Three Nomos Tangente
Club Sport neomatik 42
date models, with the
first Nomos bracelet,
handcrafted using
145 parts.
TRAVELLING THROUGH BERLIN’S FRACTURED, GRAFFITIED AND tattooed
streets, it’s understandable that Nomos founder Roland Schwertner would
have been drawn to the balance, symmetry and inherent calm of the Bauhaus
style. It represented an escape from the chaotic environment that was Berlin
from before the war to the fall of the wall– and to this day.
The net result of the confluence of Schwertner’s entrepreneurial spirit
and a singular moment in history resulted in the formation of one of the
most aesthetically pure and culturally reflective watch brands to emerge
from Germany.
Schwertner, schooled in technology and photography, found himself,
along with millions of other Germans, in a whirling vortex of opportunity
with the opening of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, signaling the begin-
ning of reunification of West and East Germany under the chant, “Tor auf!”
By the time reunification became official, on October 3, 1990, Schwertner
had already made his move to establish a new German watch brand in
Glashütte, Saxony, where the German watchmaking industry began.
“Schwertner wanted to build clean watches, something new and not
gaudy, like many of the 1980s watches, with a reference to draftsmanship.
He and designer Susanne Günther went through catalogues of watches
from Glashütte and found one that was made in 1920s, that was not ornate
like most watches of that time,” says Thomas Höhnel, product designer for
Nomos Glashütte, and the creative driver behind the Ahoi, the breakout
water resistant sports model that received the Good Design, iF and Goldene
Unruh awards. “This exception watch he found was simple and provided
inspiration for the first watch.”
Höhnel works at Berlinerblau, the Nomos design studio, located in Berlin
in what would be considered the urban part of any city in the world. The
Hipster meets Goth meets Businessman meets Mad Max forms the
interwoven Kevlar of the human experience that mesh together and drive the
pulse of the busy streets surrounding the studio.
Through a courtyard that could have easily been a darkened spy drop
during the Cold War, up an industrial steel grey elevator and through
imposing doors lies the Nomos cognitive center, the head, populated by
a crew of engineers, designers and marketers who feed their ideas to the
production facilities in Glashütte, the thundering hands of the company.
“The creative part of the company comes from Berlin, there’s a reason why
it’s there,” observes Uwe Ahrendt, CEO of Nomos Glashütte. “The spirit of the
place is important. Glashütte is a town of watchmakers, it’s historical, but the
design sensibility has to come from Berlin.”
“Berlin experienced chaos and then came together again,” adds Höhnel.
“It’s evident everywhere and has helped it to becomes a creative hub.”
Höhnel conducted a thorough history of the company and its products from
one of airy, white conference rooms at the Berlin studio.
Berlinerblau itself is a reflection of the clean symmetry of the
company’s design aesthetic, from the Eames furniture to the neat placement
of nuts and chocolates thoughtfully positioned on the conference tables. It’s
a highly ordered and logical environment, a far cry from the tumult in the
streets below.
IT STARTED WITH THE TANGENTE
Among the mood boards and many company artifacts dotting Berlinerblau
is a group of hand-drawn numeric fonts on paper that were utilized in the
design of the first family of products, the Orion, Ludwig, Tetra and Tangente,
released in 1991. The elegant, elongated font is ascribed to “Suzi,” scrawled
FALL 2019 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | 87