If you’re into watches, the chances are that you will have heard of Nomadic: Ireland’s first watchmaker, named after the Titanic’s tender ship, which was also built in the famed Harland and Wolff shipbuilding yard in Belfast in 1911.
The Nomadic was a much smaller vessel than the famed Titanic at around a quarter of the size – although it was still able to transport 1000 people – and it exists now as a museum in Belfast, having been painstakingly restored by Harland and Wolff a century after it was first built.
This was the story that inspired Nomadic founder Peter McAuley: a mechanical engineer and watch collector from Belfast, who started his watch company in 2021 during lockdown, having been fascinated by the legend of the Titanic from a young age.
His first watch was the Marai dive watch, this was then followed up by the Turas sports watch, and now we have the watch that Peter “always wanted to make”: the Fior 555 GMT.
To understand why the GMT holds such a fascination for so many people (myself and Peter included) you first have to get the history.
The GMT watch was originally developed in the 1950s to allow Pan Am pilots to change time zones quickly and easily when they landed at an airport and then reset it as they took off again for yet another time zone. These watches were also able to display a home time zone simultaneously. So, GMT watches hark back to the glossy golden age of aviation, where they were the only method of keeping up with different time zones and knowing what the time at home was.
And it’s precisely this theme that Nomadic is focusing on with the new Fior, which means ‘truth’ in Gaelic. As for the 555 in the name, that pays homage to Belfast as it’s part of the city’s geographic co-ordinates: 54°34′ North, 5°55′ West.
The whole thinking behind this new watch started off remarkably close to home for the company. Nomadic’s master watchmaker Michael Rowan, a former champion cyclist, has a son who is based in Melbourne, Australia.
And although it wasn’t Michael’s idea for the latest Nomadic to be inspired by their story, it happened anyway – as you can see from the stunning promotional video below, which was shot in both Melbourne and Belfast, starring both of them.
It’s a powerful tale, and the way that a GMT creates connections with people is why Peter was so desperate to make one. And of course, he wanted to make it instantly recognisable as a Nomadic, which is why you find the company’s characteristic design cues placed all over the watch. For example, the yellow GMT hand, which echoes the huge yellow Harland and Wolff cranes that dominate the Belfast skyline.
What Peter and his team have managed to do very successfully is create a watch that is quite different to anything else. There are four colours initially offered at launch: red, green, black and yellow, or black and grey (plus a ‘prestige’ version with gold links on the bracelet). More colours are likely to follow in the future.
Fittingly for an Irish company, the green Fior 555 will probably become the best seller – that’s been resolutely the case for the original Marai dive watch – but my personal favourite is the red ‘crimson dawn’ model.
There are a number of specific areas that Nomadic has worked on to create the best watch that they possibly can. Firstly, the jubilee-style steel bracelet, which sits extremely well on the wrist and is of obviously high quality. The bracelet is always one of the hardest parts of a watch to get right so the fact that it sits so comfortably on the wrist is a big accolade. A lot of work has also been carried out on the luminosity of the watch, which makes it very easy to spot at night (or, indeed, during the day).
There’s a tried and trusted Sellita SW330-2 GMT movement inside, and the case size is 41mm, which is more or less perfect for this day and age. It’s yours for £1,595, with pre-orders available now for delivery in late November via www.nomadicwatches.com.
If you’re after a very special Christmas present with a great story behind it – and it’s precisely these unique inspirations that make the world of watches so fascinating – the Fior 555 GMT is definitely one to consider, from an up-and-coming brand that is going places.
Author Bio:
Anthony Peacock works as a journalist and is the owner of an international communications agency, all of which has helped take him to more than 80 countries across the world.
Photographs courtesy of Nomadic Watches
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