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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!)

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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.

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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

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Second hand. No blue paint here; everything blue you see on a Nomos is colored by heat treatment, the old fashioned way.

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Official Nomos website