Chronomaster Legacy: The Story of Nivada Grenchen's Swiss Chronograph

Chronomaster Legacy

In 1961, Nivada Grenchen presented a chronograph built to time a race, a flight or a dive with the same watch: the Chronomaster Aviator Sea Diver. It became one of the brand's greatest successes. This is the story of that watch, and of the Chronomaster models made today.

Browse every model in our chronograph watches collection: automatic, hand-wound and meca-quartz.

A chronograph for land, sea and air

Nivada Grenchen was founded in 1926 in Grenchen, Switzerland, by Jacob Schneider. By the end of the 1950s, the brand was known for the Antarctic, worn by members of the US Navy's Operation Deep Freeze expedition in 1955 and 1956. The Chronomaster followed in 1961: a chronograph water resistant to 200 metres, offered in three versions, Chronomaster, Aviator and Sea Diver.

The original was described as a tool watch par excellence. Its dial carried an integrated tachymeter scale and purpose-designed hands, an additional hour hand could show a second time zone, and a bi-directional rotating bezel served divers. Pilots, divers and sailors used it, and it earned the nickname "Super Chronograph".

The movements of the original Chronomaster

Like most brands of its time, Nivada Grenchen did not make its own ébauches. The early Chronomaster used the Valjoux 92, later replaced by the Valjoux 7733. Some models used the Valjoux 23 and Valjoux 234. Over the years, the dauphine and arrow hands gave way to stick hands with tritium, and the logo on the dial became an "N in a shield". Read more in our history.

The Chronomaster today

When Nivada Grenchen was revived in 2018, the Chronomaster Aviator Sea Diver was one of the first two models to return, alongside the Antarctic. Today's Chronomaster keeps the 38 mm proportions, the two-pusher layout and the polished and brushed 316L stainless steel case of the original, under a double-domed sapphire crystal.

Hand-wound, 38 mm, with interchangeable bezels

The 38 mm Inter.Bezel Chronomaster models run on the hand-wound Landeron 70 chronograph and take tool-free interchangeable bezels. A four-ball locking system holds each aluminium bezel in place, and you swap it with your fingers. The idea goes back to the Colorama VI, a Nivada Grenchen women's collection of the 1960s. See all interchangeable bezel watches.

Automatic, 41 mm

For more presence on the wrist, the Chronomaster 41 mm uses the Landeron 72 automatic chronograph in a case 15.85 mm thick and 48.5 mm lug to lug, with a bi-directional bezel and 10 ATM water resistance. It comes as the Broad Arrow, with a matte black dial and cream Broad Arrow hands, the Tropical with a brown gradient dial, and the Panda with a white dial and black sub-dials.

Restored vintage calibres

Some editions use restored Valjoux 23 movements, a hand-wound column-wheel chronograph calibre produced from 1916 to 1974 and the same family as in the original Chronomaster. See the Chronomaster Valjoux 23 editions.

Which Chronomaster should you choose?

• You want to change the look of your watch: a 38 mm hand-wound Chronomaster with interchangeable bezels.
• You prefer an automatic and a larger case: the Chronomaster 41 mm with the Landeron 72.
• You want a vintage movement: an edition with a restored Valjoux 23.

Around the Chronomaster

The Antarctic collection continues the 1950s watch worn during Operation Deep Freeze. The Depthmaster, introduced in 1965, is the brand's dive watch, water resistant to 1,000 m. For a chronograph without winding, the Autochron uses a meca-quartz movement and a design from a 1970s prototype found in the brand's archives.

Explore the full Chronomaster collection or all watches by Nivada Grenchen.