First Impressions | Nomos Club Campus 36mm Nonstop Red.

Alvin
Jul 12
4 min read

Well, would you believe it, I bought a little watch and it is pretty small in all dimensions - even the price. However, the one element that is large, is one that would usually put me off, but in this case it weirdly works, can you guess what it is? Anyway, while you ponder that I will officially welcome, to the collection, the right honourable 'Nomos Club Campus 36mm ref 716 Nonstop Red' that sometimes looks like orange - Nomoste - I know I'm a genius. Namaste meaning a 'respectful hello' in Hindi - you have to bow a bit with hands together - which allows you to show off your watch, perfect. Or should it be no mas - meaning 'no more' in Spanish - it doesn't mean that to me - no more watches, how very dare you!?

Compared to my other watches and usual tastes it is a somewhat dainty number, and even though I have a couple of 37mm or 38mm pieces they feel a tad bigger than they are, being in sportier or just chunkier cases. A sad reminder that my wrist is currently 6.5 inches / 16.5cm.

I have been after a Nomos Club Campus for a while, but was on the fence as I felt their colourful designs combined with with smaller sizes were a bit too feminine and far removed from my usual style of bold divers or sporty adventure watches. Since the wrist has been downsized though I felt I should embrace the change and go for it - of course I had to wait for the right deal. I had seen them in person at Watches of Switzerland in London, but didn't try them on. Had I done so I would have seen that jumbo lug-to-lug that on bigger watch cases is a deal breaker - was not so in this case or on this case should I say. Before purchase I was checking out reviews and stats, and came across that stat, 36mm case and 47.5mm lug-to-lug, a horrified chill crept up and down my spine, I became clammy and sweaty in all those places that I sweat profusely, and my wrist spasmed at the thought of such a discrepancy. What are they thinking, I thought to myself? And then I made an offer on it, and the kind seller accepted it - whoop!

And it really was a whoop because it was almost half the retail price (£1380) at £720 - which has to be one of the best deals I've ever snagged on eBay. That is a bargain by any measure but more so due to the quality of the piece and the reputation of company - they are well known for their value for money and that's at full price.

I heard though that they are struggling in terms of sales and growth which isn't a surprise as they are niche offering with their own quite specific design language, but they do have more watches than I realised, many in that cool Bauhaus style. Their new Club Sport Neomatik Worldtimer (above) is a step away, but a beauty nonetheless, it's not cheap though at £3940 and I'm not sure about the numerals encroaching on the subdial there at 3 o'clock.

This club campus watch though is a nonstop banger, I love it. It's opened my mind to smaller watches and it offers a lot, the German engineered hand wound movement, the California dial and that bright colour - it's perfect for summer. It's the perfect beach watch in terms of looks but also function, it's punching way about it's weight with 100m/10ATM water resistance which is very nice.

It's a lot of firsts then for me, it's the first 36mm watch I have bought, the first German watch brand, the first California dial in the collection and the first red dial watch I have bought - that's a good list. Oh and that lug-to-lug, it's also the largest difference from L2L and case size at 1.05cm. And it's quite evident, they really are unapologetically vampire teeth lugs. Saying that, they kind of work, as they add some missing dimension to the watch and make up for the small case size in a subtle way. In addition, the aftermarket nato takes some of that slack too. Whether the L2L x case was the intention or accidental Bauhausian error, I don't know - it's still a bit nuts to have them that long but it works in/on this case. I'm not so sure about the 38mm version with the 49mm lugs...

One of the first time Nomos were brought to my attention was an interview with a bunch of independent watchmakers including the legendary Philipe Dufour, They were asked which regular watch brand was the best, a few said Rolex, obviously, and Dufour said Rolex and Nomos (if I remember correctly someone else also did). On first impressions I can see why, mine are overwhelmingly positive, attaboy, good one old Phil and good one me.

Yours Nonstoppingly,

Alvin