Nomos Metro: Complications in a Bauhaus Dress Watch

The Metro is Nomos's complications platform — the reference family that takes the brand's established dress watch aesthetic and adds functional complications: date displays, power reserve indicators, and the neomatik automatic movement. It holds a middle position in the Nomos hierarchy, more complex than the Tangente but less specialised than the Lambda or Ahoi.

Introduction and Role

The Metro was introduced in the mid-2010s as a dedicated complications reference within the Nomos dress watch category. Before the Metro, Nomos applied complications (dates, complications) to the Tangente and Orion — the Metro created a dedicated space for watches where the complication defines the design, rather than being added to a pre-existing layout.

The name "Metro" references metropolitan urban life — a watch for city professionals who need quick information: the date and remaining power reserve without opening the crown to check. It is Nomos's most explicitly practical dress watch.

Metro Datum Gangreserve — The Signature Reference

The defining Metro reference is the Metro Datum Gangreserve (Metro Date Power Reserve, ref. 1101) — in German, "Datum" (date) and "Gangreserve" (power reserve). Launched in 2014, it was the first Nomos watch with the in-house swing system escapement. It displays:

• Hours and minutes , plus small seconds
• Date at 6 o'clock
• Power reserve indicator — a scale with a pointing hand showing remaining mainspring tension

The power reserve display allows the wearer to see at a glance whether the watch is fully wound, partially depleted, or approaching the end of its reserve. For a manually wound watch, this is particularly useful: rather than winding daily regardless of current state, the wearer can allow the reserve to run down and wind when the indicator shows it's time.

The power-reserve scale is printed in graduated colours, and the hand moves towards the low end as the hand-wound mainspring runs down.

2026 — the DUW 4701. In October 2026 Nomos replaced the original DUW 4401 calibre with the new hand-wound DUW 4701 : derived from the DUW 4601, 2.8mm thick, with the swing system, a patented quick-set date (the DUW 4401's date could not be quickly advanced) and up to 52 hours of power reserve, about 10 hours more than before. It debuted in a new ice-blue Metro Date Power Reserve (ref. 1121, 37mm × 8.0mm, US$4,500) and is now fitted to the silver-white ref. 1101 (US$4,420). See our news coverage: Nomos Metro Date Power Reserve with the DUW 4701 (2026).

Metro Datum and Datum 38

The date-only Metro comes in two forms. The Metro neomatik 41 Update is the automatic option, using the in-house DUW 6101 (ring date around the dial) in a 40.5mm × 9.1mm case; an ice-blue version (ref. 1166, US$5,390) joined it in October 2026.

The Metro 38 Date (ref. 1102), announced in October 2025, is hand-wound, using the DUW 4601 with a quick-set date and 52-hour power reserve in a 38.5mm × 7.8mm case (US$3,830).

Metro Neomatik 41 Date

The Metro Neomatik 41 Date is the current flagship Metro reference, using the DUW 6101 — the neomatik automatic movement with Nomos's proprietary swing system escapement. Specifications:

"Neomatik" is Nomos's designation for movements using the swing system — the proprietary lever escapement developed in collaboration with external engineers and launched in 2014 with the DUW 1001. The swing system's key claim is improved efficiency (more energy delivered to the hands per oscillation) compared to a standard Swiss lever escapement.

The 41mm case of the Neomatik references is larger than Nomos's traditional dress watch sizing — a concession to the movement's automatic rotor, which requires more dial real estate than a manual movement to maintain case thinness.

Design Language and the Metro Case

The Metro case differs from the Tangente and Orion primarily in its case profile and lug design . The Metro features:

• Slightly more pronounced case shoulders than the Orion
• A case height that is marginally greater (to accommodate the complications module)
• A cleaner, more architectural lug form — straighter than the Orion's, less aggressive than the Tangente's
• The same railroad track chapter ring and cathedral hands as other Nomos dress references

The net impression is a watch that looks purposeful but not sport-aggressive — appropriate for the complications-in-a-dress-watch brief.

Metro and the Power Reserve Question

The inclusion of a power reserve indicator in the Metro Gangreserve raises a design question that Nomos has addressed through restraint: how to display useful information without cluttering a clean dial.

The answer: the power reserve display is small, sector-shaped, and positioned at the 12 o'clock position or integrated into the date display area — not given its own large subdial. The indicator is visible when needed but does not dominate the dial. This is the Bauhaus answer to the complications question: function, but not function at the expense of form.

Pricing and Position

US prices for current Metro references (Nomos US, October 2026):

• Metro 38 Date (ref. 1102, hand-wound): US$3,830
• Metro Date Power Reserve (ref. 1101 silver-white / ref. 1121 ice blue, hand-wound DUW 4701): US$4,420 / US$4,500
• Metro neomatik 41 Update (ref. 1166 ice blue, automatic DUW 6101): US$5,390

The Metro occupies the middle tier of the Nomos range — above the Club and basic Tangente, below the Lambda and Ahoi special editions. It is the dress watch choice for buyers who want practical complications in a Nomos aesthetic.