As my darling wife says, I go through a rash of obsessive periods each year. Each September, obsessions abound around the latest iPhones and iPads. I’ve gone through obsessive research periods on TVs, leather camera bags, camera lenses (duh!), leather shoes, and, most recently, sport coats. Arguably, I’m still going through a sport coat phase (just look at this beauty!).

I fear I’m tiptoeing into a wristwatch phase as well — my Instapaper queue is ripe with Hodinkee reviews.

My interest was first piqued when I came across this introduction article for the new Nomos Glashütte Tangente Neomatik 41 Update. The new Tangente Neomatik 41 is an absolute stunner, with a new date mechanism and that same Bauhaus design Nomos has come to be known for. Of course, Nomos’ pricing is generally outside my range, so this will have to be on the bucket list for BMW-driving Josh a few decades from now.

That being said, Nomos does have some more affordable options without all the bells, whistles, mechanisms, and calibers. The “baseline” Tangente is still a wonderfully designed watch. At 38mm, it’s not overly large. It sports that great Bauhaus aesthetic. I particularly adore the white/black/cyan blue colour scheme. And there is something extraordinarily traditional in this being a manual — you know, actual wind-up — watch. The more simple, less extravagant 38mm Tangente will fit with just about any attire or look you go with, it will last a lifetime, and it’s sure to be an heirloom item for the next generation.

Hopefully that sounded salesman-y enough, because that’s the paragraph I’m going to read my wife to see if she says yes to my proposition. If not, I’ll stash away a few loonies each week and hope the 38mm Tangente is still hanging around a few years from now.