Chronomaster Aviator Sea Diver Watch By Nivada Grenchen Resurrected

We are living in a world where reeditions, heritage-inspired, and neo-vintage watches are becoming the norm. Certain brands seem to be oblivious to the year we live in. They spend more time going through their archives and recreating old models rather than focusing on research and development. Oddly, these neo-vintage watches are often just weak copies of the original vintage watches they are based on. However, this is certainly not the case when it comes to the new Nivada Grenchen Chronomaster Aviator Sea Diver.

Now, let me be clear: I’m not against reeditions. I find them exciting and have reviewed a good few of them in the past. What I think, though, is that if you have all the money in the world and a huge watch group behind you, perhaps you should make a bit more effort to come up with new stuff every once in a while. Nivada’s story is a little different. See, the brand was not in production for many years. That was until 2020 rolled around, and the Nivada Grenchen Chronomaster Aviator Sea Diver became one of the most anticipated new releases of the year…

Nivada Grenchen

The history of Nivada Grenchen is very well documented, so I do not want to get into the details. It’s a story that is very similar to many other brands’ that disappeared during the quartz crisis. The devastation wreaked by inexpensive quartz watches on the market came in the 1970s. Nivada managed to linger for a few years before finally ceasing production around the dawn of the 1980s.

A few years ago, Guillaume Laidet, who many of you might know by his earlier venture William L. 1985, and Remi Chabrat, the CEO of Montrichard Group, drew up a plan to resurrect the iconic Grenchen-based watch brand. They discovered that a Mexican company owned the Nivada brand, and so the Montrichard Group acquired the necessary rights from it. And now we’re up-to-date.

“Hands-on” Impression

As soon as the project came out, I caught wind of it. I’ve seen the prototypes on social media many times. I’m familiar with the look of the vintage models as well, and it’s a striking resemblance. It seems that the designers did an excellent job with these new Nivada Chronomaster timepieces.

However, whether the watch can live up to my expectations or not, I’m not so sure. Guillaume reached out and promised me a watch when the prototypes were ready. True to his word, a FedEx parcel landed on my desk a few weeks ago. By that point, I’d seen so many shots and videos of this watch that my only question was, “Does it really look that close to the original vintage Nivada Grenchen?”

And, I’m happy to say, the answer is, yes!

Chronomaster Models

The new Nivada Grenchen line up consists of two model lines and various timepieces within each of those lines. Other than the aforementioned Chronomaster Aviator Sea Diver, Nivada resurrected another iconic, albeit lesser-known model, the Antarctic. Perhaps we might have the chance to take a closer look at them at a later stage. When it comes to the Chronomaster, you can choose between automatic or manual wind watches.

Vintage Chronomaster models were manual-windings, so having this option in the collection is a great touch. This is where it gets tricky. See, over the year, Nivada Grenchen offered various versions of the Chronomaster to the potential buyers. Whatever you want a manual wind or an automatic watch, you can choose between four different versions of the Chronomaster, all based on actual vintage models. The most iconic is the black Chronomaster with broad arrow hands.

Panda

Two have a slightly updated look and black dials. One has a red lollipop chronograph hand and a traditional black dial. The other has something approaching a reverse panda dial but beige (and not white) sub-dials and orange chronograph hands. Lastly, you can get an actual panda version of the very first model with a white dial, black chronograph sub-dials, and those gorgeous broad arrow hands.

Furthermore, you can choose any of the four dial variations with either movement. And we have not even talked about the hands yet. To keep the original look, the hands are not interchangeable on the various models. Meaning you cannot take the panda version with the modern lollipop handset, for instance. But why should you? If you are looking at these watches, you want the original look of the Chronomaster.

38mm

Every Chronomaster is available with cream or white lume on the hands. This is as modern as the guys went when creating these Chronomaster Aviator Sea Diver reeditions. One important feature though where they did not “comply” with modern expectations is size. This is where many reeditions fail in my opinion. Watch brands want to create the look of a vintage watch in modern case size and more often than not the result is a hideous example. Not this time. Thankfully we have a 38.3mm case width (38mm if we measure it from below, not including the bezel) and a 46.6mm lug tip to lug tip length. The thickness is 14.80mm for the automatic and 13.75mm for the manual versions. Both types are powered by Sellita’s SW510 caliber, which comes as either an automatic or manual. It truly feels like you are wearing the original vintage watch on the wrist.

Straps Galore

To finish off the look, Nivada Grenchen offers you the Chronomaster Aviator Sea Diver on five different straps or bracelets. If you fancy bracelets you can choose between a regular Beads of Rice or a so-called Oyster bracelet. I haven’t seen the BoR but the Oyster is a neat vintage-inspired option with expanding links as you’d have on vintage Doxa bracelets.  This allows you to wear the watch comfortably even if your wrist is swollen during hot summer days. Given that the Chronomaster is a diver as well as a pilot’s watch you can opt for the Tropic-style rubber strap. Nonetheless, if you prefer leather you can choose between a black or a brown strap. The brown has more of a vintage feel with beige side stitching and painted edges. The black, however, is more subtle and thinner. Every strap comes on a special Nivada buckle and with quick release spring bars.

Ok, But How Much?

If you opt for the manual version of the Chronomaster, you’ll have to pay €1,479.95 on a strap and €1,654.95 on the bracelet. It does not matter which strap or bracelet you choose. Now, should you decide that you prefer the automatic version the price is a bit higher. As a matter of fact, an automatic on a strap is the same as the manual wind on the bracelet (€1,654.95). the most expensive is the automatic Chronomaster on the bracelet. For this, you need to pay €1,828.95.

That’s still not too bad if you ask me. The configuration possibilities of the dials, movements, and strap are almost endless. I’m positive that anyone can find a watch that fits their fancy. Not to mention that if this venture becomes successful we might see some new releases from Nivada. Finally, a reedition that not only stays true to the original but also resurrects an iconic brand from the golden age of Swiss watchmaking.

If you’d like to check out Nivada Grenchen’s site and perhaps pre-order one of these fantastic Chronomaster Aviator Sea Divers, click here.