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Nodus Contrail GMT Impluse Watch Review

January 10, 2025 Nick Lehner

An upcoming international trip to Japan was the perfect excuse to buy a new GMT watch. I was looking for something that would feel special, but that was under $1,000. This pointed me back to the Nodus Contrail GMT.

Nodus offers some of the nicest watches in that price range, some of which use the Miyota 9075 with its traveler GMT function. I had considered buying the Nodus x Raven Trailtrekker (which I reviewed last year), but I went with the Contrail. I preferred its more versatile styling, and I prefer a rotating bezel on GMT watches.

The Contrail GMT is currently available in four colors. I would have bought the white one had it been in stock, but I waited too long. Now that I have it, I love the blue "Impulse" model with its yellow "pops of color" anyway. I have a few white watches and wanted to get a dark blue dial back in my collection. The blue Impulse looks the most expensive, and I love the white section on the lumed ceramic bezel insert.

Nodus Contrail GMT First Impressions

The Contrail GMT reminds me a bit of the Seiko Prospex LX Sky LE that I owned a few years ago, although the Contrail's dimensions make it much more wearable. The lumed sapphire bezel insert gives it a similar feel to a series of Grand Seiko sport watches, the closest being the blue SBGJ237. Like that watch, the Contrail has a blue dial and a half white bezel that cuts off just below 6 and 18. Nodus uses a number of distinct styling cues that differentiate it though, including a better date placement. The Grand Seiko models are also powered by hi-beat and spring drive movements, making them significantly more expensive.

Nodus Contrail GMT Details

While a few of the other Contrail GMT colorways have textured dials, the blue Impulse has an attractive metallic sunray finish. This differentiates it from other colorways and gives it a more classic appearance.

As with other Nodus models, there is minimal text on the dial. A date at 6 keeps everything pleasingly symmetric, and an attractive metal surround finishes the window nicely.

Metal hour markers are applied and have silver polished metal surrounds while the main hands are brushed at the center and polished on the edges. This gives them a higher-end appearance and aids legibility in different lighting conditions. The second hand has its lume on the counterbalance, and Nodus applies an attractive cap over the hand pinions.

The GMT hand is where Nodus had more fun with the design. It features a large stylized and lume-filled arrow right at the tip of the hand. This gives it a more distinctive appearance, plus makes it extremely easy to read. The hand jumps out at you when you need to read the second time zone, but it is very distinct, making it easy to differentiate from the main hands at a glance.

A yellow coloring on the hand also corresponds with the Contrail text on the dial for each model. As another hidden easter egg, all of the Contrails have a roulette (or bi-color) date display. On the blue impulse model, even dates are in yellow, and odd dates are in white, both on a color-matched blue background.

The lumed sapphire bezel rotates allowing tracking of a third time zone. This is aided by a fixed chapter ring, also with a 24-hour scale. While some don't find this important, I find it handy during international travel when stopping in an intermediate time zone. Then you can track local time, home time, and time at your final destination. Overkill, sure, but having the chapter ring takes nothing away from the rest of the watch, so I find it a nice touch. One thing I didn't notice until I had worn the watch a bit was a thin black ring with minute markers just outside the blue dial. It's a nice touch, but the markers are difficult to see without the right light.

Wearing the Nodus Contrail GMT

In addition to attractive finishing, the case design makes the Contrail comfortable to wear. A 40.5mm case width is perfect for my current taste, while it's quite thin for a GMT at 11.8mm thick.

Brushed sides with polished chamfers are applied to the case and bracelet, with the lugs receiving treatment similar to Omega lyre lugs. A low lug design also makes it feel well-balanced. This combined with a compact 46.6mm lug-to-lug distance makes it quite wearable while you still feel like you have something with presence on your wrist.

The large, knurled crown is easy to grip, yet didn't contact the back of my hand.

Like with the Sector Deep, the bezel extends past the edge of the case. This reduces the footprint and weight of the watch and makes the bezel easier to grip.

In the case of the Contrail GMT, it has 48 solid clicks and rotates in both directions. It requires more effort to turn compared to the Deep. This makes sense, as you won't be using the GMT bezel like a timing bezel, and it is less likely to get knocked out of position.

