Updated:
Readtime: 6 min
Every product is carefully selected by our editors and experts. If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission. Learn more. For more information on how we test products, click here.
- Belfast watchmaker Nomadic has unveiled the Dána 141, its first dress watch, inspired by the city’s historic ship-design drawing offices.
- The rectangular steel watch measures 39.6 x 28mm, is 8.30mm thick and pairs a restrained two-hand dial with an unexpectedly industrial exhibition caseback.
- Available from 30 October in Emerald Green, Black Velvet and Moonlight White, it uses a Swiss hand-wound movement and costs AUD $2,425.
Irish watchmaker Nomadic has made a pretty convincing dress watch for its first go-around. But that’s just from the front. The new Dána 141 has a neat rectangular dial, a sharply cut steel case, and only two hands to tell you when it’s time to clock off. Flip it over, and the big brushed-steel caseback has an oval window that looks as if it were punched out of the metal, showing off the exposed gears, screws and bridges of the Swiss-made movement underneath.
It’s not quite what you’d expect for something that’s meant to turn up under the cuff at your next formal event. But then again, this watch takes its cues from the shipyards of Belfast. What did you expect? It’s a working-class watch, scrubbed up for whenever the occasion calls for something fancier than overalls and gumboots.
If you’re not familiar with the Belfast-born independent, then there’s no better time to get amongst it than with the unveiling of the Dána 141, their first proper dress watch, a welcome change of pace from the rugged divers, GMTs and other tool watches that helped build its name. Designed, assembled and tested in Belfast, the Dána 141 measures in at 39.6 mm long, 28 mm wide and just 8.30 mm thick. It arrives on 30 October in three dial colours: Emerald Green, Black Velvet and Moonlight White. All three will set you back AUD $2,425. Pretty little things, aren’t they?
1/5A Belfast-born and Bred Dress Watch
Its slightly unusual mix of dressiness and industrial character isn’t accidental. Nomadic takes its name from SS Nomadic, the last surviving White Star Line ship, and founder Peter McAuley drew some of his earliest watch designs straight from Belfast’s old Harland & Wolff Drawing Offices. In those rooms, draughtsmen turned ambitious shipbuilding ideas into working plans. More than a century later, he’s borrowing that same geometry for a watch that looks ready for the Belfast ball, not building boats.
“I’ve found myself wanting another option for more formal occasions,” said McAuley. “We wanted Dána to feel slim and understated, while retaining the geometry, steel and architectural surfaces that connect it to Belfast.”
The name gives away part of the thinking. Dána, pronounced “Daw-na”, means bold or daring in Irish, while 141 refers to the 1:1.41 proportions of A-series drawing paper. Nomadic says the dial echoes those proportions, with a smaller rectangular section framed by a minute track and fine vertical lines.
With so much history floating around the design, the face doesn’t feel crowded. The Arabic numerals at 12, 3, 6 and 9 stand proud on the dial; the slender markers fill the spaces in between, and its raised, octagonal sapphire crystal sits pretty above the whole arrangement. It’s a decadent detail better suited to sipping champagne than hauling anchors.
With no seconds hand, date window or lume competing for attention, it’s a far more restrained design than the brand’s usual tool-watch lineup.
But Dána isn’t delicate or dainty, with a case to match its ambitious etymology. The 316L stainless steel combines broad brushed surfaces with sharply polished edges, giving the slim profile some real presence on the wrist.
Colourwise, Moonlight White on a dark leather strap is the most traditional of the dressy trio, while the deep green dial on the Milanese mesh bracelet adds more of the industrial character to the already sturdy aesthetic. Black Velvet sits somewhere between the two. If you’re keen to switch it up, leather, suede or mesh strap options are available, depending on how dressed up you plan to be tonight.
1/6Formalities End Round Back
Black tie is all about the contrast. The same goes for the Nomadic Dána 141 once you see the caseback. They could have hidden the movement behind more 316L stainless steel, or shown it off with a more traditional caseback window. Instead, Nomadic has carved out an oval opening in the back, revealing the winding wheels, striped bridges, screws and balance assembly.
Unapologetically industrial, it’s basically an inspection window cut into the back of a piece of machinery. Against the clean, almost Art Deco dial on the other side, it’s the kind of detail that further ingrains the shipbuilding-inspired story into the very structure of the watch.
The calibre in question is the LJP D101, a Swiss hand-wound mechanical movement with a 50-hour power reserve, beating at 21,600 vibrations per hour. That means you wind it yourself rather than relying on a rotor, which seems fitting for a watch so keen to show off its mechanics. Water resistance is rated to 30 metres, making it a dressier alternative to Nomadic’s dive watches. Just don’t take it too far out in the deep waters, captain.
Nomadic Dána 141 – Key Specs
- Case: 316L stainless steel
- Dimensions: 39.6 x 28mm; 8.30mm thick
- Crystal: Raised octagonal sapphire
- Movement: LJP D101, Swiss hand-wound mechanical
- Power Reserve: 50 hours
- Water Resistance: 30m
- Dial Colours: Emerald Green, Black Velvet and Moonlight White
- Straps: Classic Croc, Alran Chèvre, Milanese Mesh and Green Suede
- Price: AUD $2,425
The Dána 141 goes on sale on 30 October on Nomadic’s website and at their Belfast boutique. You can’t buy it directly from Nomadic in Australia, but their website ships worldwide, with taxes included where applicable. With those technical details out of the way, Nomadic’s first dress watch marks a notable change of direction for a young watchmaker that’s spent most of its life making watches built for tougher conditions, but the industrial side hasn’t disappeared. It’s just moved around the back.
Comments
We love hearing from you. or to leave a comment.