Nodus Updates the Sector Field with New Dial Colors and Several Small Improvements

Nodus is back with an update to their popular Sector Field, a contemporary take on the classic field watch, with a hint of classic sector dial aesthetics thrown in for good measure. Ed Jelley went hands on with the Sector Dive and Sector Field earlier this year, and this new release is very much an incremental update to the watch we covered in January. The small improvements made to the watch, however, illustrate Nodus’s commitment to refining their product over time, as well as a willingness to take and implement feedback from the watch community. Let’s jump in. 

To quickly review, the Sector Field is a 38mm watch that’s ostensibly inspired by traditional field watches, but a glance doesn’t resemble what we typically expect to see from a watch in this genre. Nodus has boiled down the key design elements of the field watch and reimagined them in a modern way, with a contemporary look and all the functionality you expect from a field watch. The 38mm size is easy to wear and discreet, large Arabic numerals provide an intuitive time telling experience, and the modern “sector” dial bifurcations, made with a sandwich dial construction, give a subtle assist to legibility at a glance and provide some additional visual interest. The Sector Field is still available in a variety of colors (more on those options below) that further separate Nodus’s creation from the purposefully plain field watch designs of the past. 

For this second crack at the Sector Field, Nodus has made a few small adjustments that add up to what looks like a more refined and appealing package. The most obvious change is the addition of a date at 4:30, similar in execution to the Sector Dive. While some might balk at the addition of a date and its placement in a spot that will drive symmetry nuts crazy, I think you have to hand it to Nodus for matching the date wheel to the dial color and keeping it small. It blends in nicely, without a prominent frame, and could quite frankly be easily ignored. It’s about as stealthy a date window as I’ve seen recently. 

The crystal has also been updated to a flat top tapered design that Nodus tells us mimics an oil-filled effect, and brings the dial closer to the crystal by a small margin, aiding in legibility at harsh angles. This represents an aesthetic change, but also a functional one appropriate for a watch in the field genre, as it makes it even easier to register the time quickly. Additionally, lume is now 3D printed T-C1 X1 Grade BL, a relatively new Super-LumiNova compound said to have increased luminesce over previous more widely used applications, and colored seconds hands are now used to add additional accent to the dials. 

That brings us to the new dial colors. In addition to the returning Shale and Sequoia variants, Nodus is adding Marina (blue) and Smoke options as well. All dials still retain the same subtle fumé effect, which is my personal favorite design feature on these watches. The color combinations here seem to have a more vibrant pop to them than the earlier watches – note the red accents on the Smoke dial, for example, and the complementing light blue on the Marina.

These watches are available today, directly from Nodus, for $425 each. Nodus also tells us that between now and the end of the year they’ll be releasing even more watches in the Sector series, with Dive, Pilot, and Sport options to come. Watch this space for additional details on those when available, and of course keep an eye out on the Nodus site right here.