Hiking & Backpacking Oct 28, 2026

Nomos Club 38 Brings a Larger Case to the Everyday Watch

Johnny Brayson 990 views

The Club grows to 38.5mm while keeping its hand-wound movement, 100m water resistance and two dial options. Prices start at $2,070.

Nomos Club 38 Brings a Larger Case to the Everyday Watch

Nomos Glashütte has enlarged its straightforward everyday watch without changing the features that define it. The new Club 38 measures 38.5mm across, giving the collection’s familiar mix of legible numerals, luminous hands and 100m water resistance a roomier case. It keeps the same manually wound movement as the 36mm model, with a modest increase in thickness. That makes the change easy to describe: more room on the wrist, with the Club’s basic character and mechanical setup left intact. Whether that’s the right move depends less on the specification sheet than on how a 36mm watch wears for you.

Side view of a silver Nomos watch case featuring a branded winding crown attached to a dark leather strap, set against a blue background.

Nomos is best known for spare, Bauhaus-inspired watches such as the Orion and Tangente, where restrained dials and clean lines do much of the talking. The brand takes a more casual approach with its Club collection. The Club’s practical details make it the clearest expression of that shift: a substantial bezel, sporty lugs, a small-seconds display and wide hands with plenty of lume. Its Arabic numeral markers take cues from highway signage, favoring quick reading over ornament. That legibility gives the watch a more utilitarian feel than the brand’s dressier designs, though the leather strap keeps it firmly in everyday-wear territory.

A larger case, familiar proportions

The original Club’s 36mm diameter has its own appeal. It’s a classic, compact size, and the new watch doesn’t make that older option less relevant. But a 38.5mm case gives people who find 36mm too small another way into the collection. This is a measured increase, rather than a wholesale redesign, so the Club’s established character remains easy to recognize. That restraint is sensible: a case change can alter how a watch feels without requiring a new visual identity, and here the core details still do the work.

The Club 38 is 8.4mm thick, up from 8mm on the 36mm version. That small difference keeps the profile slim while accommodating the larger case. The new size also leaves the core specification intact: 100m water resistance, a sporty case and luminous hands. The watch comes on the Club’s standard Horween leather strap. Case diameter alone can’t tell you how a watch will sit, since wrist shape, lug fit and personal preference all matter; still, the modest thickness suggests Nomos hasn’t traded the collection’s relatively low profile for extra bulk.

Nomos Glashütte watch with a black dial, silver hands, and a black leather strap on a wrist. — The Club expands, literally, with a new 38.5mm case size.

Inside is the same in-house Calibre DUW 4001, a hand-wound movement also used in the 36mm Club. Keeping the movement consistent means the change centers on case size, not a new mechanical setup. For a watch built around everyday versatility, the key practical questions stay familiar: whether the case suits the wearer, whether the dial is easy to read at a glance and whether a leather strap fits the intended use. The manual winding is part of that daily routine, too; it asks for a little attention from the owner, which some people enjoy and others would rather avoid.

Two dial treatments

Nomos is offering the Club 38 in two colorways. The standard version reprises the collection’s original look with a white, silver-plated dial, black numerals and orange details. Orange lume marks the hands, while orange numerals appear along the minute track. The result preserves the Club’s high-contrast, instrument-like character, with the accent color helping distinguish the dial from a more conventional black-and-white layout. That visual clarity is the point: the design gives the eye obvious markers to find without adding extra complications.

Nomos Glashütte wristwatch featuring a white dial with black numerals and red hands, paired with a brown leather strap accented by red stitching. — The watch is available in the Club’s now-iconic original color scheme.

The second option, the Club 38 Ruthenium, gives the same watch a darker face. Its dial is anthracite-colored and galvanized with ruthenium, paired with yellow numerals. Orange remains on the minute track, so the palette combines dark gray with yellow and orange. Both versions share the same case size, movement and stated water resistance; the choice is chiefly about which dial treatment better suits the wearer. The darker finish changes the watch’s mood, but the contrast among the dial elements keeps the emphasis on reading the time rather than on surface treatment alone.

NOMOS Glashütte wristwatch featuring a black dial, silver-tone numerals, and a black leather strap. — The “Ruthenium” version adds a galvanized ruthenium dial for a darker look.

What the size change means

This is more significant than it looks for a collection whose appeal rests on straightforward proportions. A brand can add a size without changing the watch’s basic identity, and that gives buyers a meaningful fit choice while keeping the familiar dial and movement in view. The numbers here are underwhelming as a story of technical change: the movement stays the same, and the increase in thickness is small. But the practical effect of a different diameter can still be decisive, especially for someone who likes the Club’s design but hasn’t found the smaller model comfortable or visible enough on their wrist.

If you're working out whether the new size makes sense for you, consider how much presence you want from an everyday watch and whether you’re comfortable with manual winding and leather. The 100m water resistance is a useful specification, but it doesn’t change the fact that the supplied strap is leather; the intended use and care of the strap deserve their own consideration. And this is the part most people overlook: the new model expands the choice within the Club, but it doesn’t answer the fit question for you. Try to judge the case on wrist if you can. A number on a page only gets you so far.

Price and availability

The Club 38 and Club 38 Ruthenium are available from Nomos for $2,070 on a leather strap. That’s $240 more than the 36mm Club. The price difference buys the larger case and the new size option; the source specifications identify the same hand-wound Calibre DUW 4001 for both sizes. There’s no additional complication listed to explain the difference, so the case size and the choice it offers are the central reasons to weigh the higher price.

For someone who likes the Club’s practical styling but has wanted a little more presence on the wrist, the new diameter is the central change to consider. The measurements and features keep the proposition clear: 38.5mm across, 8.4mm thick, 100m water resistance and a hand-wound movement, with a choice between the original white dial and the darker Ruthenium treatment. The Club 38 is a modest update. A more accommodating fit, if it suits you.