Nomos, the 15th anniversary watch 2026

The story is relatively simple: the forum had turned 15 and wanted to celebrate with a commemorative clock. It is true that these types of things must be foreseen in advance (for example, before they happen) but it is no less true that being foresight is not among my few virtues. The fact is that October 15, 2018 was our birthday and it was not until then that I realized the importance of the date. A 15th anniversary watch had to be made for Relojes Especiales.

The origins

It has been a long time since we got – miraculously – our first forum clock in 2004. It was a time when the internet was relatively new for all of us, but above all a time when there was little online supply of components. Micro brands were a phenomenon that would still take a while to appear and established brands simply ignored a channel that they saw as residual if not directly a threat. Today things have changed a lot, and no one dares to question something that is not future but present.

Looking for a partner

Even so, it was not easy initially to find a brand that met the requirements to make the 15th anniversary watch for Relojes Especiales. It had to be a brand with “watchmaking DNA”, recognized and recognizable. And, now we have to ask, that it be manufacturing at an earthly price. There it is nothing. I surveyed some of the many brands I have contact with, but the truth is that as the days passed (I could say the hours, actually) one name became more and more visible: Nomos. It is the only real manufacturer that has entry prices of just over 1000 Euros, their designs are attractive... and perhaps they would be willing to make a short run.

In July 2018, visiting the factory in Glashütte, I had the opportunity to confirm the manufacturing: there they produce all the components of their calibers including the balance wheel and their own escapement, the Swing System. What's more, Nomos is one of the few brands that can do without the near-monopoly of Nivarox, universal supplier of these two strategic components and, as such, market controller. Good credentials to have him as a travel companion, although now he needed to “get in”: fifteen personalized watches is not exactly a profitable business unless you pass on all the costs of that customization.

In my first contacts on this matter, and after several silences, I received a response that, without being positive from the outset, did not close the door. While that positive response arrived, there was work to do: from choosing a model to deciding on customization. But above all, cover fifteen, no, fourteen extra places, because one -mine- was already filled. After some polling on the forum I decided to propose the Club Campus model, the entry price to the brand, so that the subscription would be quick. And so fast: in a day and a half it had been covered. Well, actually this wasn't that simple... more information in the links at the end of this article.

Sticking to Nomos rules

Regarding the design, something was much clearer: it had to be in black and white, the corporate colors of Relojes Especiales. We proposed and discarded possibilities, and little by little, what was going to be the 15th anniversary watch for Relojes Especiales took shape. The most important point was how the anniversaries of those years were going to be reflected on the dial, and happily the burning partner found the key: the seconds subdial without any figure except 15. Ideal, because it follows the philosophy of the Special Watches logo: only the initiated understands or recognizes what he is seeing.

Well, we already had a “proposable” design for Nomos (we must not forget that they have very defined aesthetic criteria that they never usually ignore) and the fifteen enthusiasts. Now the technical details were missing and, once again, proverbial German efficiency was put into action. The dial and hands had to be manufactured specifically, one of the few things that Nomos does not make directly. It must be taken into account that normally the suppliers of this type of parts (and any supplier, really) do not make such short runs, so the extra effort must be appreciated. An effort that was not immune to the brand's founder, Roland Schwerner, who was personally involved in authorizing the operation.

To Glashütte to see the result

After a few months of letting them do it, on July 8, 2019 I took a plane to Berlin, from where they would take me to Glashütte (three hours by car) to attend the birth of what I had already named Nomos-15a.

Nomos has several buildings in Glashütte. From the original settlement at the train station to the components factory on the outskirts of the town, passing by the Chronometry building on one of the slopes of the valley. It is precisely in the latter where the quality control and assembly tasks of the watches are carried out. I was welcomed by Lennart Kluge, head of assembly, who guided me through a facility that I had already visited a year ago. I saw how the external material is tested (the dial, in this case), how the calibers are checked before placing said dial and hands and how our watch was fitted.

But before that I went through the experience of seeing “our” sphere in person for the first time. It is a feeling that many of us have probably gone through, when you come face to face with something that you have only seen in images, with all the risks of idealization that that entails.

The effect was exciting: there was exactly what we had thought. Neither better nor worse, but what we had asked for. A very slightly pearlescent white contrasting with the matte black of the seconds subdial and the figures (Arabic and Roman) with an apparent texture like candy... surely that was it, the emotion.

Being an external component to Nomos, quality control had to be passed by the corresponding department. In addition to the aesthetic part, the thickness is checked (a painting error could cause the needles to get stuck) and that the length of the pins that join it to the gauge is adequate.

To do this, tools capable of measuring thousandths of a millimeter are used. But boxes and glass are also checked. And of course the straps. In this regard, the visit was decisive in changing from a textile (blue) and suede (anthracite) combo for a black Horween Shell Cordovan strap, which will not only give more substance to the 15th anniversary watch for Special Watches but will make it “more Nomos” if possible.

Once I had successfully passed the quality control, I saw how the various components began to come together, starting with the caliber (Alpha, manual, 43 hours of power reserve, hand-finished) and the hands. Before, however, the caliber itself had to be assembled and tested.

Expert watchmakers (and watchmakers) check that each element is in its place before passing it to Anja Becker, who would take care of putting everything together. Anecdote: not all watchmakers at Nomos use Nomos watches. The gentleman adjusting one of our Alphas was wearing a beautiful vintage from the GUB era, when Glashütte belonged to what was then called East Germany.

Finally, the 15th anniversary watch for Special Watches

With practically all the watches already assembled, I had the opportunity to try on one of the fifteen that will soon arrive in Barcelona to be sent from here to their privileged owners. Writing in real time, they should be in the fall a week after my visit.

I said above that the best thing that could happen to us was to receive something neither better nor worse than what we had ordered. And the proof is this: a photo-montage with the image of a Campus catalog combined with the render that we had decided to send to Nomos to start working.

Now we just have to wait (very little, because the watches are already on their way) and enjoy our 15th anniversary watch for Special Watches. Quite a privilege.

Final note: despite its length, this is only a summary of the entire development. You can get more information by consulting these threads in the forum:

Nomos is manufacturing

Nomos, Campus and the forum's 15th anniversary clock: a survey

Commemorative clock 15 years of RE. Third installment (and last!)

15th anniversary watch. After the last one, the definitive one: are you in?

Nomos limited edition 15th anniversary of Special Watches