What does Swiss Made mean on a watch?

It is a label protected by Swiss law. Since 2017, a watch can carry it only if its movement is Swiss, it is cased and given its final inspection in Switzerland, at least 60% of its manufacturing costs are generated in Switzerland, and its technical development takes place there.

What is a Swiss movement watch?

A watch powered by a Swiss movement: one assembled and inspected in Switzerland, with at least 60% of its manufacturing costs generated there. Nivada Grenchen uses Swiss movements from Soprod, La Joux-Perret and Landeron.

Why are Swiss watches so expensive?

Swiss Made rules require most of the manufacturing, the casing and the final inspection to take place in Switzerland, where production costs are high. Mechanical movements also take more parts and more assembly time than quartz ones.

May 16, 2025

Best Swiss Watches for the Bold and Refined: Why Nivada Grenchen Stands Apart

Buying guide · 5 min read

The best Swiss watch for you is the one whose movement, case, water resistance and size match the way you live. This guide explains what Swiss Made means, what to check before you buy, and how the four Nivada Grenchen lines (the Antarctic, the Chronomaster, the Depthmaster and the F77) compare.

In short

Swiss Made is a legal label: the movement must be Swiss, and the watch must be cased and inspected in Switzerland.
Check four things: the movement, the case and crystal, the water resistance and the size on your wrist.
Nivada Grenchen, founded in 1926 in Grenchen, makes the Antarctic, Chronomaster, Depthmaster and F77.

In this guide

What Swiss Made means
What to check before buying a Swiss watch
The four Nivada Grenchen lines
Which one suits you?

What Swiss Made means

Swiss Made on a dial is protected by Swiss law. Since 2017, a watch can carry it only if:

Its movement is Swiss.
It is cased and given its final inspection in Switzerland.
At least 60% of its manufacturing costs are generated in Switzerland, and its technical development takes place there.

The movement has its own rules: it must be assembled and inspected in Switzerland, with at least 60% of its manufacturing costs in Switzerland. Nivada Grenchen uses Swiss movements from Soprod, La Joux-Perret and Landeron, and most of its automatic and hand-wound models are labelled Swiss Made on their product pages.

Caseback of a Nivada Grenchen F77 38 mm showing the Swiss Soprod P024 automatic movement — The Swiss Soprod P024 automatic, seen through an F77 caseback.

What to check before buying a Swiss watch

The movementAutomatic winds itself as you wear it, hand-wound needs a few turns of the crown, and meca-quartz runs on a battery with a mechanical chronograph module.

The case and crystalLook for 316L stainless steel, titanium or ceramic, and a sapphire crystal, which resists scratches far better than acrylic or mineral glass.

The water resistance5 to 10 ATM is enough for daily wear and rain. For swimming and diving, look for 20 ATM or more and a screw-down crown.

The sizeLook at the lug to lug measurement as well as the diameter: it tells you whether the watch sits inside the width of your wrist.

For a closer look at the brand itself, read Are Nivada Grenchen Watches Good?

The four Nivada Grenchen lines

The Antarctic

The Antarctic dates from the 1950s. In 1955 and 1956, members of the United States Navy's Operation Deep Freeze I expedition, sent to build the first permanent base in Antarctica, wore it. Today's Antarctic 38 mm uses the Swiss Soprod P024 automatic and is water resistant to 10 ATM. The Antarctic GMT adds a second time zone, with the Swiss Soprod C125 automatic and a 42-hour power reserve, in a 36 mm case.

Nivada Grenchen Antarctic GMT Black, 36 mm, worn on the wrist with a leather jacket — The Antarctic GMT Black, 36 mm, with a 24-hour bezel.

The Chronomaster

The Chronomaster is the chronograph line, first made in the 1960s in Chronomaster, Aviator and Sea Diver versions. Today's models use the hand-wound Landeron 70, the automatic Landeron 72 or restored vintage Valjoux calibres. Many come with the Nivada Grenchen interchangeable bezel system: the bezels snap on and off without tools.

Nivada Grenchen Chronomaster Orange Boy 38 mm chronograph with black dial and orange seconds hand, worn on the wrist — The Chronomaster Orange Boy, 38 mm, with its Landeron 70.

The Depthmaster

The Depthmaster is the dive watch, first launched in 1965 and rated to 1,000 m. Today's models keep that rating, with a screw-down crown, an automatic helium escape valve and a unidirectional bezel, in a 39 mm cushion case in steel or CuAl8 bronze, powered by the Soprod P024. Read more in our Dive Watch Essentials 2026.

Nivada Grenchen Depthmaster Bronze Green with CuAl8 bronze case and green sunray dial, beside diving equipment — The Depthmaster Bronze Green, water resistant to 1,000 m.

The F77

The F77 is the integrated-bracelet sports watch first drawn in 1977, with an octagonal bezel held by eight screws. It comes in steel, Grade 5 titanium and black ceramic, and with natural dials such as meteorite, aventurine and lapis lazuli, where every dial is unique. See our meteorite watch guide.