized Alpha movement for our Midnight Orion limited editions with great success. Like the Timeless Club II, the Midnight Orion needed a hand wound movement without a date, and we chose to take the very popular, but older, Nomos Alpha calibre and had Nomos replace the relevant parts with their swing system escapement. Thus, while the movement is an Alpha in name, it has all of the next-generation parts you'd find in one of the company's DUW movements.
Here we can actually spy the pièce de résistance of the swing system, the blued hairspring. When you work within the watch industry and start to get a feel for the supply chains involved at higher levels, you'll be surprised to learn how few companies, even companies that are quite famous for their in-house movement production, produce their own hairsprings. There are, of course, huge, powerful companies like Seiko which do produce their own hairsprings, but it's extraordinarily rare to find a smaller independent brand like Nomos with this capacity. And yet here it is, and it's quite beautiful. Hairsprings are rarely blued in contemporary watchmaking, outside of Rolex at any rate, and it's largely an aesthetic flourish at this point, but is a nice touch.
On a technical level, the Alpha is like most Nomos movements. It uses a Triovis-style regulator for high-precision adjustments, the preference of a small number of other manufactures like Vacheron Constantin and Girard-Perregaux. It also uses a fairly unusual frequency for a contemporary movement, 21,600 BPH, or 6 beats per second compared to the nearly universal 8. Lower frequency designs have become somewhat rare in the modern world, but not altogether forgotten, as a few brands, like Patek Philippe, still make watches that utilize them. The perceived smoothness of a seconds hand is determined not only by frequency, as one might expect, but also by the length of the seconds hand. Consequently, the small seconds on a Nomos still appears quite smooth. Being typically Germanic, it utilizes a 3/4 plate and the finishing is remarkably beautiful.
So that's the Timeless Club II, the follow up to our very first limited edition.
For the most direct descendant of the original, the changes are small, yet significant.
The lack of the date will be the difference that will have the greatest influence on whether or not you like the new one more than the original. People tend to fall into a date or a no date camp, but now, at least, there's one for each.
There is also, of course, the slight change to the color of the red minute numerals, although this is quite subtle indeed.
By far the most important change, however, is the addition of this yellow model. While it's new to most audiences, it's actually just one of hundreds of designs we've worked on since even before the release of our first limited edition. It's very exciting for us to finally share one of the rival designs and see what people think.
The yellow version is almost certainly the best choice for people who own the original Timeless Club. It's amazing how different the "feel" of the watch is from this simple change of colors.
Both colors receive a new movement. While the original Timeless Club has the next-gen nomenclature (DUW), the only meaningful difference between the two movements is the lack of a date complication in the latter. In terms of timekeeping, all of the relevant components are on the cutting edge of Nomos' technology and the two should have identical accuracy.
Well, we designed it, so it should be quite obvious that we're biased. If we didn't like it, we wouldn't have made it. The question is, do you like it, and if so, which one do you get? Well, the sportiest of the two is definitely the red. Furthermore, if you're one of the hundred or so people who have e-mailed us looking for the original after it was sold out, this would also be a good option.
Oddly, the yellow model has a very different feel. It's still very casual, yet casual in an almost dressy way, if that makes any sense. Personally, I love the combination of blue and yellow in general, but I was surprised with how much I liked it in person. In renders, we didn't quite like it as much as the red. Once I saw it in person, however, it was instantly my favorite. I'd take the yellow myself, but this time around, you have a hard choice to make.
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Wow, I have been waiting for this for years. I have always really admired the brand, and love some of the models. Been dying to see them in person.