"…And yes, Mr. Wayne, it does come in black." The Nove Rocketeer blackout

People (watch people) always think they know what fits on their wrist, with me that's definitely the case. I always think that a round 38mm watch will be spot on but unfortunately that's almost never right, dimension of a watch are only a small part of the overall package and it doesn’t tell the whole story, we have thickness, we have lug to lug and we have strap width, on top of that we have the bezel/dial ratio. For example a 36mm Nomos feels larger because the watch is 90% dial, it’s a great effect but basically you have to try the piece before you buy it. You also have the other side of the coin, when you hear dimensions of 44mm or 45mm the mind automatically thinks that the watch is unwearable, it would be too large and unsophisticated but again you could be wrong, it is here when the unique Nove Rocketeer enters the scene, a 45.6mm watch that wears like no other, thin and classy as anything. We already review the Rocketeer in its gold version which was amazing, this time the guys from Nove kindly sent us the all black version. The watch is sleek and so under the radar that I couldn’t stop staring it for a whole week, I couldn’t believe that such a large dimension watch could blend it so well, I am rambling, I know, so let's start with the review.

The specifications:

As mentioned at the beginning, the 45.6mm diameter will just tell you a small part of the story, the watch is extremely thin with a 8.9mm thickness, that is thinner than any watch I currently have in rotation, the black case also gives a visual appearance of a smaller watch but what I love the most about this piece is the dial in matte grey and it looks incredible.

The dial creates this lovely contrast with the case and the 12 dot markers, no seconds hands just the minute and the hours one, at 12 we can see the ''N'' logo which gives you sense of direction and at 6 o'clock we can read Swiss Made, that's it, nothing more, I wish many of more established brands could learn to do a clean dial like the team at Nove, it's not easy but here it is on a watch under 400 GBP and it works perfectly. The watch is powered by a Swiss Ronda which gives a whopping 6 years of battery life! The perfect movement for the blackout 2 hander.

On the wrist:

The watch wears like a charm, flat and secure on 6.25 inch wrist. The case is one of the best parts of the watch apart from the dial, several layers and steps adorn the whole side profile making it feel as modern as a stealth fighter,

I have yet to see a case so bold but at the same time so elegant. It's odd that this black case highlights all the geometric forms from the Nove, I always thought that black hides the details on things but in this case is the opposite. The watch comes with 3 straps which gives a lot of versatility, a black metal band for a cool biker look, a black rubber for that summer vibe and black leather band for those elegant nights out in the city. The hands have also Super-LumiNova treatment, making it not only stylish but also usable on every environment.

Conclusion:

When I saw the Nove Rocketeer in black I was thinking that this was probably the original envision from the design team, the watch is meant to be this color, it was meant to be stealthy but maintaining those modern touches that we love from the brand.

I really enjoy the time with the watch, every time I wear it I discover something new like: the only color on the watch is the red Swiss flag on the back or that the dots are polished or that the screw down crown has a texture to make the crown easy to thread or even that the watch is a perfect symmetry only offset by the crown guards which are made organically by the insertion of the crown. As you can see this watch is something else, something that can fit on anyone's collection, it comes it many colors but I believe this blackout version is the real winner.

More info at www.nove.com