Building watches for a good cause: Since 2012, Nomos Glashütte has supported the international work of Doctors Without Borders and has already produced more than 8,000 timepieces to strengthen the aid organization. The new Tangomat Doctors Without Borders special collection continues this success story and sets itself apart from the standard line with subtle details. Best of all: €250 from every piece sold goes to the Nobel Prize–winning emergency relief organization.
10 Million Treatments a Year – a Global Mission
From the ruins of Mosul in Iraq to the vast refugee camps of those displaced from Myanmar: In more than 70 countries around the world, Doctors Without Borders provides emergency medical care to people who would otherwise receive no help at all.
The more than 10 million free treatments delivered in 2018 illustrate not only the organization's success but also its considerable need for funding. For more than seven years, the network has been able to count on Nomos as an important partner that builds a bridge between its state-of-the-art timepieces and life-saving donations. The concept is simple: For each of the limited special models, a fixed share of the proceeds goes toward sick and injured patients in crisis zones.
A Clear Conscience on the Dial
In the case of the new Nomos Tangomat Doctors Without Borders, exactly 250 pieces will raise a total of €62,500 for the aid organization. Rather than openly celebrating its noble purpose, however, this Saxon masterpiece exercises restraint and distinguishes itself only subtly from the rest of the Tangomat collection.
The most obvious distinguishing feature is the metal bracelet designed exclusively for this special series, whose finely articulated links combine visual elegance with excellent wearing comfort. In addition, the red twelve on the dial, a small lettering with the relief organization's name at six o'clock, and a discreet engraving on the edge of the sapphire crystal caseback point to the connection with the humanitarian organization. Otherwise, the Tangomat Doctors Without Borders embodies the typical values of the Glashütte company: timeless style and confident performance inside.
The 38.3-millimeter case impresses with a slim height of 8.3 millimeters – more than enough to house the thin DUW 5001 automatic movement. The caliber offers a power reserve of 43 hours, with the in-house swing system ensuring the necessary precision. First presented at Baselworld in 2014, this independently produced escapement assembly marks what is arguably the brand's most important step toward independence from third-party suppliers.
Clinically Clean and Uncluttered: The Design
Visually, too, the caliber reflects the perfection and cleanliness that enthusiasts associate with the manufacturer, founded in 1990. In this way, it captures the overall character of the Tangomat remarkably well: clean transitions, no frills, and excellent legibility for the best possible everyday usability.
Like a medical device or a sterile operating room, it allows itself no mistakes or weaknesses. It's quite remarkable how many parallels between the timepiece and the famous aid organization come to light on closer inspection. Yet the Tangomat Doctors Without Borders is by no means the first of its kind.
Before this model was released, the Tangente Doctors Without Borders editions had already followed the same pattern: 250 watches, each contributing €250 to emergency relief. The network benefited twice over, because the Tangente neomatik was released in two sizes, each limited to 250 pieces. Notably, apart from their diameters – 35 millimeters for the smaller and 38.5 millimeters for the larger version – the models are completely identical.
Special Collections with a Family Resemblance
Unless you're a true expert on the Saxon brand's product portfolio, you'll also have a hard time telling the Tangente and the Nomos Tangomat Doctors Without Borders apart. Although these are special models from two different collections, the references to the partnership with the aid organization are the same:
Red twelve, small lettering at six o'clock, engraving on the caseback, and metal bracelet.
A corporate design for life-saving watches, if you will. For all their similarity, it should be noted that the Tangomat and Tangente for Doctors Without Borders still hold a special place in the Nomos world thanks to their strict limitation. A future increase in value is therefore entirely conceivable.
Watches with Instant Recognition: The Spirit of a Young Brand
Even critics of the Tangomat Doctors Without Borders should find something to their liking at the innovative Glashütte brand – provided you can warm to the manufacturer's elegant minimalism in principle. How about the Autobahn line, for instance, whose extra-wide luminous ring makes for a striking appearance at night? Or the angular Tetra collection, a decisive break with the watch industry's mainstream preference for round cases?
In the year of its 30th anniversary, the manufacture is certainly not short on creativity. And that is exactly what 21st-century horology needs: new ideas, exciting approaches, and individual styles instead of uniform looks. The Tangomat for Doctors Without Borders proves that this spirit of progress can be part of a much bigger goal: making the world a better place.
And even if the young brand's contribution to this plan makes up only a small part of the overall picture, it sends the right signal and paves the way. Perhaps the manufacturer's partnership with Doctors Without Borders will one day serve as a model for humanitarian commitment by other watch brands.
