Nodus Duality
Manufacturer: Nodus Watches | Price: $700 USD (£545 GBP, €605 EUR)
The majority of watches that I review either come directly from the manufacturer, or are watches that I’ve actually bought myself. It makes a nice change when one of my readers reaches out to me, asking if I would like to review one of their own watches from their very own collection. That’s exactly what happened with this Nodus Duality, Richard Bishop from League of Watch Microbrands Facebook group asked me if I would like to review his Nodus. I jumped at the chance as I have been wanting to review the Duality ever since it was released in 2019. Unfortunately, Nodus were unable to send out a review sample at that time, due to non-existent stock. So Richard, thank you buddy, I really appreciate it. 👍
Specifications
- Dimensions: Diameter – 39.7mm, Thickness – 12.8mm, Lug to Lug – 47.4mm, Lug Width – 20mm
- Movement: Miyota 9015, 28,800vph, Hackable, Self Winding, 42hr Power Reserve
- Accuracy: Tolerance: Within -10>>+30spd | Actual: +6.8spd
- Case Material: Brushed 316L Stainless Steel (Polished Accents)
- Bracelet: Brushed 316L Stainless Steel, Solid Links, Screw Pins, Milled Clasp
- Dial: Matte Finish, Hybrid Sandwich Dial, Applied Indicies
- Crystal: Double Domed Box Sapphire, Underside Blue Anti-Reflective Coating
- Bezel: Internal Rotating, Bidirectional, Fully Lumed
- Water Resistance: 300m / 30ATM / 990ft
- Lume: Swiss Super Luminova® BGW9
- Crowns: x2, Black PVD Grips, 6mm, Screw Down, Signed, Lumed
- Caseback: Solid, Screw Down, Stamped Duality Logo
- Warranty: 2 Years Weight: 148g (Sized, (6¾″ Wrist))
- Where to Buy: Nodus Watches
- Options: Colour: Chasm Black, Sky Silver, Unity White | Bezel: 60 Minute Diver, 12 Hour Dual Time
Nodus Watches - The Brand
Watches play an important role in our lives, accompanying us through adversity, milestones, and above all, preparing us for future endeavors. Our function-first design ethos ensures that these utilitarian mementos can last decades, withstanding active lifestyles as well as passing trends. We aim to give watch collectors all over the world the same gratification, solace, and ambition that we found in creating our watches. We envision a world where people are unafraid to embrace who they are and chase whatever passion pulls at them. Nodus Watches are built for the important things in life, and we hope that wherever life takes you, you take Nodus."
Case & Crowns
The case of the Nodus Duality has a diameter of 39.7mm. The lug to lug is 47.4mm and the overall thickness, including the double domed box sapphire crystal, I measured in at a very nice 12.8mm. The entire case, caseback, bezel, crowns and bracelet are all 316L stainless steel. The finish of the case itself is mostly brushed, but with the addition of rather sexy chamfered polished accents that run along the side of the case (top & bottom) and down over the edge of the drilled lugs.
The Nodus Duality has a water resistance rating of 300m, thanks to the screw down caseback & dual screw down crowns. The proportions of the watch, in my opinion are absolutely spot on and I find the Duality wears brilliantly on my 6¾″ wrist, which is all thanks to the sensible and relatively compact lug to lug distance of around 47mm. The Duality is also very comfortable, hugging the contour of your wrist perfectly. The build quality too is right up there with the best I’ve seen, the overall fit & finish is fantastic, with outstanding attention to detail throughout.
The dual crowns are fantastic. Who would’ve thought that you can make totally unique crowns? These have got to be the best crowns that I’ve ever had the pleasure of using. Both crowns are screw down, which is just how they should be, as on most compressor watches that I’ve seen the main crown is screw down, while the other is push/pull. They are usually utter shit especially when the secondary crown can be too easily adjusted without you even being aware. Both crowns on the Duality have a black PVD grip, which is an excellent idea and I’m surprised nobody else has thought about doing this more mainstream. There are also sapphire inserts on both crowns and both the Nodus & Duality logo’s are lumed.
The caseback has a deep stamped “Duality” logo in the centre, which has been done right with no sharp edges to be found anywhere. Usually you’d find the normal boring spec sheet lightly etched around the edge of other casebacks, not with the Duality though and it’s not cheaply etched either. The details around the edge are stamped as you can clearly see in the image below. No unnecessary details either, with the best one being, “Designed and Assembled in Los Angeles”. Nice!
