rwisem
February 26th, 2006, 18:03
One of the nice things about living in South Jersey is the ability to visit NYC and the great watch stores there. One of the best is the German watch and jewelry store chain, Wempe. Last week-end I was in the city again and had the opportunity to stop in.
As I sat at one of the individual counters while my salesman retrieved various watches and free magazines and books, I was struck by how busy they were. Usually I’m the only customer perusing the fine watches at a jewelry store. There was the 20's something couple where he was buying her a Gucci and she was giddy over the idea of such an expensive watch. There was a single guy in his early 30's trying to decide between a Rolex Sub date or a Breitling. I was interested in the married couple with two small children in tow. She was shopping for a full size Rolex sport model for herself. I’ve only ever personally met one person who understood spending more than a couple hundred bucks on a watch. Most people I know consider me nuts. I felt right at home surrounded by so many fellow nuts.
It had been over two years since I had visited Wempe. I had wanted a Nomos for several years. Last time I was there, I thought I wanted Tangente Sport, but felt the dial was a bit too silver. I know many dials that photograph white are really silver. I went back thinking I would look at the standard Tangente.
I knew Nomos had introduced several limited editions. I knew about the Expo 2000 series, the Wempe anniversary edition celebrating the cities where Wempe has stores and the super 30 series from 2004. What I did not know about was the 100 X 100 set celebrating another Wempe anniversary. Most of the 2005 production seemed to go to these special dialed versions of various Nomos models. I looked at a standard Tangente and several special editions. Apparently there are some people who collect Nomos like Swatches, but since I plan to have only one, I wanted the original - then I saw the Sommerparty. I liked the whimsey of the color splotches, but did not feel they detracted from the clean design. It is # 38 of 100. I didn’t find out how many the New York store had received. I love how thin it is. It’s great to wear under cuffs.
Excuse the quick and dirty picture.
As I sat at one of the individual counters while my salesman retrieved various watches and free magazines and books, I was struck by how busy they were. Usually I’m the only customer perusing the fine watches at a jewelry store. There was the 20's something couple where he was buying her a Gucci and she was giddy over the idea of such an expensive watch. There was a single guy in his early 30's trying to decide between a Rolex Sub date or a Breitling. I was interested in the married couple with two small children in tow. She was shopping for a full size Rolex sport model for herself. I’ve only ever personally met one person who understood spending more than a couple hundred bucks on a watch. Most people I know consider me nuts. I felt right at home surrounded by so many fellow nuts.
It had been over two years since I had visited Wempe. I had wanted a Nomos for several years. Last time I was there, I thought I wanted Tangente Sport, but felt the dial was a bit too silver. I know many dials that photograph white are really silver. I went back thinking I would look at the standard Tangente.
I knew Nomos had introduced several limited editions. I knew about the Expo 2000 series, the Wempe anniversary edition celebrating the cities where Wempe has stores and the super 30 series from 2004. What I did not know about was the 100 X 100 set celebrating another Wempe anniversary. Most of the 2005 production seemed to go to these special dialed versions of various Nomos models. I looked at a standard Tangente and several special editions. Apparently there are some people who collect Nomos like Swatches, but since I plan to have only one, I wanted the original - then I saw the Sommerparty. I liked the whimsey of the color splotches, but did not feel they detracted from the clean design. It is # 38 of 100. I didn’t find out how many the New York store had received. I love how thin it is. It’s great to wear under cuffs.
Excuse the quick and dirty picture.