Blue is the colour

There is a brown version which is quite delightful but if you are a trend follower, then this year it is blue.

Blue was certainly the colour en vogue at SIHH and Baselworld. Many maisons presented offerings in blue.

As a Manchester City supporter I resist saying, and definitely resist singing, “Blue is the colour” but actually it is the most popular colour choice generally of both males and females and is a constant in all our lives, the hue of sky and sea.

Blue symbolises trustworthiness, dependability. It instils calmness and yet can be dramatic and dynamic.

Many of those characteristics are present in this watch from Nomos Glashütte and that centre of fine watch making, Glashütte.

Nomos Glashütte is one of only a few watchmakers world wide with the designation of manufactory, attained because its watches are made in-house. Nomos Glashütte specializes in making mechanical watches with hand-wound movements and automatic movements.

Their watches are trustworthy and dependable and this exquisite blue offering instils calmness with the subtlety and simplicity of its form and appearance. It also has drama. It is Bauhaus inspired with style, function and sustainability of materials to the fore.

The dial

The blue is strong, a deep blue. It is galvanised blue gold. It is not effete but makes a powerful statement.

The face is enhanced by Glashütte sunray decoration.

It bears the characteristics of others in the Zürich range but presents simply hours, minutes and seconds, no date. For me that adds to the serenity of the face, minimising intrusion on that delicious blue lake.

At 6 o’clock where a date may reside is a simple point, no baton, no intrusion on the small second dial. The circular engraving carries the eye with the course of the slender, restrained second hand.

The hour and minute hand are faceted and graceful, rhodium plated and appliqué. They echo the lines of the hour markers, sculpted batons at the hourly integers and finely delineated white strokes for the intermediary minutes. They rest behind a domed sapphire crystal glass.

All is clean lines. The watch’s credentials are similarly presented in a form that is uncluttered and without distraction, peerless in its purity.

The case

The features are familiar. There is that slender bezel, characteristic of Nomos Glashütte. It is a product of the Swiss designer Hannes Wettstein.

The slim lugs add to the composition, unobtrusive, not breaking the line, blending seamlessly, offering a completeness of form.

The small crown, on its smooth support is finely knurled and carries the Nomos Glashütte name.

The stainless steel compliments the blue. It is 39.7 mm in width and has a sapphire crystal back as might be anticipated in a watch of this quality.

The movement

Predictably the movement is the one shared by the Zürich collection, the epsilon, manufactory caliber with a manually wound movement.

The movement is black gold-plated.

Conclusion

The appellation blue-ribbon which has been used to identify this Nomos delight is justified. It is true to the Bauhaus brief, is in tune with 2012 fashion. Blue is a cool colour and with its cosmopolitan chic maybe cool could also be used with the meaning given to it by the young. It certainly has impact.

Technical specification

• Model: Nomos Glashütte Zürich blaugold

• Reference: 822

• Case: stainless steel; diameter 39.70 mm; height 9.65 mm; water resistant to 3 bar (30 metres); sapphire crystal to front and back.

• Functions: Hours; minutes; subsidiary seconds.

• Movement: ε (epsilon) manufacture calibre, black gold-plated; self-winding; frequency 21,600 vph ; 26 jewels; power reserve 43 hours.

• Strap: Horween Shell Cordovan strap on pin buckle.