NH35, NH36, NH38, NH34: Choosing the Right Movement
NH35 vs NH36 vs NH38 vs NH34: Matching Movement to Dial
Four movements share one base calibre and one 31.8mm footprint — but each adds a different complication, and pairing it wrong with your dial is the most common build failure. Here's the complete match-up.
The Family at a Glance
| Movement | Complication | Hacking / Hand-Wind | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| NH35 | Date only | Yes / Yes | The default: any date dial |
| NH36 | Day + date | Yes / Yes | Day-date dials (SKX007-style) |
| NH38 | No date | Yes / Yes | Clean no-date dials, open-heart |
| NH34 | GMT (24h fourth hand) | Yes / Yes | GMT dials with ~2.7mm center hole |
All four run ~21,600 bph, offer roughly 41 hours of power reserve, and share the same hand posts — so your hour/minute/second hands swap freely across the family. Only the GMT hand is NH34-specific. Full GMT requirements in our NH34 pairing guide.
Match by Dial First, Case Second
- No-date dial → NH38 (NH70/71/72 skeleton variants also fit)
- Date-only dial → NH35
- Day-date dial → NH36
- GMT dial (24-hour scale) → NH34 only
The Date Position Myth, Cleared Up
You'll read online that a "6 o'clock date needs a special movement." Here's what's actually true: the NH35's date ring rotates around its full circumference. Whatever angle your dial's aperture sits at — 3:00, 3.8, 4:00, even 6:00 — a date number arrives there once per day and centers in the window. No special movement required for position alone.
What genuinely matters:
- Dial feet layout: dials are drilled for either 3 o'clock-crown or 4 o'clock-crown cases. The feet must drop into your movement's holes when oriented correctly — that's fixed by case, not by window position
- Print orientation: on far-off positions like 6 o'clock, stock date printing can look tilted in the window. That's cosmetic, and it's exactly what date wheel overlays fix
- NH36 day wheels ARE position-specific: unlike dates, day wheels are pre-aligned so text reads upright — buy the version matching your crown position (3H or 4H). They don't interchange
Diameter and Case Fit
All four movements measure ~31.8mm across (12½ lignes class), so cases take all four interchangeably. What changes is height stack-up: the NH36 is marginally taller with its day ring, and the NH34 slightly different again — irrelevant in dive-style cases with room to spare, worth checking in ultra-thin builds.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I upgrade an NH35 build to an NH36 later?
Yes, provided your dial gains a day window (or you change dials) and you buy the correct crown-position version of the NH36. See our NH36 conversion guide.
Which should a first build use?
The NH35 — cheapest, most forgiving, every part in the ecosystem fits it.
Do I need to match brand hands?
No — if they're sold as NH-compatible, post sizes are shared across NH35/36/38/34.
Is accuracy different between them?
No — same regulating standard across the family. Choose by complications, not precision.