Nord Zeitmaschine – Quickindictor and Variocurve

A background in engineering has more than once been a starting point for a watch brand. People that are knowledgeable about developing machinery, producing parts, drawing up blueprints, and god knows what else. Sadly, the case with many of these initiatives is that they don’t follow through and produce any watches. So, how about a guy who does have a background in machine-engineering, traditional mechanics and hydraulics, and started to look into watches at an entirely new level?

Well, the guy I’m talking about is Daniel Nebel, founder and owner of Nord Zeitmaschine. Monochrome had the pleasure of meeting him at Baselworld and get hands-on experience with the Quickindicator and the Variocurve. Being a one man show, like Daniel, it is extra difficult to start up a brand from scratch. Designing the modules, mounted on ETA 2824 movements, that will work with the engineering principle of sliding levers and interlocking gears; everything is done by Daniel. The only parts that are sourced outside his workshop are the movements, the crystal and the galvanization of the blue hands. The rest is all Daniel. He still works at a factory, to keep a steady flow of income but his true calling is his creations: Quickindicator and Variocurve.

The Variocurve (on the right) was launched two years ago at Baselworld and the collection has grown to 4 different versions. The last new addition to the Variocurve is the white and blue version, which was released last march. The watch features a sliding minute hand, tracking a crescent shape. The interaction between the two discs on the side, turning as the minute hand tracks the dotted path, is quite mesmerizing. If you look at the two gears that turn the minute hand up and down, there are two triangular shaped plates that interlock as one gear drives the other. The hardest part of this particular concept was the placement of the gears, and the number of teeth needed for each of them in order to create the perfect track for the hand to travel along.

Moving on, the latest model from Daniel Nebel is dubbed the Quickindicator, featuring the fastest minute hand in the world!

The Quickindicator is an evolution of Nebel’s design and engineering principal, although the gearing and such is a bit less complicated then with the Variocurve. Difficulty is in the size and weight of the hand. The minute hand is placed onto a counterweight part, ensuring the force of gravity is divided throughout the entire set-up regardless of the position the watch is in. The track that the minute hand travels is basically three circles in one, thus making the travelling distance a lot longer. You can find the 5 minute marker a lot further down the track then you expect it to be! The great part of this is that you can actually see the hand rotating three times the speed of the normal speed, offering a magnificent visual aspect.

Want to learn more about the Variocurve and the Quickindicator, than be sure to check out the upcoming in-depth article about the extraordinary Variocurve and Quickindicator and we even got something nice in store for you as well. Just remember this fun little fact: the guy behind this brand developed and built his own CNC-machine from scratch, in order to construct the tools, which he needed to construct the watch. How’s that for craftsmanship, or dedication for that matter?