Another year, another trip to Nairobi. Tiring as international work travel can be, I could get used to occasional jet-setting to such wonderful destinations. This time around, I had a different wrist-borne companion, the latest version of Nodus’s dual-crown delight, the Duality. Initially launched in 2020, the Duality is a modern interpretation of vintage compressor-style dive watches. Nodus, as they are known to do, released limited edition colorways since the Duality’s initial launch, but with the latest iteration, they’ve fully updated the platform, leading to an even more refined final product.
The first significant change I noticed is the thinness of the Duality II. The first version wasn’t particularly thick at 13mm, but the Duality II checks in a full 1.5mm svelter at 11.5mm tall. Combined with the case’s 40mm width and 48mm lug-to-lug, the Duality II maintains strong visual wrist presence without much physical bulk. Considered alongside Nodus’ revised Sector case, it seems the brand is on a Colin Champman-esque “add lightness” campaign across their lineup.
Dimensions alone don’t make for greater refinement, and Nodus’ continual improvement of the finishing of their metalwork continues apace with the Duality II. A thin, horizontally-brushed band sandwiched between polished chamfers defines the midcase’s profile. The brushing is fine, not as in “ok”, but as in “high-quality” – yet deep enough to provide visually discernible texture. The polished chamfers may not be Grand Seiko level, but they still bear a mirror-like finish, and the transitions between these surfaces are crisp, which is impressive given the complex curves they define.
The right side of the case carries the dual screw-down crowns that give the Duality II its compressor appearance. The crown at 2 rotates the bezel, while the crown at 4 operates the movement, all of which is made easy with the deep, matte-finished knurling around their circumferences. To help differentiate the functions of each, Nodus embossed the end of each crown with a distinct design: a bisected circle for bezel operation and the Nodus logo for changing the time. The combination of polish and satin finishing for each design is beautiful, and another detail that elevates the Duality II into dressier territory. Precise operation of the internal bezel is supported by noticeable detents at each stop, and a decoupling mechanism for the crown that ensures the bezel won’t rotate while you are screwing down the crown.
The turndown of the midcase as it approaches the lugs makes for a graceful profile, and also aids in the Duality II’s on-wrist comfort. The lug tips and the first pivot point for the bracelet rest slightly below the lowest plane of the case back, allowing the bracelet to drape around the wrist. This effect will be optimal for folks with small-to-medium wrists, approximately 7” or below, yet it was still beneficial for my 7.5” wrists.
Further aiding in comfort is yet another excellent bracelet from Nodus. The Duality I was available on Nodus’ well-regarded H-link bracelet, but for the Duality II, Nodus launched a 3-link style that brings the Duality II further into dress-diver territory. Fortunately, Nodus kept to their reputation with this new style, as it wears comfortably and is finished to a high standard. The bracelet tapers from 20mm at the lugs to 16mm at the clasp, which looks great and wears unobtrusively.
As with all of the brand’s current lineup, the Duality II’s bracelet includes the Nodex toolless micro-adjustable clasp, which is a borderline necessity for long-haul travel. The Nodus engineering team has done a good job improving the tech, and I didn’t experience any of the accidental deployment from the earliest Nodex versions. Indeed, the Nodex clasp made adjustments during flights and across different climates incredibly easy. The clasp was, perhaps, the only thing that felt easy when navigating Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport, whose beautiful terminals are undermined by incomprehensibly complex logistics.
The Duality II’s dial design is another significant shift toward greater refinement from the first iteration. The hour markers on the Duality I were a rare combination of sandwich-dial voids cut into the dial plate, bordered by applied polished metal surrounds. The updated design maintains the shapes of the Duality I’s hour markers, but uses more traditional applied three-dimensional indices filled with BGW9 lume. The original Duality’s sandwich dial was more playful and unique, but the new applied markers better meet the Duality II’s dressier design. This is one of those enjoyable life moments in which there isn’t a wrong answer.
The rest of the dial is graphically simple. Printed white hashes facilitate tracking of minutes and seconds between the hour markers, and a color-matched date wheel is visible through a window at 6, the polished surround of which continues the pattern of the hour markers. Nodus’s wordmark logo sits above the pinion, with two brief lines of text below denoting the model name and water resistance, the latter printed in the same shade of green as the bezel’s triangular marker. Presently, the Duality II is available in two colors, black and white. The black dial is a sleeker look, while the white dial boasts a sector-like tuxedo design, as the black inner-rotating bezel is used across the lineup. I’m sure Nodus will release a stream of additional colorways in the years to come, if neither of the more traditional colorways currently on offer appeals to you.
Depending on which bezel format you choose, that triangle either denotes 60 minutes (elapsed-time bezel) or 12 hours (12-hour bezel). On the elapsed-time bezel, you get Arabic minute markers at 15, 30, and 45 minutes, and bold-printed white hashes at the other 5-minute intervals. The 12-hour version utilizes Arabic numerals for 1 through 11 o’clock, with the green triangle representing 12 o’clock. For the lume junkies out there, all the bezel elements glow a combination of green (for the 12/60 triangle) and blue for the minutes or hours. Nodus watches always have great lume, and all the luminous elements of the Duality II glow brightly and cohesively.
Around back (or underneath) the Duality has a debossed split-circle motif that mirrors that on the 2 o’clock crown. The execution of the polished raised surfaces, and blasted satin recesses, once again evinces the high-grade finishing of the Duality II. Note that the watch I had was a review sample that has been extensively handled, hence the blemishes on the caseback. Though you won’t find the movement designation on the caseback, within the Duality II hums the venerable Miyota 9015.
It is hard to say what could be improved upon with this updated Duality. Great finishing, a beautiful and cohesive design, excellent reliability – the Duality II is a microbrand masterclass. What comes to mind is a bit of a wild idea, one rooted in my experience wearing the Duality II while crossing time zones. The Miyota 9015 in the Duality II is great, but what if the watch ran the 9075 flyer GMT movement, but excluded the GMT hand? What you’d be left with is a dive-capable dressy sports watch with a jumping local hour hand, but none of the fiddling of having a GMT hand. With the Duality’s inner bezel options, you could still choose to prioritize tracking two time zones with the 12-hour scale, as I did while traveling, or you could lean into the elapsed time option and still have a functional upgrade should your aquatic adventures include crossing time zones. I found it more intuitive to track a second time with the Duality’s 12-hour bezel than a flyer GMT hand, especially with a jetlagged brain – adding a local jump hour might be travel watch perfection.
Post-travel delusions aside, the Duality II is a showcase for all that Nodus does well and is a benchmark for microbrand dive watches. I appreciate the more refined direction Nodus has taken the Duality in, as the dressier tone better separates it from their other higher-end dive watch, the Avalon. It proved an enjoyable, capable travel partner that left an indelible mark on my heart.
The Nodus Duality II is available at the brand’s website, with a retail price of $800 USD.
