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Nivada Grenchen: Crafting Moments, Defining Time
Nivada Grenchen has consistently redefined horological excellence, seamlessly blending tradition with innovation. Established at the heart of Swiss watchmaking in 1879 by an enterprising watchmaker Jacob Schneider, Nivada soon became one of the first brands to manufacture automatic watches. For various reasons, the brand has witnessed multiple name changes. For instance, during the 1920s, Nivada was called Wüllimann Schneider Nivada SA after Grenchen watchmaker Movado felt their names sounded phonetically similar and could become a case of mistaken identity. In the early 60s, Nivada finally became Nivada Grenchen.
Nivada launched its first waterproof automatic timepiece in 1950 titled Antarctic that accompanied the American Navy’s Deep Freeze 1 expedition to the South Pole from 1955-56.
Post the success of the Antarctic, Nivada launched the Chronomaster in 1961, which soon became one of the most renowned waterproof chronographs of the era. Another feather in the cap was Nivada Depthomatic (now defunct), the first dive watch fitted with a depth indicator. A year later, the brand unveiled another dive watch called Depthmaster that could tolerate up to 1,000m water resistance.
Current Collections
Today, the legacy and heritage are perfectly preserved in the present lineup. The Antarctic, one of its first collections, offers a window into vintage designs such as lollipop hands and an engraving of the Deep Freeze Expedition on the caseback.
The Antarctic offers six different iterations called the Antarctic Diver, Antarctic Spider, Super Antarctic, and a limited-edition timepiece, Keep Frozen. The Antarctic Diver offers a peak into the dive watches from the '60s with its index markers, while the Antarctic Spider features a shiny spider web motif on the dial.
Another important collection is the Chronomaster, a lineup tracing its roots from the 60s. The best-known chronographs from the collection are the Chronomaster Aviator Sea Diver and Chronoking. The Depthmaster is a revival of Nivada’s first watch with a depthmeter. In addition, simplistic timepieces belong to the F77 collection that reissues dress watches from the brand’s old glory days.