Nomos has fitted the Tangente with the new DUW 3001 extra-thin automatic movement, added a dash of colour, while keeping the original size and proportions of its classic wristwatch.

Nomos‘ very first wristwatch was the Tangente, designed in the clean style of the Deutscher Werkbund movement (not exactly Bauhaus as often assumed), which set the tone for the rest of its watches. Now for the first time the Tangente is available with an automatic movement, the new DUW 3001 that’s also found in new Minimatik, also newly unveiled at Baselworld 2015. The new DUW 3001 movement is 3.2 mm high, making it as tall as a handful of postage stamps. It has a 42 hour power reserve and bidirectional automatic winding.

With such a slim movement inside, the Tangente Automatik is 6.9 mm high, just 0.3 mm taller than the hand-wound version. But the case diameter remains a modest 35.5 mm.

Visually it’s nearly identical to the Tangente hand-wind, save for a bit of red on the lettering and in the seconds hand. And both the hour and minutes hands are black oxidised steel, instead of the blued steel found in most other Nomos watches.

The Tangente Automatik costs US$3780, compared to US$2180 for the traditional hand-wound, display back Tangente. 

Having been a commercial success, the Dark Side Of The Moon collection has grown significantly at Baselworld 2015, and now includes four more variations of the original, as well as the new White Side Of The Moon. Omega essentially changed of the chemical formula for the zirconium, making the entire watch white.

While not the most creative thing to do, the White Side Of The Moon follows on the heels of bestselling white sports watches from the likes of Audemars Piguet and Richard Mille, who together made the white watch acceptable for men, where Chanel made it popular with women.

The many shades of the Moon

Colour aside the White Side Of The Moon is identical to its black sibling, with the calibre 9300 inside. It’s Omega’s fanciest chronograph movement with all the bells and whistles the brand can bring to bear, including a silicon hairspring and Co-Axial escapement.

The White Side Of The Moon is priced at 10,800 Swiss francs or 16,750 Singapore dollars for the base model. Additional versions are available, with prices going up to 33,350 Singapore dollars for the top of the line model with a mother of pearl dial and diamond-set bezel.

To go with its newly developed DUW 3001 extra-thin automatic movement Nomos has designed a new wristwatch, the Minimatik. It’s a departure from the typical Nomos look, but still pleasingly minimalist.

Newly unveiled at Baselworld 2015, the Nomos Minimatik is different from the typical Nomos designed in the Deutscher Werkbund style, but still sparsely designed as is the brand’s habit. It is fitted with a new movement, the DUW 3001 automatic that measures just 3.2 mm high. The 3.2 mm height of the DUW 3001 puts Nomos in good company, with ultra-thin movements from brands like Jaeger-LeCoultre and Piaget that are usually 2 to 3 mm high. Despite its slimness the DUW 3001 movement has a full rotor that winds in both directions (many ultra-thin movements have micro-rotors) and respectable 42 hour power reserve. It also has a free-sprung balance wheel with the in-house swing system escapement that Nomos introduced last year.

And it is fitted with a full balance bridge that’s secured on both sides of the balance wheel, rather than the more common balance cock that’s anchored only on one side. This improves the stability of the balance, and is useful in very thin movements.

The Minimatik features a case with rounded elements, a contrast to the angular lines of the quintessential Nomos Tangente. It’s matched with a dial featuring red and blue accents, again a departure from the monochromatic look that Nomos favours.

Nomos cites the Minimatik as a ladies watch, but it is comfortably unisex, since Nomos’ men’s watches are similarly sized at 35.5 mm. The entire watch measures just 8.6 mm high.

The Minimatik is priced at US$4060 and will be available in fall 2015.

Based on doctor’s watches from the twenties, the Longines Pulsometer Chronograph is a mono pusher with a red pulsations scale and a lacquered enamel dial.

At Baselworld 2015 Longines has once again introduced a vintage-style chronograph powered by an upgraded Valjoux movement at an affordable price. The Pulsometer Chronograph is styled like those twenties chronographs intended for doctors, with a scale for measuring heartbeats on the dial. The dial is lacquered white to resemble fired enamel, printed with black Arabic numerals and fitted with blue steel Breguet hands. The case is steel and 40 mm in diameter with a display back that reveals the L788.2 movement inside.

It’s derived from the ETA Valgrange movement, itself based on the Valjoux 7750, but upgrade with a longer power reserve of 50 hours as well as a column wheel. And it is a single-button, or mono pusher, chronograph, with one button integrated into the crown to start, stop and reset the stopwatch.  This is the same movement found in the Single-Push Piece Chronograph introduced in 2013, pictured below.

The Longines Pulsometer Chronograph will cost 6360 Singapore dollars.

Launched two years ago the Dark Side Of The Moon has been a hit, combining the classic look of the Omega Speedmaster Moon Watch with glossy black ceramic. Now in a manner typical of a Swiss watchmaker with a hit on its hands, Omega has introduced four more variations to the line-up at Baselworld 2015, ranging from all all black to a black ceramic and red gold combination.

Like the original Dark Side Of The Moon, all four new watches have the case, bezel, back, dial and buckle in black ceramic. The first new model is the Dark Side Of The Moon Black Black, entirely in black, with black Super-Luminova on the hour markers and hands. This is priced at 10,800 Swiss francs.

Next is the Pitch Black in black ceramic with pale green Super-Luminova on the hands, dial and bezel. Again this is 10,800 Swiss francs.

Also a play on lume colours is the Vintage Black with faux vintage Super-Luminova. Likewise priced at 10,800 Swiss francs.

And the most expensive of the quartet is the Sedna Black. This is accented with Sedna gold (Omega’s proprietary, fade-proof red gold alloy), which is used for the hands, hour markers and bezel rim. This is the priciest at 12,500 Swiss francs.

All four new Dark Side Of The Moon models are equipped with the calibre 9300 movement, Omega’s top of the line chronograph movement that features a Co-Axial escapement, silicon hairspring, column wheel and vertical clutch.