So in working from home times 200 meters WR makes a watch extra practical.. Interesting! Do you live in the deep sea?

 

Ha, touché! ;-) Still, while 200m is certainly overkill for my needs, there is a meaningful difference in day-to-day practicality between, say, my Metro and Orion, both of which are rated for 3 atmospheres, and my Ahoi. I wouldn't hesitate to garden, wash my car, get caught out in the rain (a frequent occurrence in Portland!), go swimming, et al., while wearing the Ahoi, but I wouldn't do any of those activities while wearing the Metro or Orion (and I have my Metro on a steel beads of rice bracelet, so it's not just about its stock leather strap).

To be fair to the Metro and Orion, they aren't intended for those activities. But, now that I'm working from home, I'm spending zero time at the office and a lot more time doing chores outside, so having a watch with the beauty of a Nomos that's also rated to at least 100m of water resistance (which, as we all know, doesn't actually mean it can be worn down a depth of 100m) is a big plus.

To @chimin, I definitely hear you with regard to the Metro datum gangreserve. It was my first "fine" watch purchase and I also think it's a special piece-I particularly love the unique asymmetry of its logo application & power reserve indicator. This may not make a ton of sense, but, if I were to trade it in, it might be for ... another Metro! I generally don't like gold watches, but, man, the Metro rose gold neomatik 39 really appeals to me. If I were to go that route, the only question would be, would I keep the Orion 1989, which is currently my go-to dress watch, or trade that in as well?

Ah, the struggles of watch nerd-dery! ?

 

buramu makes a fair point, even if it does make for excellent marketing spiel. that said, humble opinion, you may well regret selling the metro dgr as it's a special (hate that word, sorry) watch, unless of course you just don't like it anymore. agree that the tangente sport/ahoi distinction is confusing, especially these days having re-introduced the once phased out tangente sport without crown guards to one that now looks (to me and my blind eyes) identical to the ahoi.

 

To me, the Ahoi is in a weird spot. I guess I wouldn't go to Nomos for a diver watch, and the Ahoi kind of looks like a dress watch that someone added WR and a crown protector to. Because... that's sort of what happened right? It's kind of like a lifted Miata with off-road tires. It works, but I'm not sure it would be my first choice.

I agree that the Nomos catalog seems a bit mixed. If it were up to me (and it's not), I'd love to see Nomos design a sports watch from the ground up, rather than slapping modifications on an existing watch. I feel like Ming did a really good job in going from their dressier choices to making a dive watch that feels/looks robust while still maintaining their design language.

While some people might like the idea of a dress watch with extra capabilities, the watch looks off balance to me with the crown protectors. I ended up going for the Nomos Metro Gangreserve. I figure I would rather be careful and avoid beating up my nicer watches and use other watches for other tasks. I love the gangreserve and I wouldn't trade it personally. The power reserve gives it a weird quirkiness that just works, and the normal Metro dials seem a little plain in comparison. All just my opinion though!

 

I agree with your 3 ATM vs. 20 ATM comment; it's probably overkill, but simply one less thing to think about. I like the watch, but those long, angular lugs make me make a face…and not a good one.

 

My backpacking-watch is 3ATM (barely) and I've worn it during jungle-treks (of the cross-rivers-holding-backpack-above-head-kind). After 5+ years of mountain climbing, rafting and mud trekking it's still ticking happily at +1.5spd so I've learned not to worry too much about physical and aquatic abuse of mechanical watches.

If you need 20ATM for peace of mind that's ok, but your watches can take more than you give them credit for

 

Love the Ahoi. I once had the Ahoi Neomatik and I loved it...I still miss it! Enjoy. I liked the ATM as I took it swimming with me and didn't have to switch to another watch when going to work after.

 

I love my Ahoi. It adds just enough quirk to me where I don't think it comes off as too dressy, but can pull that off when needed. I do think its more successful/interesting in the bolder dial configurations, though the white dial in particular has always felt very nautical to me. Yes, nobody needs a 200m watch for daily use and the majority of people could get along fine with a 3atm watch. My first "nice" watch was a preowned 35mm Tangente that I bought before I really knew anything about watches. I wore that everyday for a couple years without issue, before I caught the watch bug.

However, back then I was a regular sales/office worker dude, going into an office or visiting clients in an office building then going back to a Condo. Didn't exactly find myself in situations where water resistance or durability was any real concern outside of vacations or a pool party. Ten years later, I'm still in sales, but work from home, have a a backyard and live near a lake and in normal times get to do a lot more traveling to more interesting places for both work and fun. I appreciate having a watch with some enhanced durability/WR, but also can straddle the dressy/sporty line in a bit different sort of way than something like an Explorer or Aqua Terra. I fell in love with the Tangente for it's general style, but absolutely love how the Ahoi has tweaked it a bit.

That said, my tastes have changed a bit as well as my weight (I think my wrists are down about a quarter inch) and the 40mm Ahoi is actually at the limit of what I feel works for me in regards to size (it's big). I still love it, but I would now feel less comfortable wearing it to a wedding or something formal, though I would wear it basically to do anything else. However, I still don't want a pure dress watch, just can't justify the outlay for something that would get such little use. So, I opted to pickup the Tangente Sport that Hodinkee did recently. It's a bit more formal in both size and dial than the Ahoi, but still a bit sporty with the lume and water resistance while maintaining most of the Tangente design elements that I love. I've been wearing it way more often than I would a regular Tangente these days and look forward to one day again getting to wear it at a wedding.

I do agree that Nomos introducing the large Tangente Sport with the already existing Ahoi line is quite weird when you take a step back. I don't know that I think it's necessarily a problem, but its surely not optimal way to market their goods.

 

@smalleq, my path was very similar to yours. Where you started with the Tangente, I started with the Metro. And where you landed on the gorgeous 36.5mm Tangente Sport Hodinkee LE, I landed on the 36.3mm Ahoi neomatik. We're like watch brothers from another mother. ;-)

Just out of curiosity, do you wear your Tangente Sport on the bracelet or a strap? And, if you have a chance to share a photo, please do!

 

I don't care for the bracelet it comes with, at least on my wrist, it gives it a more delicate look, which is not what I want from the watch. I mainly switch it between three leather straps, but am really favoring a grey leather strap from Bulang & Sons that I picked up a couple of weeks ago.

 

I think I read that NOMOS refers to the Ahoi as their resort watch, meaning that the 200M water resistance allows for partaking in water sports while, still doing dress casual that evening at the resort’s restaurant.