Introducing: The Nomos Ahoi Neomatik 38 Date With A White Dial
Black and white must be the most commonly used colors ever for watch dials. In Nomos’s case, though, I don’t associate its watches with black dials. There are indeed some (13 currently on the website), but Nomos is a brand I associate more with white dials. There are over 100 references currently available with a white dial, so I guess that feeling didn’t come from nowhere. However, one model that hasn’t been available with a white dial is the Ahoi Neomatik 38 Date. Don’t worry, though, because Nomos added a white silver-plated dial option to the lineup today.
It comes in addition to the first two versions of the Nomos Ahoi Neomatik 38 Date in Sky and Sand, as well as the Atlantic version that came out last year. It almost looks like the brand worked in reverse order for this model. Nomos started with the quirkier dial colors and is now slowly but surely adding the more common ones. Let’s take a quick look.
The Nomos Ahoi Neomatik 38 Date
Regarding the dimensions, there aren’t that many surprises here, except if you thought the Nomos Ahoi Neomatik 38 Date was actually 38mm wide. In real life, it’s a little wider, at 38.5mm. The straight and angular lugs span 49mm from tip to tip, and the case measures 9.9 or 9.8mm thick. This depends on whether you get the Ahoi with or without a see-through case back. The ultra-clean stainless steel case features a fully polished finish and crown guards to protect the screw-down crown from impacts.
Then we get to that “new” white dial. I say it like that because there is already a 36mm Nomos Ahoi with the same white silver-plated surface. The dial isn’t completely matte like on the Atlantic, but it’s also not as twinkly as on the Sand colorway. It’s somewhere in between. A concentric-grained sub-dial at 6 o’clock sits a little below the surface of the rest of the dial. The sub-seconds hand is red, which matches the red ribbon that’s visible when the crown is unscrewed. We find very light blue lume on the hour and minute hands, and the printing on the dial is black, except for the gold “neomatik” designation. Of course, the date disk matches the overall dial color, as it does on all Ahoi 38 Dates.
DUW 6101 inside
When you turn the watch over, you get a good look at the Nomos DUW 6101 automatic caliber inside. That is, if you opted for the exhibition case back, of course. The DUW 6101 is an in-house-built caliber that offers a power reserve of about 42 hours. Its rotor is skeletonized, so you can get a good look at the nicely decorated movement through the case back. A nice feature of this caliber is that the quick-set date can be set both forward and backward. In addition, it also has a smaller “danger zone” in which you shouldn’t change the date, from 23:15 to 00:45.
The Nomos Ahoi Neomatik 38 Date is a proper sports watch with a 200m depth rating. Its screw-down crown helps keep it water-tight. If you don’t fully screw it in, you’ll see a warning from a red ribbon on its stem. The comfortable textile strap keeps it on your wrist. I quite like its sophisticated black-blue color as it matches the ink I use in my Pilot Vanishing Point fountain pen.
Final thoughts
It was only a matter of time before Nomos added a white dial to its Nomos Ahoi Neomatik 38 Date lineup. It’s just in time for summer, fully ready for the beach, pool, or any other water-related activities. The white colorway is classic Nomos, but I think that the blue Atlantic is still my favorite for the Ahoi. It just suits the watch’s aquatic theme so well. For my 17cm wrist, though, I think I’d go for the 36.3mm version. But if you prefer to have a date window, the 38.5mm version is the way to go.
The Nomos Ahoi Neomatik 38 Date with a white dial costs €3,720 with a stainless steel case back and €4,020 with the exhibition case back. Let me know in the comments below what you think of this release!
