Nomos and Atelier De Griff Team Up on a Club 36 with Daily Wear in Mind

Atelier De Griff is a creative studio based in Belgium that for the past four years has been growing a social media following on the strength of their custom made leather straps, watch accessories, and daily watch content published on their website, which includes news, reviews, and interviews with the likes of Max Büsser and Jean-Claude Biver. There’s an irreverent streak to the products they make and the tone of the website (the straps come in a rainbow of colors and patterns, and the brand mascot is a cartoon bald eagle wearing a jeweler’s loupe), so it shouldn’t come as a total shock that for their first collaborative watch, they’ve chosen to work with Nomos, which is certainly a brand that knows how to have a little fun, particularly when it comes to limited runs of their watches made in partnership with retailers, media outlets, and the like. 

The idea behind the Atelier De Griff x Nomos Glashütte Club 36 Limited Edition was to create a watch that could conceivably stand up as a collection of one – an ideal daily wearer. This, of course, is a thought experiment attempted by just about anyone who has dabbled in the hobby, and forces one to think about what it is that they really value in a watch, and what they can perhaps live without. In the case of this limited edition, it’s also led to some noteworthy adjustments to the specs of the Club 36. 

The headline here is likely the doubling of the Club’s water resistance rating, going from 100 meters to 200 thanks to a new crown and enhanced gasket. The screwdown caseback remains, and in this edition it has a sapphire crystal fixed to it to admire the Alpha caliber, which has a tweak of its own. Nomos, for years now, has produced their own Swing System escapement in-house, but it hasn’t yet been ported over to the production of their workhorse Alpha caliber. For this limited edition of 21 pieces, the Swing System escapement has been dropped into the Alpha movement. This isn’t a first for a Nomos limited edition, but for the collector and enthusiast it might sweeten the deal and make this watch a little more special. 

For the dial, De Griff has gone with a black sunburst, which they claim is subtle in nature, appearing nearly matte in many lighting situations. The Club, of course, has been issued in a variety of bright colors in recent years, but with a one watch collection in mind, black with a touch of texture seems like a safer and more time tested choice. Similar reasoning is behind the choice of a stainless steel bracelet, a harder wearing option than a leather strap. 

The case of the Club 36 measures, you guessed it, 36mm in diameter. Thanks to the hand wound Alpha caliber the watch is only 8.2mm thick, and like many core Nomos designs, the lugs are on the long side, which brings the lug to lug span to around 47mm. This all translates to a watch with proportions that truly work for almost anyone. As Nomos has grown over time, the watches have gotten bigger as well, but a Club at this size is a great reminder of what Nomos still does so well in the realm of traditionally sized watches. 

The Atelier De Griff x Nomos Glashütte Club 36 Limited Edition is available now (sold out in a flash – Ed.) exclusively via the Atelier De Griff website. The retail price is EUR 1549.