The box sapphire sits slightly above the bezel.

As mentioned, the hand design, dial layout, and clear bezel give this watch excellent legibility during the day.

Night-time legibility is also critical for a good travel watch. When staying in a hotel, you never know what you're getting for a clock. They are often too dim, or so bright that you need to move them away from the bed. Often they aren't even set to the correct time. Checking my phone will lead to me reading messages when I'm trying to fall back asleep.

I find it best to place a watch with great lume on the bed stand, and the Contrail is great in this area. Super-LumiNova BGW9 Grade A lume glows blue and lasts throughout the night. The bi-color bezel also makes it easy to orient the watch (assuming it's not rotated).

Bracelet and Replacement Straps for the Nodus Contrail GMT

The Contrail's bracelet appears to have an oyster-style design, but the links are hinged. This gives it better articulation.

The bracelet tapers from 20mm at the case to 16mm at the clasp, which features the proprietary NodeX adjustment system. It features a quick-adjust system using a push button.

The bracelet also features screwed links and quick-release spring bars, making it easy to size and swap.

Because the Contrail uses 20mm lugs (with QR springbars), all of your favorite straps will fit. The yellow accents look great with a corresponding strap. Blue and black also work great.

I've been wearing it on an FKM Deployant. Keep scrolling at the end of the article to see other strap combinations.

Nodus Contrail GMT Movement

Contrail uses the aforementioned Miyota 9075 movement. A 24-hour hand can indicate an additional time zone and a 12-hour hand can be jumped independently to show the current local time. This also advances the date or moves it back as needed. Some refer to this type of function as a Traveler GMT.

The caseback depicts the model's namesake, showing an airplane with contrails coming off its wings. Appropriate for a watch intended for travel.

The 9075 beats at 28,800 vph (8 beats per second) for up to 42 hours when fully wound. Nodus says it regulates them in-house to achieve +/- 8 seconds per day of accuracy (standard is +30, -10). It features uni-directional winding, and the hour hand jumps are crisp, making it enjoyable to adjust. It's not as sharp as a Seiko 9F GMT, but satisfying for a watch at this price.

GMT watches tend to be thicker than non-GMTs to allow space for the additional hand, but Nodus says this is one of the thinnest watches on the market with the Miyota 9075. The Trailtrekker and the Contrail have tight gaps between the hands as well as the hour markers which helps slim the entire watch.

Nodus Contrail GMT Conclusion

Watch reviews often talk about the rugged requirements of dive watches (myself included). Collectors are very picky about having the right set of features, even if they will never use them. To some, if it doesn't have a wetsuit extension and a helium escape valve, it's junk.

While traveling doesn't subject a watch to 20 bar of water pressure, I find it much more important that a good travel watch has all of the right features and great legibility. When I travel long distances, I'm rarely getting enough sleep. I'm eating bad food, and I'm tired, uncomfortable, and disoriented. I never get quality sleep in hotels, and it's difficult to coordinate communication with my family back home. A great travel watch should be your trusty friend to keep you grounded (and spark a little joy when you look at it).

It's harder than you might think to find something like that. Affordable ones are often poorly executed, and the great ones are either too expensive for me to risk on a trip (or to simply afford). With the Contrail GMT, Nodus has walked the fine line of adding all the right elements, but at a price that makes me feel comfortable taking this watch anywhere. I look forward to testing it out on my upcoming trip! Visit the Nodus website to learn more.

Nodus Contrail GMT Specifications:

Name: Nodus Contrail GMT - Impulse
Reference Number: N/A
MSRP: $825
Diameter: 30.5mm
Height: 46.6mm
Thickness: 11.8mm
Lug Width: 20mm
Movement: Miyota 9075 GMT
Power Reserve: 42 hours
Water Resistance: 200m
Crystal: Box sapphire with blue anti-reflective coating on the underside
Crown: Screw-down
Bezel: 48-click bi-directional rotating 24-hr scale with sapphire insert
Bracelet: Stainless steel, NodeX Clasp, QR springbars