Datomaster Mecaquartz, a 36 mm meca-quartz chronograph limited to 500 pieces
The Datomaster Mecaquartz is a 36 mm stainless steel chronograph, only 12 mm thick, with a matte white dial, shiny silver applied indexes and a TMI VK64 meca-quartz movement. Nivada Grenchen made it as a limited edition of 500 pieces, and it now has its place in the Retrospective of our limited editions.
Nivada Grenchen’s dream was a 36 mm Datomaster. With today’s mechanical chronograph movements, a case that small would have looked far too thick. The answer was a meca-quartz movement: a sample was made, it looked right, and a limited series of 500 pieces followed.
Discover the current models in our Datomaster collection.
The matte white dial carries shiny silver applied indexes and black printing. The hour and minute hands are shiny silver with white luminous material and black etching, the sub-dial hands at 3 and 9 o’clock are shiny silver, and the chronograph seconds hand is shiny orange.
Like this two-register layout? Read our guide to panda and reverse panda chronographs.
Case
36 mm, 316 stainless steel, polished, 12 mm thick, 20 mm lugs
Glass
K1 mineral crystal
Dial
Matte white dial, shiny silver applied indexes, black print, orange chronograph seconds hand
Movement
TMI VK64 meca-quartz chronograph
Water resistance
100 m / 10 ATM
Strap
Steel beads of rice bracelet
Inside is the TMI VK64 meca-quartz movement: the quartz module keeps the time, while a mechanical module drives the chronograph with a smooth sweep. Find out more in What is a meca-quartz chronograph? and our guide to the VK63, VK64 and VK67 calibres.
The 316 stainless steel case is polished, 36 mm across and 12 mm thick, with 20 mm lugs, a K1 mineral crystal and a water resistance of 10 ATM, or 100 m.
FAQs
A chronograph is a watch with a built-in stopwatch: pushers start, stop and reset a timing hand, while the main hands keep showing the time.
A meca-quartz movement combines a quartz module, which keeps the time with quartz precision, and a mechanical module, which drives the chronograph. The chronograph hand sweeps smoothly, like on a mechanical chronograph, which is why it is often called a hybrid.
Press the top pusher to start the chronograph, and press it again to stop it. Press the bottom pusher to reset the chronograph hands to zero. The main hands keep showing the time throughout.
