A Week on the Wrist with the Nomos Club Campus – the perfect first watch for most people

When the time comes to buy your first luxury watch, there are all sorts of routes you could take. The market is peppered with decent options of all shapes and sizes at a variety of price points, which can make the choice even harder to make.

Still, do enough research and you'll find yourself coming back to the Nomos Club Campus. To many, this is seen as the ultimate entry-level luxury watch – in-house movement, timeless design and all at a price point which doesn't look too scary.

Is it worthy of all that hype? Well, I've been putting it to the test to find out.

Nomos Club Campus: key specs

Let's kick off with some specs. I've had two models to test here – one of each of the new Olive and Rose dial colours – which represent the two different tiers of the range.

The standard Club Campus – seen in the Olive model in my testing – makes use of a 36mm case crafted from stainless steel. That sits just 8.1mm tall, with a 44.3mm lug-to-lug width.

There's also a larger Club Campus 38 model – shown in the Rose model in my test shots – which is a hair larger at 38.5mm across and 8.4mm tall. That also has a larger lug-to-lug width of 48.9mm which is worth keeping in mind.

All of the models offer 100m of water resistance, which makes them a perfect option for everyday use. They also make use of the in-house DUW 4001 calibre, which is an absolutely beautifully finished, manually-wound calibre from the brand.

All models feature a small seconds register at the six o'clock position, with a traditional Bauhaus design language which straddles the border of dressy and casual with ease. There are tons of different dial colours to choose from, so you're certain to find something for you.

What is the Nomos Club Campus like to wear?

To make this easier, I'll kick off with things both models share, before diving into a little comparison. The first thing you'll notice when you strap on either of these watches is just how slim the things are.

At 8.1mm or 8.4mm tall, both variants are exceptionally slim, which is a real blessing on the wrist. It just melts away – you won't even feel it after a while, which is perfect for an everyday option.

The dial is impeccably easy to read, with clear indices and a strong handset. There's nothing too cluttered about the dial, either, so you won't have any trouble in that regard, and the pop of orange on the seconds hand feels well thought out and intentional.

I'm a big fan of the mixed indices used here. Sure, there's no real practical benefit, but it feels quirky and don't mind that at all – it's great to have the personality shining through.

Both of my test units came on the vegan velour remborde straps, though there are other bracelets available.

The main differentiator between the two models is that lug-to-lug width. A difference of 4.6mm might not sound like much, but the difference on the wrist is substantial.

I've got wrists which are on the smaller side, but I'd usually opt for watches in the 38-39mm range. However, for the Club Campus, I'd have to size down to the 36 in order for it to wear properly, which is something worth remembering for most people.

Is the Nomos Club Campus worth the money?

Priced at £/€1,420 / US$1,890 / AU$2,820 for the standard model and £/€1,560 / US$2,070 / AU$3,100 for the 38mm version, both of these models sit in a pretty nice spot. It's not what you'd call cheap, but its certainly an affordable option when it comes to luxury watchmaking.

When you factor in the full spec sheet here, it's hard to argue against this piece. You're snagging an in-house movement and a beautiful design for orders of magnitude less than you'd expect for those things.

It's not perfect – the lug-to-lug width is a continuous pain point, and manual winding won't be for everyone, but overall it's a solid pick for the money.