Vintage Swiss Watches: Nivada Grenchen’s Tool Watch Heritage
There are three ways to own a vintage Swiss watch: buy an original from the period, buy a new watch built around a restored vintage movement, or buy a modern continuation of a vintage design. Nivada Grenchen, founded in 1926 in Grenchen, offers the last two: Valjoux chronographs and new old stock editions, and continuations of the Antarctic, Chronomaster and Depthmaster. This guide explains the differences and how to choose.
In short
- Original vintage: the real thing, but parts, water resistance and service history need checking.
- Restored vintage movement: a new case and dial around a reconditioned period calibre, such as the Valjoux 23 or 236.
- Modern continuation: a vintage design with a new Swiss movement, sapphire crystal and warranty.
In this guide
Three ways to own a vintage Swiss watch
For original vintage divers, read our collector's guide to vintage Swiss dive watches, with a checklist of what to look at before buying.
Restored Valjoux chronographs
Valjoux made some of the best-known Swiss chronograph movements. The Valjoux 23 and 236 are hand-wound column-wheel chronographs. Nivada Grenchen builds several watches around new old stock examples, fully reconditioned and tested, so they run like a vintage chronograph without the wear of an old watch.
Chronoking Vintage
- Movement
- Restored Valjoux 23 VZ, hand-wound
- Style
- 1970s chronograph
- Caseback
- Movement visible
The Reverse Panda
- Movement
- Valjoux 23, hand-wound
- Style
- 1960s Reverse Panda re-edition
- Case
- 38 mm steel
Chronomaster Valjoux 236
- Movement
- Restored new old stock Valjoux 236 VZ
- Dial
- Aventurine blue or Broad Arrow
- Edition
- 25 numbered pieces each
Read more about these chronographs in our Chronomaster guide and panda chronograph guide.
New old stock editions
New old stock means parts made in the period and never used. At the Cenic Watches workshop near Grenchen, Nivada Grenchen found 18 original Antarctic Glacier dials and 18 vintage ETA 2783 movements, kept since the 1960s. They became the Antarctic Glacier Vintage, a 35 mm edition of 18 numbered pieces with an open caseback.
Modern continuations
Most of today's Nivada Grenchen watches continue a design from the archive with modern Swiss movements: the Antarctic of the 1950s, the 1961 Chronomaster Aviator Sea Diver, the 1965 Depthmaster and the 1977 F77. Some go further: the Super Antarctic 3.6.9 Tropical adds an aged brown dial with patina-style lume, and the Aquamar Vintage reissues a dial found in the Cenic archives.
Super Antarctic 3.6.9 Tropical
- Dial
- Aged brown, patina-style lume
- Movement
- Soprod P024 automatic
- Size
- 38 mm, 10 ATM
Aquamar Vintage
- Dial
- Reissued archive dial
- Movement
- Soprod P024 with date
- Size
- 38 mm, 20 ATM
Why vintage sizes still work
Watches of the 1950s and 1960s were often 34 to 38 mm. Nivada Grenchen keeps those proportions: 35 mm for the Antarctic at only 10.1 mm thick, 38 mm for most models. Look at the lug to lug measurement as well as the diameter: it tells you whether the watch sits inside the width of your wrist.
Which one suits you?
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