Strap / Bracelet
Straight out of the box, similarly to the Nodus Retrospect II that I reviewed last month, the Duality comes fitted as standard with the 20mm version of Nodus’ high quality stainless steel bracelet. Everything about these bracelets from Nodus are just excellent, female end links for instant articulation, solid links throughout, screw pins for resizing and a total of 6 micro-adjustment to ensure you get that perfect fit. It also has a sensibly sized milled clasp to complete, what I regard as, the perfect microbrand bracelet. It is super comfortable with a H-link design and unlike the Retrospect II, Nodus decided not to polish the sides and instead went for polished chamfered edges on each and every link. Perfect!
As you can probably guess, I’m a huge fan of these bracelets from Nodus, so before I start drooling all over my keyboard, a few other points you should take into consideration. The bracelet has a very nice taper to it, from 20mm at the lugs, down to around 18mm at the slimmest point and back up to approximately 20.5mm at the clasp. The fit & finish of the bracelet is absolutely phenomenal, with zero movement at all at the watch head and the links also conform to the wrist brilliantly. Oh aye, you’ll also find a Barton Elite Silicon strap inside the box. These straps are superb by the way and are the only 2-piece straps that I would actually wear time and time again. Being the Elite version, you’re also given 2 sizes, so it will fit your wrist, no matter what your wrist size is. Unless you’re Joseph Merrick aka the fuckin’ Elephant Man. 🤣
Movement
The chosen movement for the Nodus Duality is the smooth sweep, high beat, ultra-reliable Miyota 9015. The 9015 is a slim Japanese made 28,800vph, 24 jewel movement, regularly compared to the Swiss made ETA 2824-2. Checking the accuracy after running the Nodus Duality for around a week, mainly on my wrist and occasionally in my watch winder, I was more than happy with the overall results, with the Duality showing an average of +6.8spd. A very respectable result.
Dial & Bezel
The matte finish on the dial looks great with the whole hybrid sandwich dial thing going on. What does that mean, I hear you ask? Well, it’s a traditional sandwich dial, but with the addition of indicies/surrounds applied over the cut outs. Yep, it’s definitely not something you see everyday, it definitely works though, I’ll give them that! The batons at the 3 & 9 are rectangular with double batons at the 12 o’clock position and a date cut out at 6. All of the other applied batons have an arrow tip pointing towards the centre of the dial, they are also pumped full of lume on the disc beneath. The hour and minute hands also have a shit ton of lume. More on that later though further on in the review…
As you can see in the images, the hour and minute hands are nicely done with their very aesthetically pleasing design. The seconds hand is lovely too, with it’s wee lumed section that matches the shape of the batons and the tip that reaches right out to the minute track when sweeping around the dial. There is also the inclusion of a date window at the 6 o’clock position, which does look great… and what’s this…? It’s colour-matched! Nodus made the decision to add a silver border however, and I can totally understand why Nodus made this choice, as to compliment the style of the hour batons. I personally think it would have looked better without the border, but each to their own I suppose… I can’t have everything.
Lume
The lume on the Nodus Duality is outstanding! Just look at that lume shot below. Well, I’m just going to state for the record, that in my opinion, Nodus have certainly upped their game on the lume front with this Duality and I can honestly say, it’s right up there with the best I’ve seen. The formula that’s been used on the Duality, is Swiss Super Luminova® BGW9, but it’s the way that it has been applied that really makes it special in low light conditions. What do I mean by the way it’s been applied? Well, it is just so crisp or even sharp looking, if you get my meaning. Either way, great job Nodus!
Conclusion
So… the Nodus Duality then. A compressor diver or travel watch if you opt for the 12hr dual time bezel. What do I think of it? It’s a friggin’ awesome watch! There is very little I can find fault on, other than maybe remove the border from the date window and maybe a more brushed external bezel rather than polished, just to cut back on the potential risk of scratching? I’m really nit-picking though, as I can easily put my hand up and state that this is by far the best offering I’ve seen from Nodus. The build quality is fantastic, the fit & finish is perfect and overall, it’s just a fantastic timepiece!
Nodus Watches – Easily the best compressor style watch that I’ve experienced (so far).
