NOMOS Glashütte Ludwig watches

The Nomos Glashütte Ludwig is the Nomos with Roman numerals, and one of the four models the brand started production with in 1992, alongside the Tangente, Orion and Tetra. Susanne Günther drew that first collection, taking her cue from the Bauhaus. Seen from above, the Ludwig can pass for a Tangente, but the case is different: a softer bowl shape with arced lugs in place of the Tangente's slab sides and kinked lugs. In 2020 it was still the only watch in the Nomos range with Roman numerals.

The hand-wound Ludwig is the heart of the line. The 35 mm steel model is a slim, plain dress watch, also made in yellow gold, where a mocca dial joins the white. The black-dialled Ludwig Oberlehrer shares the 35 mm size. Below it sits the Ludwig 33, made with champagne and enamel-white dials and as the Duo; above it the Ludwig 38, which with Datum in its name adds a date.

The automatics are a separate story. The Ludwig Automatik is a 40 mm watch, with or without a date, in white or anthracite. The Neomatik models use DUW 3001, the in-house automatic calibre Nomos introduced in 2015, which is only 3.2 mm thick, and the 36 mm Ludwig Neomatik is under 7 mm thick. The Neomatik 39 sits between the 38 mm hand-wound models and the Ludwig Neomatik 41 Date. That one, 40.5 mm by 7.7 mm, runs on the DUW 6101, whose date ring sits around the movement so the date can be shown right at the edge of the dial.

For 175 years of watchmaking in Glashütte, Nomos made three Ludwigs in 2020, each limited to 175 pieces and each with an enamel-white dial rather than the usual silver. The 205.S2 is the 35 mm hand-wound model with a chronometer-certified Alpha calibre and heat-blued hands, the 250.S1 is the Neomatik 39 with the DUW 3001, and the 261.S1 is the Neomatik 41 Date, its date at 3 o'clock written in Roman numerals.