Nodus Duality II Dive Watch Review

The Nodus Duality II is a gorgeous watch, full stop. If you didn’t know much about watches and saw it sitting next to big-name brands in a jewelry case, you’d have a hard time understanding why it costs thousands of dollars less than many leading Swiss brands. Not only does it look good, but it has also a unique, functional internal rotating bezel.

And yes, there are reasons for the price difference. I’ll get into those soon. But after a few weeks of wearing the Nodus Duality II as an everyday adventure watch, this timepiece has impressed me with its comfort, looks, and reliability.

Pack in the fact that the Duality II is a capable dive watch with a rugged build fit for outdoor use, and it’s hard to justify spending all that much more for any reason other than run time and brand recognition.

In short: The Nodus Duality II is a handsome dive watch with an uncommon compressor design — a dual screw-down crown with an internal rotating bezel. It’s functional for diving and offers a sleeker appearance than many chunkier dive watches. And at $800, the Duality II is luxurious, relatively affordable, and beautiful for everything from adventures on the water to daily wear in a formal office.

Compare the Nodus Duality II reviewed here with the best dive watches.

Nodus Duality II Watch Review

The Nodus Duality II I received for short-term testing did not come with full packaging, so I don’t have impressions of the unboxing experience. No spoilers on this one!

But my first impression was surprise at the level of detail and quality Nodus achieved in an $800 watch. The Duality II starts with a timeless black or white face. I chose to test the black model with white indices. I immediately noticed the flash of light sparking off the faceted sides of the simple baton-shaped hour markers, a nice touch that seems an improvement over the first iteration of the Duality.

Substantial yet balanced, 3D-chamfered hour and minute hands carry a healthy dose of Swiss SuperLuminova. A green triangle denotes the 12 o’clock position on the internal moving bezel. Aligned in a neutral position, it sits above a double baton that marks noon and midnight.

A small but legible date window sits at 6 o’clock. NODUS in all caps signals the brand name under the 12 o’clock position, and a very subtle “Duality” and 300M sit above the date window.

Overall, the face is timeless, legible, and clean. In my opinion, it’s beautiful. I love that in its usual orientation, the movable bezel reiterates the hour indices, which speeds watch reading for everyday use.

At 40mm, the case is a very common size that fits many wearers well. I have a 6.5-inch wrist, which is medium to small compared with the general population. I found the watch ideal, and people with significantly larger or smaller wrists would also be well served.

Outside the face, a highly polished ring tapers to a brushed case. The polishing is excellent, as is the brushing. Two black-finished, screw-down crowns sit to the right of the case. The top crown controls the bezel once unscrewed and decoupled. It’s pretty cool to spin it and see the internal bezel move slowly under the domed sapphire crystal.

The bottom crown controls the internal Miyota 9015 movement, including time and date settings. The hackable movement is very smooth and pleasant to adjust. Both crowns screw in and out smoothly and with only slight effort, just enough to ensure that the crowns are locked in place.

Testing

I received a demo from Nodus to use for about a month. In that time, I wore it interchangeably with a couple of other test watches, and it quickly became my favorite of the group.

To test the watch, I wanted to ensure it would be capable of outdoor use. I wore it on several outings, including skiing, hiking, and turkey hunting. In these situations, I subjected it to careful but realistic shocks, temperature variations, dust, and moisture one would expect outside.

I then put the Duality II in 8 inches of water for 1 hour, followed by my deep freeze for 1 hour. Both of these tests, while not as severe as real-world diving or cold, do replicate some situations that an outdoor watch must survive.

For timekeeping, the Nodus Duality II was spot-on. Nodus regulates the watch to ±8 seconds a day at its headquarters in Los Angeles. While not technically made in the USA due to global part sourcing, it is assembled in L.A. And the team got this one right.

After a week of use, the watch was still spot on. Really, this was the best performance of any mechanical watch I’ve tested yet. The Nodus Duality II just did not gain or lose any time over a week, which is really quite uncommon among mechanical watches.

Movement

Nodus used the Miyota 9015, a 24-jewel automatic movement manufactured in Japan. It’s renowned for accuracy and reliability for a no-frills, value movement. And in the case of the Nodus Duality II, I’d say it’s a great choice.

With a closed caseback, the internals of the Duality II are entirely obscured. And at this price, most buyers aren’t looking for high horology. And if they are, good luck!

With a 41-hour time reserve, the Nodus Duality II won’t win any endurance contests. If you set it on your nightstand on Friday night, it’ll be dead by Monday morning and must be reset.

However, at $800, accuracy and reliability are paramount. The Miyota 9015 should provide exactly these needs to bring much value to this timepiece.

Caseback

Nodus clearly chose to keep the caseback simple, probably as a way to focus on higher-impact surfaces. Once again, this is the compromise of building a beautiful watch at $800. It looks great, but lacks frills where it doesn’t matter to most people.

In this case, that means a simple pattern, with the brand, model, and “designed and assembled in Los Angeles” inscribed on the back. No clear display window, no intricate details. But for a high-value, entry-level watch, these decisions strike me as entirely logical.

Bracelet

The three-link bracelet is timeless and nice. It has a lovely brushed finish and smooth, rounded edges. Nothing struck me as sharp or uncomfortable.

Adjusting the bracelet is easy and took me just a few minutes. It requires a 1.4mm precision screwdriver to remove and reinsert a couple of screws. For anyone even slightly mechanically inclined, it’s a quick task to size the bracelet.

Once on, I found the bracelet very comfortable on my 6.5-inch wrist. It has a simple but easy-to-use, brand-proprietary NodeX clasp. The back of the clasp is highly polished on the sides, an interesting choice that I personally like. Others may prefer it to be fully brushed, but I think the polishing gives it a little more personality.

Finally, the bracelet has quick-release spring bars for easy strap changes for compatible bands.

Should You Buy the Nodus Duality II?

The Nodus Duality II is a watch with broad appeal from a very small brand. Those who really care about watches are probably familiar with Nodus, which launched in 2017 and has raised eyebrows with some nice watches at fair prices, designed and assembled in Los Angeles.

For those looking for a compressor-style dive watch for regular wear, this one is a no-brainer to me. It’s affordable, fun, and thin enough to fit under a lot of cuffs.

Its timeless design will go well with darned near anything. But it’s also tough enough to handle real-world wear and tear, and even will function for measuring dive duration (although few do that in the modern era with the safety and ease of dive computers available).

The Duality II competes with a lot of nice dive watches at the just-under-$1,000 price range. Here, you’ll find some nice offerings from brands like Orient, Seiki, and Tissot. But there aren’t a whole lot of compressors with such a slick design in this price range. It has beautiful finishing, a nice lume, classic design, and good specs.

Ultimately, you should buy watches that you simply like. And to me, especially for the price, the Nodus Duality II offers a lot to like for a lot of people. If it appeals to you, grab one — I doubt you’ll regret it.