Movement
I think it is safe to say that the movement of the Nomos Tangente contributes quite significantly to its massive success over the years. Although the Nomos 1TSP (T for the Triovis fine adjustment, S for stop-seconds, and P for the 3/4 plate) is based on the ETA Peseux 7001 as its ébauche, but upon reading the following specifications one may understand why Nomos is assigning names to their movements because they have been refined so extensively that they resemble very little with an original Peseux 7001 movement.
The Nomos 1TSP is measured 23.3mm in diameter and 2.5 mm in height, comes with 17 jewels and composed of 98 individual parts. It is equipped with Nomos' own fracture-proof mainspring with 45 hours of power reserve. A Nivarox 1A balance spring is fitted along with Triovis fine adjustment and Incabloc shock protection beating at 21,600 a/h, being adjusted in 4 positions. The movement surfaces are sand-blasted and then gold-plated while the base plate is treated with Nomos' "Langeleist" circular graining. Following the Glashütte tradition the movement is fitted with a 3/4 plate featuring the Glashütte-style Nomos click, and the ratchet and crown wheel have the traditional Glashütte sunburst pattern applied on them. Last but not the least, the countersunk steel screws are first polished until the heads are flat and then blued in the same manner as the blued hands mentioned before (the entire screw is blued, including the slot). The ratchet and crown screws feature a bright polished finish. What distinguishes this movement from a normal 1TSP is the addition of the red word "Wempe" and the city name with its symbol, which happens to be the Tour Eiffel of Paris in this case.
Out of all the 21 coat-of-arms and symbols offered, in my humble opinion the Tour Eiffel is perhaps the most difficult one to be printed on the movement because this is one out of the only three (the other two being the Statue of Liberty for New York and the coat-of-arms for MS Europa) 3 dimensional objects within the collection. Take a close look at the following photo which shows all the fine lines and details in order to recreate a mini Tour Eiffel standing on top of the movement plate.
Nomos has made an honest and remarkable effort trying to incorporate most of the Glashütte specialties within this movement. Personally I think it will be even better if other traditional features such as gold chatons with blued screws for the jewels and swan-neck regulator can be added to the movement as well, but I shall not complain given what has been done already to transform an ordinary Swiss movement into something that follows the tradition of the early Glashütte pocket watch movements while maintaining the price of the watch affordable. The Glashütte sunburst pattern on the ratchet and crown wheel are truly very pleasing to the eyes, something one doesn't see from the Swiss movements.
One of the advantages of using an existing calibre that have already stood the test of time as the base movement is the proven reliability and accuracy. This Tangente has an actual power reserve of 44 hours and gains constantly between 2-3 seconds per day. When winding the watch one can actually feel the click clicking the mainspring as the crown turns. Although the winding isn't as smooth as one might expect from other hand winds that are sold at considerable higher prices, it nevertheless gives the owner of the watch a very solid click by click feeling, which once again reflects the practical nature of German watchmaking.
Strap and clasp
The hand-sewn straps made of Shell Cordovan, a leather that is water-repellent, thick, and dense, for the Nomos Tangente is definitely one of the most comfortable watch straps I have ever strapped on. Unlike many other expensive buffalo or crocodile straps, the Shell Cordovan straps are very soft and fit perfectly on one's wrist from day 1 and doesn't require any time for the straps to "break-in". The other good thing about these straps is that even after several months of frequent wearing, the strap doesn't show clear signs of wearing caused by the tang buckle from the exterior, as attested from the photo below.
Instead of being fitted with a standard tang buckle for the Tangente models, this watch comes with a buckle that is identical to the ones used for the Ludwig and Orion models. The buckle is engraved "WEMPE" instead of the normal Nomos, and perhaps the buckle is the only way to distinguish this watch from a regular Tangente without revealing the back of the watch. I've heard some owners voicing their dissatisfaction with the relatively inferior finish of the buckle in comparison with the case, but as far as I'm concerned I personally find it acceptable and comfortable to wear.
Box and packaging
The Nomos Wempe LE comes with the same box for all other Nomos models, which is a black wooden box made out of poplar wood that has been oiled with water-soluble satin. The interior of the box is covered with black velvet. The only difference I noticed is the exterior paper cover for the box, where "WEMPE LIMITIERTE EDITION 125 Jahre" is added. Overall I feel the box matches the style of the Tangente well, both being very clean and simple.
Wearing the Tangente - some thoughts
With its weight of approximately 15.2 grams, the Tangente is perhaps the lightest watch I ever owned. At the same time, thanks to its lightness my wrist enjoys a break occasionally from all the other heavy sports watches I have. The shape of this watch fits on the wrist very well and is suitable for many occasions ranging from casual wear to formal events. I have to admit that I got more compliments for this watch from other non-WIS people than any other watches I own that cost way more than this Tangente. In more than one occasion people asked me if I was a designer or architect whenever I was wearing this watch, and I can't think of any other watch I ever had that is so closely related to a particular type of profession, which is a pretty interesting phenomenon to me. As you can easily imagine I was also asked numerous times where can this watch be purchased and how much does it cost by people that are not generally into watches. While I was telling them the price I paid most of them were a bit shocked as they were anticipating somewhat less base on what they know about watches, and as a WIS myself I was doing the best I can trying to justify the many reasons why such an ordinary watch in their view is worth the monetary value it demands. I am not sure if I had them fully convinced, but nevertheless I gave my best shot! After all, it is fascinating for me to realize that this little watch I was wearing could have served as the medium for those people I had conversations with to enter the wonderful world of fine mechanical watches one day. Life is full of surprises!
Conclusion
Well by now I think I've said most I want to say about this watch in the previous sections. Being priced the same as a regular Tangente, the Nomos Wempe LE is one of the most affordable interesting limited editions in my humble opinion. For me personally, this is a simple watch full of interesting stories and memories behind it, and I am glad that I have the good fortunate to own and enjoy wearing it on a daily basis.
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