NOMOS is making 36 mm watches in 2015. That's the blunt statement that this hands-on needs to start with. NOMOS is also fitting these watches with new calibers. So this is a two-for-one review of both the new NOMOS Minimatic and the new DUW 3001 within. Suffice it to say, this cool little German manufacture isn't done making waves. In fact, if anything, it's just getting started.

We'll revisit aesthetics in a moment, but before we do, let's cover something important: the DUW 3001. In case you've missed it, NOMOS' new official name is NOMOS Glashütte Deutsche Uhrenwerke, hence the DUW. Proudly made in-house in Germany.

It was just last year that NOMOS announced its in-house escapement, and rather than ride that achievement for a while, they decided to incorporate that system into an automatic movement for the first time (kind of) in a brand new caliber. They have actually decided to start this movement from scratch rather than use one of their older ones. Why? Because, when you're a small German manufacture that is innovating calibers every year and introducing serious timepieces as much as if not more than blue-chip brands, then why not go nuts?