Mark My Words – Interview with Designer Mark Braun

You cannot escape nature. No matter how urban your environment is, the nature is always present in the form of sky. These shifting hues of blue; sometimes overwhelming, sometimes just a subtle sliver above an architectural periscope made of glass, metal, and bricks, were what the Berlin-based designer Mark Braun had in mind when he designed the 37-millimeter Nomos Metro date power reserve ice blue.

“I wanted an elegant dress watch, which reflects the urban identity of the city where you live,” he said. 12 years ago, Mark designed the first Nomos Metro with the collection’s distinct tubular lugs and domed glass. Today the Metro family – one of six case-shapes used by what has become Germany’s largest watchmaker – has grown to 16 different models. In its considerable lifespan it has received numerous distinctions, including the iF Design Award, the Red Dot Award, and the German Design Award.

The first Metro was the first watch to feature the Nomos swing system, the brand’s own escape system, a feat mastered by only a handful of watchmakers worldwide. The swing system is also present in the new hand-wound caliber made for the Metro date power reserve ice blue. This movement features a patented quick-set date and a power reserve of 52 hours, which can be seen in the off-centered aperture at twelve thirty. “The power reserve indicator breaks the harmony, it is a game of irritation – a beauty spot,” Mr. Braun said of the power reserve, which necessitated a leftward shift of the logo. This is not the only reason he enjoys the strong presence of the indicator. “The watch becomes a bit like a Tamagotchi you need to wind,” he jokingly added of the meter that turns turquoise blue as the mainspring unwinds.

Through the sapphire crystal case back, the full elegance of the movement is on display. “I love the complexity of a movement – it is a mechanical wonder on your arm. The Inside is always important in Nomos watches. They always try to combine design with movements,” Mark said of the DUW 4701 movement, which directly influences his design. “I always say I want to transform the complexity of movement to dial.” To him, a dial is more than form follows function, it is a symbol of the harmony in the complex. 

“As a designer, I was looking for progressive new dial and I wanted to tell a story with colors. I focused on different shades of blue because there is a story behind about urban nature,” he said of the watch whose blues, subtly shifting from cool light blue to almost white, depending on the light conditions and surroundings.  “The colors on this watch could be from the sky in New York, Berlin, or megacities in China. To wear a piece of sky in your arm not the worst thing.” Mark added.

The watch should feel familiar with the place you live. The light blue can be seen in the essential elements of sky and water, but also on the facades with human made edges. The glass mirrors the nature when you look at the sky. And there is also a practical aspect of making a dress watch in light blue: It is easy to combine with many looks,” he continued of the color choices.

To Mark, a watch should mirror your identity. And on the Nomos Forum in the end of September, where hundreds of Nomos’s global friends and ambassadors gathered in Glashütte, Mark was amazed at how well the watch fitted different people with different styles and backgrounds. “With various warm skin tones this watch becomes a cool contrast – it has a strength without being loud.”

What about the circular focus?  If you also count the crown, there are at least 11 different sizes of circles to be seen up front, ranging from the crisp, white minute dots to the dial itself. Even more if you count the snailed grooves of the small seconds subdial. Mark talks about being inspired by the head and eyes; circles of the human body. And the Fibonacci code. “The Fibonacci code doesn’t give answers, but it gives a hint as to where the options are. It gives a hint about distance and sizes of different circles or spheres – this is a playground that I love,” he said. To come up with the final dial he made at least 30 or 40 different iterations on which the different element of the dial had varying sizes and distances. “You need to love that play of proportions, otherwise you go crazy,” he said with big laugh. He also described a quest for harmony and tension. “I love it when a dial has tension, but the tension needs to be mobile. Imagine the elements are floating around, think of it as big things and small things suspended, as in a mobile by Calder. That is a nice aesthetic challenge.”