Photo Essay: Something Different - The Nomos Ludwig 33

Photo Essay: Something Different – The Nomos Ludwig 33

As usual, click on the image for a larger version.

It’s time for something a little different. Firstly, this piece is something the ladies will enjoy: a well finished, 33mm hand-winding classical watch. Although 33mm used to be Patek Philippe‘s mens’ size, today it’s a little on the small side even for the fairer sex. Amongst contemporary watches, the only comparable piece would be the JLC Master Ultra Thin at 34mm, and perhaps a Patek repeater or two (but obviously they’re all in very different price categories!)

This Nomos, however, is eminently affordable, and is another one of those watches that delivers great bang for the buck: you get a [we believe] in-house movement, beautiful dial and hands, and a nice case. The movement is probably an in-house designed movement but reminds us of a heavily modified ETA (formerly Peseaux) 7001, although this one sports a three quarter plate, snail graining on all the wheels and a very nice ‘Glashutte stripe’ finish. The hands are polished deep blue batons which hover over the ethereal silver dial, itself having a warm luster and sheen.

At this point, you’re probably wondering if the watch itself is the ‘something different’: there’s one more surprise. These images were shot with Leica M rangefinder lenses – the 50/1.4 ASPH and 28/2.8 ASPH – with a combination of adapters, extension tubes and bodies. The second image was actually shot with an M9-P rangefinder body, Visoflex III adaptor and continuous LED lighting. The Visoflex III is an old accessory that Leica made from the 60s onwards to compete with the SLR onslaught; it allows SLR viewing on your M rangefinder. I’m very pleased with the tonal palette; expect to see more of this in the future. Combined with extension tubes on the Nikon D700 body, far greater than normal magnification (up to 3.5:1!) is possible – all of these images, including the closeups, are the full frame and not crops.

Enjoy! MT