I’ll be honest, I was totally unaware of microbrand Nodus until they launched their Unity collection earlier this year. Nicely forging form and function, the affordable 36.5mm unisex design seems to be the American watchmaker’s first real compact, everyday watch and it debuted with fun dials and bezel inserts in pink and blue. I liked it so much, it even made the cut in my Top 10 Ladies Automatic Watches under £1,000 feature.
Nodus Unity Graphite - Credit Nodus
For the first time, the brand has extended their Unity family with two additional novelties. Once again, the colours and textures are inspired by nature; the first is a bold and expressive piece with a Honey Yellow dial and bezel while the second is more reserved, finished in Graphite Black. As a lover of colourful dials, I already know which one is my favourite.
Nodus Unity Honey - Credit Nodus
Both new Nodus Unity Graphite and Honey watches maintain pretty much all the same spec as their pink and blue predecessors. The cases are engineered from 316L stainless steel and measure to a nice compact size of 36.5mm wide, 11.3mm tall with an overall lug-to-lug distance of 43.5mm. The cases are predominantly brushed with the edges having polished bevels down the length. The tops are equipped with domed sapphire crystal glass with anti-reflective treatment on the underside and the large signed winding crown at 3 o’clock screws down to deliver a 150 metres of water resistance.
Nodus Unity Graphite - Credit Nodus
For many, me included, the real star of the Nodus Unity is the fixed ceramic bezel insert, which is coloured, cast, and polished to create a flush bezel that flows from crystal to case naturally. It is totally void of any scales or markings and is set with an insert in either Honey Yellow or Graphite Black. The lack of any markings makes the bezel entirely ornamental and gives the watch a dressier finished compared to engraved ceramic bezels seen on dive watches.
Nodus Unity Honey - Credit Nodus
The colour used on the bezel flows naturally into the dial which takes inspiration from nature. Both the Nodus Unity Graphite Black and Honey Yellow models are stamped with a unique sunray texture that evokes patterns purely occurring in nature. They remind me a little of the texture of bark on trees, but it’s also been compared to the appearance of an eyeball’s iris or the inside of a citrus fruit. The latter certainly becomes clear on the Honey reference.
The dials have a sandwich-style construction with cut-out hour markers with steel surrounds and a cut-out date disc at 6 o’clock which is nicely coloured in the same hue as the rest of the dial. The hands are polished steel, the hours and minutes almost dauphine-shaped while the seconds is left thin and bare of any Grade A Swiss Super-LumiNova BGW9. Legibility is certainly not an issue due to the multi-level construction.
Nodus Unity Graphite - Credit Nodus
Powering the Nodus Unity Graphite and Honey watches is the same automatic winding calibre as before. The Japanese-made Miyota 9015 automatic movement runs at a frequency of 28,800vph and offers a friendly power reserve of 42 hours. Nodus claims to regulate their movements in-house so we’re told the automatic winding calibre will keep time within +/-8 seconds per day. The case is completed by an exhibition case back so you can admire the movement, and its basic level of decoration through here.
Like before, the Nodus Unity Graphite and Honey watches are completed by three-link stainless steel bracelets with a lug width of 20mm. The top and bottom surfaces of the links are brushed while the sides are polished, joining nicely in with the detailing on the case. The clasp is also brushed and is a double push folding buckle with the brand’s own Nodux extension system.
Nodus Unity Honey - Credit Nodus
The Honey and Graphite Unity will be available for purchase first on Saturday, November 11, 2023, at Nodus’ Intersect Los Angeles event and then later on their website on Monday, November 13, at 9 AM PST. The novelties will be priced at $700 USD.
Technical Specifications:
- Brand: Nodus
- Model: Unity Honey and Graphite
- Price: $700 USD
- Material: Stainless steel
- Movement: Miyota 9015 automatic winding
- Complications: Hours, minutes, seconds, date
- Dial: Sandwich-style with sunray texture in Honey Yellow or Graphite Black
- Size: 36.5mm wide, 11.3mm thick
- When the reviewer would personally wear it: I’d quite happily wear the Unity Honey as an everyday watch. It would make a fun and playful timepiece for the summer months.
- A friend we’d recommend it to first: I’d definitely recommend the Unity Graphite Black to someone who enjoys the sizing and spec of the Unity but prefers more traditionally coloured dials.
- Best characteristics of the watch: The textured, sandwich-style dial and unadorned ceramic bezel.
- The worst characteristics of the watch: My only pet peeve for this novelty is the choice of black printing on the date window for the Honey model. I can’t help but think it would look better in white.
