Glancing around the rest of the passenger compartment on my flight (Economy) smirking as I twiddle the crown on my watch, demonstrating its convenient and classy True GMT capability
Love nkuwan the way you show it! You really focus on showing off the watch. I don't think any other RU-vidr can show off watches in as much detail as you.
This seems to be better proportioned than the grand seiko equivalent which I love. But what I love more is not wearing a 44mm watch for a sapphire bibezel gmt
Affordable GS-Vibes with a satisfying date position, crown on 3, the lume!, thin & wearable even under one Eran... lovely!! Thanks for your take on.. things, all ofem :)
Ive read the two founders of Nodus are in fact huge true Seiko fans, which is a great thing and it even shows in their Avalon also. Great review and congrats on such a huge channel success coming from a incredibly small dive watch channel, albeit even if i have been buying and collecting true high end divers since 2001. RU-vid is incredibly difficult and in my case impossible compared to a channel as unimaginably large as yours. My congrats! DiveWatcher
My friend. This video review was exceptionally refreshing. So much that I used the word exceptional which I would never use with my friends in real life. Ok I’m joking… I don’t have friends BUT I have watches and this review so I’m good. Right?! Jokes aside… Well done! Fully entertained and appreciative of you making the content for us. Now get back to work I need more 😂
I have received the Polaris. Great watch but yes I have the same complaints. The bezel action is too stiff and makes the bezel not quite grippy enough due to how stiff it is. Hopefully it breaks in over time and gets better. And it's nice to have micro adjust on the clasp but yes the Nodex system doesn't look or feel great when fully extended. So needs a bit of a design redo... extending the clasp could help but then the already long clasp just gets longer. And I know Nodus is offering this clasp to other microbrands but there is a growing number of "off the shelf" clasps with micro adjustment that I think work better. See what Erebus is using. But it's still an amazing watch overall. Looks great and wears great!
That white dial version looks lovely. Not keen on that wobbly extension, looks odd woth the thin bit of the link being the extension. Lots of good examples to develop from. Great work Nodus!
This is definitely the golden age of GMTs. I didn't realize so many people were jetsetters. Hopefully next year Seiko and Miyota come out with annual calendars. That would be nice.
This is the golden age of watch collecting! So take advantage and represent, do not go gentle to that smartwatch wrist.. Rage Rage with a real watch and a Fist!! EXCELLENT video as usual!
Waiting for someone to use that Miyota to make a flier GMT I like the look of. Somehow no one has come out with something that hits the spot. It's either copies of existing stuff, or really garish looking watches with too many colors or weird proportions on the dial. If anyone has suggestions of stuff that's out there that they like please share!
That's a very attractive GMT watch. If Nodus indeed took inspiration from the Grand Seiko SBGE275 when designing this watch, they've done an excellent job by avoiding the unnecessary date placement at 4 o'clock.
Like the watch, but I think the fact that the bezel is not split exactly in half, and that the white section is smaller, would bug me. I know they did it for the purpose of the lume and the GS has done the same, but it would still bug me.
I purchased the Laguna when these releases dropped and I can attest this is a good watch. The bezel action, the indiviually articulating links on the bracelet, the lume, the dial... it's all good, especially for under 1k. My SPB143 at retail is $1250 (which I didn't pay) and doesn't have as much as this watch does at $850.00. I agree with your assessment on the microadjust. I like that they made an attempt, and it's better than nothing, but definitely that is this watches weakest link. That is something their R&D department need to spend a little extra time with to get that dialed in. Regarding the GS comparision, while the blue and white colorway of the Impulse resembles the GS SBGJ237, there is enough color and style variation in this model and the others, that I can say I don't think this is a copy of GS. The case, the dial, the bracelet, the crown position, all are different than the SBGJ line. As much as the blue and white color way reminds us of the SBGJ237, there are more differences than similarities. I believe the Contrail can stand on its own merits.
I really enjoy this watch channel, however, unlike other watch RU-vidrs, YoureTerrific should let his audience know the size of his wrist so we have an idea of how the watch fits.
So... now I am torn between this watch vs. the Traska Venturer GMT (which I "reserved" in April and am impatiently waiting to arrive sometime in July) based on your prior review. My wrist is a half inch shy of an Evan, so any lean between Nodus and the Traska for smaller wristed folks?
I’ve got an Evan - 0.5” wrist and own both the Venturer GMT and Contrail GMT. The Contrail wears better than the Venturer, and I find the Venturer very comfortable. I had to remove all the links from the Venturer and have the quick adjust sized as small as possible, and there are times in cooler weather where it’s just a hair looser than I prefer. The Contrail fits me better, and I still have a link to remove (if needed). With the Nodex clasp sized all the way down, it wears better than the Venturer. The Nodex clasp on the Contrail is easier to use than the quick adjust clasp on the Venturer.
Traska is smaller at 38.5mm wears super nice on my 6.75 wrist. Coating is also so good not a single scratch after nearly 12 months. I also prefer the Traska design if I’m being honest. Still a nice offering by Nodus though you’ll be happy with either I’m sure 👍🏻
Design wise Nodus does it better than Grand Seiko with that 6 o’clock date wheel rather there the off center position GS uses. IMHO (seven inch wrist here too)
Thanks for your review of these watches. They look great but as I already have a MAEN Hudson caller/office GMT I will not be buying this watch. A caller GMT suits me as I do not travel across time zones much, but I do have a son who lives in a different continent. I am with you with regards to the marketing hype surrounding the use of the term "true GMT". I can imagine a tool maker calling their Phillips head screwdriver a "true" screwdriver.
I'm fully with you on the "True GMT" anger. However, you could have some fun and call any movement which slaves the hour hand with the 24h hand with no option of independent setting as "proto-GMT movement. There are examples, like Vostok GMT watches or the most famour of all, Rolex GMT Master (1). True GMT watch, false GMT movement.
These videos are great. I don't like to compare, but this type of humor works way better with me that that of Adrian Barker. These watches take too much resemblance of those big brothas but it is what it is. It's hard to be original now for the big brands, let along these tiny startups.
Anyone else wish these awesome American watchmakers like Nodus, Traska, Monta, etc. would make their GMTs with AM/PM GMT bezels instead of military time? Why is Serica - a French microbrand- one of the only brands that make their GMT with that gorgeous AM/PM bezel?
Definitely not, every device I have I set to 24HR so I'm good with the numbers. But more importantly when you look at a 12 hour clock you don't need the numbers, right? I'm the same way for a 24 hour clock, it's the position. The idea of a single daily sweep of an hour hand has always fascinated me.
I actually was thinking the same, as an owner of the new Zelos Mako GMT, which is about 2/3 the price of this with the same movement. I guess the bracelet is maybe a little worse and there’s no regulation guarantee (mine runs about -4), but all other specs are comparable. That’s not to say the Nodus isn’t an amazing watch for its price! Just that Zelos perhaps has an even better value
Miyota in a 900$ watch ? You could get an actual swiss time machine like a Mido Ocean Star GMT for 50 bucks less, or a Glycine GMT with very similar specs for around 500. Hell even Sturling makes a similar style GMT with the SAME MOVEMENT for a 120$.
Random thought: What if watch reviewers had some sort of "mannequin wrists" of several sizes (6"-8" for example) and show the watch on those wrists in videos? No one has done that and someone needs to set a standard of how watches can be visualized on different wrist sizes on video!
