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Nomos Glashütte Metro Neomatik 41 Update
Ref. 1165
Sits in Nomos Glashütte’s upper tier here — more premium than three quarters of the Nomos Glashütte watches we list, which start at £1,480.
Price range £1,480 to £5,020 across 33 Nomos Glashütte watches in stock.Metro began as a dress watch for urban wear — clean dial, wire lugs, a case that sits close under a cuff. The Update variant, developed with Berlin product designer Mark Braun, grafts a date complication onto that form without disturbing it. The DUW 6101 is the first of Nomos's neomatik movements to carry a date mechanism, and at 3.6mm it remains thin enough that the case holds to 9.1mm overall — genuinely flat for an automatic with a date, and the reason this still disappears beneath a shirt sleeve. The date itself is the visual departure from the Metro family. A ring sits around the movement's perimeter rather than in a subsidiary window, and two neon orange markers frame the current date against the white silver-plated dial. The contrast is deliberate and a little provocative on a watch this restrained — the same note repeated on the orange ring carriages visible through the sapphire caseback. The dark grey woven strap is waterproof and fitted with quick-change spring bars, so swapping it takes seconds rather than tools, and it wears cooler against the wrist than leather in warmer months.
- Reference
- 1165
- Brand
- Nomos Glashütte
- Case size
- 40.5mm
- Lug width
- 20mm
- Case material
- Stainless steel
- Case shape
- Round
- Dial
- White
- Crystal
- Sapphire
- Movement
- Automatic
- Calibre
- DUW 6101
- Functions
- Date, Small seconds
- Water resistance
- 50m
- Bracelet / strap
- Fabric strap
- Strap colour
- Gray
- Clasp
- Butterfly clasp
- Retailer
- Mappin & Webb
Additional specifications
- Lug-to-lug
- 47.5mm
- Power reserve
- 42 hours
Learn more about Nomos Glashütte
Roland Schwertner, a photographer and computer technician from Düsseldorf with no watchmaking background, registered Nomos in Glashütte in January 1990 — two months after the Berlin Wall fell and before German reunification was complete. The town's watchmaking infrastructure had been state-owned for four decades and was suddenly available.
The design language was settled from the start and has barely moved: Bauhaus in the strict sense, drawing on the Dessau school's functionalism. Sans-serif numerals, no applied ornament, no unnecessary line, and dial layouts where every element earns its place. The Tangente, one of the first models, remains the flagship and looks the same today.
The technical ambition came later and was considerable for a company of its size. Nomos moved from modified Swiss ébauches to its own Alpha calibre, then to the DUW family, and in 2014 introduced the swing system — a proprietary escapement with an in-house hairspring, the component almost no independent manufacturer makes. Fewer than a dozen companies worldwide produce their own hairsprings.
The house is still independent, still based in a converted railway station in Glashütte, with design offices in Berlin. It occupies unusual territory: in-house movements and German finishing at prices closer to Swiss mid-range brands using bought-in calibres, which has made it the most common entry point into serious German watchmaking.
- 1990
- Roland Schwertner founds Nomos in Glashütte.
- 1992
- The Tangente launches and defines the house style.
- 2005
- Production shifts to in-house movements.
- 2014
- The swing system escapement with in-house hairspring is introduced.
Also in 3 collections
This watch appears in Stainless Steel Watches (3,355), Back in Stock (2,731) and Automatic Watches (1,699).
What the specifications mean
A mechanical watch for everyday wear.
Strengths
- 47.5mm lug-to-lug keeps the 40.5mm case wearable
- Sapphire crystal, which resists scratching
- One of Nomos Glashütte's more premium watches
Worth knowing
- 50m suits rain and handwashing, not swimming
Nomos Glashütte Metro Neomatik 41 Update alternatives
Watches from other brands at a similar price, style and size, so you can see what else your budget can buy.
| Specification | 1165 | FC-718N4NH6B | 2020.001M |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | £4,120 | £3,995 | £3,990 |
| Case size | 40.5mm | 41mm | 41mm |
| Water resistance | 50m | 50m | 50m |
| Movement | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| Strap | Fabric strap | Stainless steel bracelet | Leather strap |
| Power reserve | 42 hours | 38 hours | 38 hours |
| This watch | Closely matched | Closely matched |
Your new watch
Frequently asked questions, and things you should know about this watch
Can I swim with it?
Showering yes, swimming no. 50m covers splashes and brief immersion, but a swimming stroke generates well above the pressure that figure describes.
Will the glass scratch?
Unlikely. Sapphire is second only to diamond in hardness and shrugs off everyday marking.
Does it need a battery?
No. It is automatic — the motion of your wrist winds it, and there is no cell to replace.
How long does it run for when it's not worn?
About 42 hours fully wound — enough to survive a night off the wrist, but not a full weekend.
What size strap does it take?
20mm. Any strap of that width will fit, and on most modern watches quick-release bars make the swap a two-minute job with no tools.
Will it fit my wrist?
Lug-to-lug is 47.5mm, which suits wrists from roughly 16.5cm (6½ inches) upward.
Lug-to-lug decides fit more than case diameter does.
Is it a men's or women's watch?
Listed as men's.
Cheapest place to buy
Mappin & Webb is the only UK retailer we track stocking this reference new, at £4,120. There is nothing to compare it against today.
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