Affordable Nomos homage review (Rodina Small Seconds) with pictures

[brwaldm]

I have always been drawn to watches that invoke a "bauhaus" design, with one of my ultimate grails being the Nomos Tangomat. Therefore, when I saw a post a while back about a Nomos homage that was made in China under the brand name Rodina and was only found on Tao Bao, I was intrigued and took the plunge. It was drawn out process but it just arrived on my doorstep today and I thought I would write a short review as info on this watch is otherwise scarce.

Specs:
-38mm stainless steel case
-10mm thickness
-5 atm water resistance
-Automatic movement (Appears to be a variation of a Seagull ST-16, see pic below)
-Blued hands, small seconds
-Brown leather strap with signed buckle (option of black strap)
-Signed crown, display back
-About $115 plus shipping when purchased through a Tao Bao agent




First impressions:
The Good
-This thing definitely looks the part. It wears VERY big as it is all dial, and is makes my 6.75" wrist look puny.
-The dial color is awesome and is a pearlescent off-white.
-From what I have seen from pictures, is a very close homage of the Nomos Tangomat

The Bad
-The movement is VERY loud. I can tolerate this during handwinding, but any movement of the rotor is audible as well. Like a grinding noise.
-Handwinding gives a lot of resistance and, again, a lot of noise.
-About +8 sec after 12 hours

Because of the very affordable price (~$120), I would still recommend this watch if you like the look of Nomos. IMO it would be too big as a true dress watch for anyone under a 7" wrist (I usually like about 36in for dress), but with today's larger sized watches I don't think it would look too out of place either. I will update as I spend more time with the watch as I am a little leary of the movement inside. Here are some more pics to finish. Feel free to ask any questions if you are interested. Thanks for looking!

[Dr.Fu Manchu]

Very classy! I've also always loved that simplified look. Isn't there a Stowa that looks like that for less? I've also seen some other similar styles but they were overpriced IMHO.
I've tended to try and stay clear of homages, but this one is really nice. Are the hands blue?

[brwaldm]

Very classy! I've also always loved that simplified look. Isn't there a Stowa that looks like that for less? I've also seen some other similar styles but they were overpriced IMHO.
I've tended to try and stay clear of homages, but this one is really nice. Are the hands blue?

Thanks. Yeah, I think it is similar to the Stowa Antea with small seconds, though if I remember correctly the Stowa has all the hour numbers on it instead of just the even ones. As far as the hands go, I think they are blued but I am color blind so I may be imagining it...

[uw300]

will be following any updates with interest

[flori78]

Very classy. Is there a website apart taobao that sells this model?

[skywatch]

Actually I went in on two of these with another WUS member, soon after Svedos posted his on the wrist parade, and we hope to see them in a week or so. Obviously I like this look as I already own a Nomos and a Stowa so it seemed worth investigating, and it's a slightly larger size from the Tangomat (which is 35mm) so it sets itself apart in a subtle way. Apparently sapphire crystal as well, and surprisingly it looks slightly domed in your photos, while the Tangomat is flat sapphire. I think the ST16 is a good solid movement, and this one appears nicely decorated. Apparently this was built in the Tianjin Sea-Gull factory for a mushroom brand, which ironically seems to have taken its name from a dead Russian label. Hmm... Zombie Mushroom Homage ... sounds like the name of a new jam band. I look forward to trying my dark-faced version.

[brwaldm]

Actually I went in on two of these with another WUS member, soon after Svedos posted his on the wrist parade, and we hope to see them in a week or so. Obviously I like this look as I already own a Nomos and a Stowa so it seemed worth investigating, and it's a slightly larger size from the Tangomat (which is 35mm) so it sets itself apart in a subtle way. Apparently sapphire crystal as well, and surprisingly it looks slightly domed in your photos, while the Tangomat is flat sapphire. I think the ST16 is a good solid movement, and this one appears nicely decorated. Apparently this was built in the Tianjin Sea-Gull factory for a mushroom brand, which ironically seems to have taken its name from a dead Russian label. Hmm... Zombie Mushroom Homage ... sounds like the name of a new jam band. I look forward to trying my dark-faced version.

Skywatch, were did you find out the other info on this one? The Tao Bao site I saw was very vague on details...I will say though that that the crystal is indeed flat and that the reflection in the pictures is a shadow from the thickness. I also enjoyed your new term - zombie mushroom homage (a first at WUS?), and I always thought it was weird that every time I searched for Rodina it came up as a russian brand. I will be interested to hear your thoughts when you get yours.

A little OT, but I was also going to ask which Nomos you owned...I always thought that I wanted the Tangomat (which I think is 38mm) vs the Tangente (which I think is smaller at around 35-36mm) but really didn't anticipate how large 38mm would wear in this style.

[bluloo]

A beauty. I'd also be interested in how/where to buy this one

[LCheapo]

A beauty. I'd also be interested in how/where to buy this one

Same here. Please post links, or even better, instructions!
I'm not having much success with searching on TaoBao, and the agent pages also don't want to cooperate with Google translate for me (i.e. after starting to fill out a form the 'next' button jumps back to Chinese).
Edit: Found one here; but how to buy it? The white dial seems to be out of stock (at least that's what google thinks).
http://translate.google.com/translat...16032476961%26

[Citizen V]

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There are plenty in stock :), at least 30 of each left.

You have to use a middle-man/agent to buy it for you and ship it to you. TaoBaoNow is a popular one that we use in the Chinese Mechanical Forum. There's also TaoBao Buying Agent which some people have used.