Hand-wound watches

1. Winding the watch

Wind your watch by turning the crown clockwise between thumb and index finger until you feel a marked resistance. Your watch will thank you when you do this regularly. When fully wound your watch has a power reserve of at least 43 hours—or one hour less for models with a date function (switching the date requires a little extra energy). Models Lux and Lambda even have a power reserve of 84 hours.

2. Winding a watch with a power reserve indicator

Wind your watch by turning the crown clockwise between thumb and index finger until you feel a marked resistance. Your watch will thank you when you do this regularly. Fully wound, your watch has a power reserve of at least 43 hours—which is also displayed on its dial. If the red gauge on the power reserve indicator is completely full, your watch needs to be wound up; you can do so by turning the crown.

3. Setting the date

You can set the date by winding the hour hand between eight and one o’clock. For example, if you need to change your watch from the 1st to the 16th September—perhaps after it spent the holidays tucked away safely in a drawer—then you don’t have to wind the hands 30 times around the dial. Start by simply setting the watch to one o’clock the next day, which will change the date. Then wind the hands counterclockwise to around eight thirty in the evening. Now you can wind clockwise to one o’clock, which will change the date again. When you are setting the time afterwards, please check whether you are setting it to ten o’clock in the evening or the morning—as if you get it wrong, the date will change at midday instead of midnight.

Automatic watches

1. Winding the watch

This watch does not need to be wound, as it winds itself as you move. Alternatively, you can wind it by turning the crown clockwise between finger and thumb. In contrast to hand-wound watches, automatic watches do not have a point of resistance once they are fully wound—but there’s nothing to worry about; with the neomatik calibers (DUW 3001 and DUW 6101) the rotor reduces its rate of movement once the watch is fully wound. If you don’t wear your watch, it will have a power reserve of at least 43 hours after being fully wound—or one hour less for models with a date function (switching the date requires a little extra energy).

2. Setting the date

a) The calibers DUW 5101 and Zeta

You can set the date by winding the hour hand between eight and one o’clock. For example, if you need to change your watch from the 1st to the 16th September—perhaps after it spent the holidays tucked away safely in a drawer—then you don’t have to wind the hands 30 times around the dial. Start by simply setting the watch to one o’clock the next day, which will change the date. Then wind the hands counterclockwise to around eight thirty in the evening. Now you can wind clockwise to one o’clock, which will change the date again. When you are setting the time afterwards, please check whether you are setting it to ten o’clock in the evening or the morning—as if you get it wrong, the date will change at midday instead of midnight. 

b) The NOMOS neomatik caliber DUW 6101

Watches with this neomatik caliber can be set even more quickly. In the second crown position—which can be found by pulling out the crown just a little—the date can be set forward and backwards with ease; just a half-turn of the crown will move the date once. Furthermore, DUW 6101 has a very small time frame for the date change: simply avoid resetting the date between 11:15 pm and 0:45 am. If you do so accidently, however, don’t worry; DUW 6101 is constructed so that this will not damage the mechanism. Should the date come to a halt while switching between two dates, simply pull the crown out as far as it will go and set the time to shortly after one o'clock in the morning—or back to 11 o'clock at night. Then the date display will return to its original position.
To set the time, just pull the crown a little further out—into the third position.

3. Setting the time and time zone

A perfectly simple complication: Setting a NOMOS watch with a world-time function is very easy—and accomplished in just three steps.

a. Tangomat GMT

  1. Setting the reference time: Press down the button until you see your time zone in the window on the left hand side.
  2. Synchronizing the times: With the help of the setting pin, press down the small corrector button—until the hands show the time of the window to the right. 
  3. Setting the current time: Just as before—turn the crown to set your local time (remembering the difference between ten o’clock in the morning and the evening).

b. Zürich world time

  1. Setting the reference time: Press down the button until you see your time zone on the city dial above (at twelve o’clock).
  2. Synchronizing the times: With the help of the setting pin, press down the small corrector button—until the hands show the time of the window to the right. 
  3. Setting the current time: Just as before—turn the crown to set your local time (remembering the difference between ten o’clock in the morning and the evening).

Watches from the NOMOS Atelier

Winding a watch with twin mainspring barrels

Wind your watch by turning the crown clockwise between thumb and index finger until you feel a marked resistance. Your watch will thank you when you do this regularly. Fully wound, your watch has a power reserve of at least 84 hours due to its twin mainspring barrel. This also means the crown needs a few more turns until both barrels are fully wound.

Taking care of the watch

1. Case

The casing of most of our watches is made from nickel-free stainless steel and sapphire crystal glass. The only thing harder than this glass is a diamond. In order to protect the steel, it is very slightly raised.

