Nivada Grenchen

Nivada was founded in Grenchen in 1926 by Otto Wüllimann, Hermann Schindler and Jakob Schneider, registered as Wüllimann, Schneider, Nivada SA. It was among the first Swiss firms to build automatic watches at scale, and it built its reputation on watches meant to be used rather than admired.

American sales came through the Croton Watch Company, an arrangement forced by Movado, which objected to the phonetic similarity of the two names. This is why vintage examples turn up signed Croton, Nivada, or both, and why Grenchen was eventually appended to the name.

The Antarctic of 1950 was the brand's first water-resistant automatic, and it earned its name properly: the model was worn by personnel on the US Navy's Operation Deep Freeze expedition to the South Pole in 1955 and 1956. The Chronomaster Aviator Sea Diver followed, a chronograph that tried to be a pilot's watch, a diver and a regatta timer at once, and the Depthmaster reached 1,000 metres.

The quartz crisis ended it. Production in Solothurn closed in the late 1970s, the name changed hands repeatedly, and Nivada Grenchen effectively disappeared while its vintage watches quietly became collectable.

Guillaume Laidet and Rémi Chabrat bought the name and back catalogue in 2018 and relaunched with faithful reissues rather than reinventions — the Chronomaster in 2020, the Antarctic in 2021 — at prices aimed squarely at the microbrand buyer.

Nivada Grenchen holds 47 models, from £485 to £2,310. Half cost less than £985, and a quarter less than £860. 32 of 47 are automatic. 26 are stocked by more than one retailer, giving 73 offers in total. Prices are checked nightly against the retailers’ own feeds.

1926

Founded in Grenchen as Wüllimann, Schneider, Nivada SA.

1950

The Antarctic, the first water-resistant automatic.

1955

Worn on the US Navy's Operation Deep Freeze.

1970s

Production closes during the quartz crisis.

2018

Laidet and Chabrat buy the name and relaunch the brand.