And the adventure started last year, with the successful relaunch of the Chronomaster, Depthmaster and Antarctic.īefore I reached out to them I already knew the brand Nivada Grenchen and was quite familiar familiar with their watches as I work at a full service watch center and we receive about 2-3 Nivada Grenchen watch a year in for a service, restore or repair. The Nivada name owners were the Mexican group (Grupo Industrial Omega SA de CV), and in 2019 they obtained the license to use the Nivada Grenchen copyright. But watchmaking industry had to face the quartz crisis in the 1970s and Nivada failed to adapt to the demand for electronic and battery-powered watches.īut lucky for us watch geeks and Nivada brand, two watch entrepreneurs decided to bring the name back! The story started in Paris in 2018 during a discussion between Guillaume Laidet, a French entrepreneur in the watch industry (former Jaeger-LeCoultre, Zenith, and founder of William L.1985), and Remi Chabrat, owner of the Montrichard Group (a private label watchmaker). From the early 1930s up to 1970s they were making some really great watches that have put a mark in the watchmaking history. Both companies worked together from the early 1930s, importing watches and parts from Nivada models and renamed them with Croton name on the dial for the American market.
Founded in 1878 in the USA, Croton assembled watches with Swiss and American components. Often in the vintage market you will see that Nivada Grenchen name is changed with Croton name, or sometimes you will see both of the names on the dial. Nivada was, as many other brands back in the days, sourcing parts from external suppliers, including movements by Venus, Valjoux or Landeron, it was a norm back in the day and even high end brands used the same movements. Nivada was among the first ones to offer water-resistance, automatic movements, or to feature a chronograph with additional functions. From the earliest days, the company focused on instrument watches that were meant for hard use. The company remained under the control of the Schneider family until its 50th anniversary in 1976. Nivada was founded in Grenchen (Granges), Switzerland in 1926 by Otto Wüllimann, Hermann Schindler and Jack Schneider.
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