5 affordable watches at Baselworld part 2

Let's start with Nomos, Glasshutte's brand; after struggling for some time, Nomos presents quite a complete range.

It features a series of home-made movements, most of them based on the Peseux 7001's layout, sometimes deeply modified. At the moment, Nomos gets a second wind, with Union Glasshutte's marketing strategy towards a broader market.

We were delighted to discover the Nomos "Zürich Weltzeit ", a Universal Time watch.

This complication is a classic of the Helvetian watchmaking, especially after Patek Philippe fitted it in the famous Caltrava Universal Time. The interpretation of this function by the Bauhaus "made-in" Glasshutte is particularly convincing. The time zones disk (generally featuring the names of famous capital cities) is usually integrated to the rehaut or leveled with the dial.

But for the "Zürich Weltzeit", Nomos opted for a surprising layout: in order to reinforce the volume effect, the time zone disk sits at a lower level than the dial; the time zones hour's disk is positioned at three o'clock, between the dial and the time zones. This layout creates shadows that enhance the complication's legibility, while keeping a unique type of finish (here, "Saxony silver")

The stainless steel case revisits the Nomos' design in a slightly bigger size, with almost 40mm; but when the watch sits on the wrist, its light colored dial with a large aperture makes it seem like 41-42mm.

A minimalism reflected in the price: for around 5000€, one gets a watch featuring a home-made caliber and a complication usually reserved for prestigious brands. Impossible to do more Bauhaus.

Still at Nomos', the Club Automat, aka "when the Bauhaus runs wild". The Club's particularity is that it is one of the only sports watch from Nomos. In this case, "Sports watch" is very relative, since it will probably be more adapted to play Cricket than to Handball games.

However, the curved bezel as well as the orange hands and indexes, make it the most transgressive among Nomos' watches; All the best for the young executive. The watch is available in four levels of finishes: full or transparent back (with a better adorned caliber in this version), with or without the date. The date tends to disturb a bit the dial's harmony, but the case is bigger, up from 40mm to 41.5mm. The dial is available in gray or in white. The price ranges from 800 to 1300€, depending on the versions.

Yet, it remains a very affordable watch, if one takes into account the beautiful home-made automatic caliber and the superb dial, especially shimmering in the white silver version.

Let's stay in Germany with Sinn, a brand widely known for its good price/quality ratios. The brand keeps with its reputation and presents some very interesting novelties (especially "the bankers watch")

First of all, let's talk about the EZM-10.  EZM stands for EinsatzZeitMesser, which means "mission watch" in German. The first EZM were rather army/police oriented, but since the release of the EZM-7, a watch intended for fire-fighters, the series seems to keep with a style intended for professionals, but civilians. This time, Sinn revisits the pilot's watch. A difficult task since this theme already inspired great interpretations, by Breitling with the Navitimer, Bréguet with the Type XX, or Rolex.

Even Sinn already produced several aviator watches. For that matter, the EZM-10's movement (based on a deeply modified 7750), featuring a minutes and seconds central counter, is widely used by the brand's "aerospace" themed watches. So, in order to mark its difference, the watch focuses on legibility: XL case, around 45mm, XL indexes, dials and bezel, also overly Luminova coated. The other way this watch stands out, is through the rare work accomplished on the non magnetic case: the pushers are integrated and the hardened titanium (only the surface) casing is filled with Argon, a gas that provides a better resistance to low pressures.

This watch includes too many special features to describe them all.  Actually, this EZM-10 is a comprehensive showcase of all Sinn's "savoir- faire". It is proposed for the very moderate price of 4000€.

Finally, let's talk about Tudor, the greatest hit of Baselworld 2012. The brand not only presented the most attractive watch of the trade show, but the two most attractive. I'll let you determine which one is the best, according to your tastes. Both are fitted with an ETA 2824, modified by Tudor.

First of all, the most desired? Longed for? Wanted? The Tudor Black Bay. It is definitely inspired by the Tudor 7922-7924 from the 50's; this Tudor, with a professional or even a military purpose, featured a blue bezel, and more rarely a red one.

Remarkably, the Tudor team chose to revisit the red bezel. The Black Bay reuses many of the 50's vintage Rolex and Tudor's aesthetic codes: red double gilt dial, snowflake hands, Tudor dynasty's pink as well as a deliciously vintage font. All of this sits on a magical domed dial.

The case also has a vintage look: "Big Crown" without flange and metallic bezel insert; the lugs are a bit too thick, and therefore seem modern, the only inconsistency. Despite this little flaw, this Tudor features all the suitable vintage codes, for a more than affordable price: around 2400€ with the aged leather strap (that you will quickly fit with NATO), and 2600€ with a stainless steel bracelet.

A real certified quality vintage will cost 10 times the price plus the radium's radioactivity.

The other "must see" is the Tudor Pelagos. While the Black Bay has its roots in the past, the Pelagos is definitely future oriented. It is a super-futuristic remake of the famous vintage Tudor divers, like the "Marine Nationale". This work is not only futuristic, but also realistic. Rather than proposing a fanciful piece with a waterproofing far beyond the best divers' abilities, Tudor focused on the functional and aesthetical aspects.

The dial represents a culture shock for Rolex; it is the first dial without circled indexes to be fitted on a sports watch in decades.  The finishes of both the indexes and the hands somewhat remind us of certain Traser watches. The 42mm case is made of brushed titanium and the ceramic bezel is shot-peened to increase shock-resistance. The strap benefits from the most recent innovations in the folding straps field: it automatically adjusts to the variations in your dive suit's thickness, thanks to a spring fitted in the clasp.

It is the perfect polyvalent diver's watch, which never lapses into gentrification. Especially thanks to a reasonable price of 3300€ with the titanium bracelet, which makes the watch affordable for all.