News · Fortis

Fortis makes the Novonaut Halo Black glow from the dial out

A solid luminous base dial turns the 42 mm Novonaut chronograph into a different instrument after dark.

Hen & Mills Editorial · 3 min read · 14 October 2026

• The Novonaut N-42 TR Halo Black gives Fortis’s space-chronograph line a full Lumicast X1 base dial around dark chronograph counters.
• Its 42 by 15 mm recycled-steel case has a luminous ceramic bezel, 200-metre water resistance and the 70-hour Werk 17 TR.
• Fortis lists Halo Black on a hybrid strap for CHF 5,450 including taxes and duties in its Australian-region storefront.

A chronograph can be wonderfully legible in daylight and almost useless when the lights go down. The subdials, scales and hands compete for the same small patch of space, so the usual answer is to paint a few more markers with luminous material. Fortis has taken a bolder route. Its latest Novonaut gives the whole base dial the job of making light, leaving the counters dark against it: the Novonaut N-42 TR Halo Black.

The dial becomes the light source

The base dial is made from Fortis's Lumicast X1 material, with black chronograph counters cut into the bright field. By day, the arrangement reads like a high-contrast panda dial. In darkness, the relationship reverses: the large luminous surface stays visible and the counters become silhouettes. The official day and night images make the point more clearly than a list of lume claims could. There is a practical consequence to that amount of glow, too. You can find the main time display without having to search for a handful of isolated painted marks.

Fortis adds Super-LumiNova X1 to the ceramic Sirius bezel, which turns in both directions. Around the dial sit the familiar chronograph scales, while the day and date appear at three o'clock. None of this simplifies the face into a sterile instrument. The counter at twelve, the running display at nine and the lower register still give it the busy look of a proper space chronograph. The interesting decision is that the luminous field supports those details rather than treating them as things to be hidden until daylight returns.

A large case with its numbers on the table

The recycled stainless-steel case is 42 mm across, 15 mm thick and 51 mm from lug to lug. Fortis also gives a 115 g weight for the watch head alone, so the hybrid strap will affect the full on-wrist figure. This is a broad, tall chronograph, and the dimensions make that clear before anyone has to guess from photographs. The sapphire front crystal carries an anti-reflective coating on both sides, while a smoked sapphire back shows the movement. Water resistance is 200 metres, with a screw-down crown and triple gasket system.

The strap supplied with Halo Black combines FKM rubber and textile, according to Fortis, and the black colour keeps the dial rather than the band at the centre of the composition. That seems the right call on a watch whose primary trick only becomes obvious when the room goes dark. Fortis also offers Halo Blue and Halo Green versions, but the Black's dark counters give the luminous dial its sharpest contrast. I would choose it for that reason, not because it is the quietest option. This watch has already decided against being quiet.

Werk 17 TR changes the engine room

The automatic Werk 17 TR is a column-wheel chronograph with day and date and a stated 70-hour power reserve. Fortis says its variable-inertia balance is adjusted through mass screws, and the balance has a two-point bridge intended to improve stability against vibration and impact. The brand describes this movement as a development of its earlier space-tested chronograph calibre; that history belongs to the underlying line, not to a claim that every Halo Black has itself flown on a mission. The reserve is ten hours longer than the preceding 60-hour figure Fortis cites.

That combination puts the glow in useful context. The dial supplies the instant visual hook, but the watch remains a substantial mechanical chronograph with conventional controls and a long stated reserve. Turn it over and the smoked back gives a view of the engine without pretending the display side has become minimalist. It is easy to imagine the all-over lume as a party trick; the less obvious achievement is keeping the chronograph's hierarchy intact when so much of the dial can shine at once. The counters still look like counters, even after dark. That restraint is what stops the luminous material from swallowing the chronograph it was meant to serve.

Novonaut N-42 TR Halo Black pricing and availability

Fortis announced the Halo edition on 13 October 2026. On its Australian-region storefront, the Halo Black on hybrid strap is listed at CHF 5,450 including taxes and duties, with no A$ figure shown. The official page presents it as available to order, while the other two Halo colours are separate choices. For a reader deciding whether the luminous dial is worth the size and price, the answer sits in those paired official photographs: this is a full-strength chronograph whose appearance changes substantially when the light does.