The cases of the golden NOMOS watches are made of 18 carat gold—as beautiful as they are precious. Since gold—both rose and white gold—is softer than steel, for example, you cannot prevent minor scratches—but it also records its life, the most beautiful way to tell your story.

2. Water-resistance

If your NOMOS watch has the addition 30 atm or 20 atm on its back then, according to the DIN standard, you can go diving with it. The description 10 atm reveals that your watch is suitable for swimming and snorkeling; 5 atm means that you can shower with your watch on. All other NOMOS watches are protected to 3 atm and generally prefer to stay dry; they are splashproof, so wearing them while washing your hands will not cause them any problems, but you should take them off before a dip in the pool. It is recommended to have the water resistance of a mechanical watch checked once a year by a retailer. It only takes a moment.

Please note: The Ahoi, Tangente Sport as well as Club Sport neomatik 42 date models come with a screw-drown crown. Please remember to screw the crown back in after use—as this is the only way to ensure your watch stays water resistant. To do so, gently push down the crown in its default position and turn it clockwise. The crown should never be wound while underwater. 

3. Magnetic fields

Magnetic fields can harm all mechanical watches, so it’s best to avoid them. If you notice any fixed rate deviation, your watch could have been magnetized. A watchmaker can fix this quickly.

4. Service

A mechanical watch should undergo a complete servicing around once every five years. This involves cleaning and replacing the watch oil lubricating it. We recommend you to take your watch to your retailer for this servicing.

Is your watch fitted with a bracelet?

NOMOS Glashütte now offers two stainless steel bracelets: a fine bracelet and the Sport bracelet. Produced exclusively for NOMOS Glashütte, both are highly durable and supremely comfortable to wear. They do not require any special maintenance: Clean them with a soft cloth from time to time; if you encounter more stubborn stains the best way to remove them is with a mild soap and water. Please note that your watch should be at least 10 ATM water resistant for this kind of cleaning. The length of the bracelets can be quickly and easily adjusted to fit your wrist.

Bracelet

Thanks to its practical clasp, the NOMOS bracelet is easy to adjust in length: Open the clasp on the back of the bracelet by pushing the buckle upwards, for example with the aid of the NOMOS watchstrap replacement tool. Slide the clasp to the desired position—paying attention to the preset grooves—and close the buckle again.

Sport bracelet

The length of the NOMOS Sport bracelet can
be adjusted by adding or removing individual links. To do this, open the bracelet and use the quick adjustment pins to release the bracelet from the clasp. The surplus links can be detached and removed on the reverse side of the bracelet using a screwdriver (blade width 1.0 mm). Then screw the bracelet back together and reattach it to the clasp.

Find out here how many links you need to add or remove so that your Sport bracelet fits your wrist perfectly:

Use strap advisor

You can compensate for minimal changes to the Sport bracelet using the quick adjustment pinholes—in summer or winter, the circumference of the wrist frequently changes due to the temperature. For quick adjustment, squeeze the two pins of the last link below the clasp and slide the bracelet back or forth a little until it locks into place again.

Would you like to change your bracelet?

Thanks to integrated quick-change spring bars, attaching and removing your bracelet is effortless. We’ll show you how to do it in our strap exchange guide.

Discover now

Club bracelet

You can adjust the length of the NOMOS Club Sport bracelet to any size by adding or removing individual links. For this you will need the Club Sport tool set. Lay the bracelet on its side in the provided strap- holding block on a non-abrasive surface. Position the bracelet so that the pin can be pushed down and out without obstruction. The surplus links can now be detached with the pin removal tool included in the tool set (pin diameter 0.8 mm) and a watchmaker's hammer. The pins can be hammered in and out in both directions. Pay attention to the falling pins and the fixing sleeve when removing them.

Now reinsert the fixing sleeve and reconnect the links. Using the plastic end of the hammer, you can carefully tap in the pin. Then check that the pin is fitted securely from both sides.

Find out here how many links you need to add or remove so that your Club Sport bracelet fits your wrist perfectly:

Go to the strap advisor

How to use the new deployant clasp

Your retailer can mount this NOMOS deployant clasp onto your strap in a moment. With a little finesse and two screwdrivers (with a 1.6 mm wide blade), you can also do it yourself.

Please check every so often whether the screws of your deployant clasp are still sitting tight—and readjust them if required. To be on the safe side, you can use a drop of screw lock lacquer on the head of the screw before tightening.

to the video tutorial

How do I change the strap on my NOMOS watch?

Dark Horween Genuine Shell Cordovan, light velour leather, or waterproof textile? Learn how to give your wrist a whole new look (with just one watch!) in our strap exchange guide. All you need is a NOMOS watch strap replacement tool—and a few minutes’ time.

To the guide

User manuals for download in English