Buffy Acacia
from Exquisite and decadent women’s watches from the 1950s Watch companies, all the way up to today’s independent microbrands, have struggled to get modular watchmaking off the ground. Sure, it’s been a bit of a fad at times, but the last year or two has seen a resurgence of interest in the concept. But while others have failed at modularity by overcomplicating it or adding too many options, Nivada Grenchen may have finally found a way to make it work with the Chronomaster Singer Paul Newman.
Incident
Instead of making one watch that can do everything, or essentially a watch that can do everything but excel at nothing, the Nivada Grenchen Chronomaster Singer Paul Newman Maintaining its status as a 1970s-style racing chronographIt takes a simple but robust platform and uses interchangeable aluminum bezels to change the look and even the functionality. It’s not as extreme as an actual “five watches in one”, but it’s all the better for it. Three of the bezels have the same markings, which means they can be used to track elapsed time like a diver’s watch, and they also have hour markers below the corresponding minutes, so they could theoretically be used for a second time zone. The black, green and red options allow the watch to change appearance drastically, from a classic vintage look to one that turns heads.
The black and red world timer bezel offers much greater accuracy by tracking not only a second time zone, but almost any location in the world represented by a few major cities. Finally, the blue bezel features a tachymeter, by far the most popular scale on a chronograph. There are already tachymeters around the perimeter of the dial, but they are small and hard to read if that is the main purpose of the watch. All of these bezels can be removed or installed with just a light push of the hand, and they rotate smoothly in either direction. Ratcheting bezels may be more common today, but they are accurate to the original vintage watches, not diver watches.
Nivada Grenchen had to redesign the case to accommodate the new bezel system, but they made it easy to do so without sacrificing structural integrity. Thankfully, the dimensions of the watch remain unchanged; at 38mm in diameter and 46.5mm lug-to-lug, it elegantly elongates the silhouette without sacrificing comfort. At 13.75mm thick, it’s fairly chunky for a manual-wound chronograph, but by no means excessively so. The inscription “Sea Diver” on the dial is certainly generous, but… A watch that is suitable for swimming and has a water resistance of 100m.
Dial
While the new Chronomaster Singer Paul Newman gets all the attention for its interchangeable bezel, the dial itself is stunning. In 2021, Nivada Grenchen released a Chronomaster limited to 25 pieces, priced at just over $5,000 and featuring a refurbished Valjoux 23 movement. The dial is a near-identical recreation of a vintage Nivada watch with a Singer-made dial. Singer is the same company that made the dial for the famous Paul Newman Rolex Daytona, so it has the same lollipop markers and Arabic numeral font. The main difference between this new version and the 2021 release is that it uses pure white instead of cream, making it look cleaner and more modern overall.
The Chronomaster is a great reissue of a vintage piece, so it’s no surprise that it perfectly recreates the ’70s vibe. Blocky applied indices serve their purpose while letting the dial breathe, and two black subdials with concentric patterns make it easy to read the seconds hand at 9 o’clock and the 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock. The red accents on the counters and the chronograph seconds hand look great. Especially in contrast to most panda watches. It’s completely monochrome.
motion
Nivada watches with Landeron movements are easily visible in their 1970s catalogs, but they still exist today. The difference is that Nivada Grenchen pays close attention to vintage reproductions, while the revived Landeron is primarily focused on filling the hole created by ETA’s supply cuts. The Landeron 70 is a new movement with very little information available other than that it’s a manual-wound chronograph with a 43-hour power reserve, whereas the recent Landeron 72 (Not to be confused with the column wheel chronograph of the same name from the 1940s.) is based on the Valjoux 7750 architecture.
strap
The ’70s chronograph is already pretty quirky, so it lends itself well to all sorts of straps and bracelets. But the new race-focused Nivada Grenchen Chronomaster wouldn’t be complete without its perforated leather strap. The holes are designed to promote airflow and prevent sweating while sitting in a hot race car, but they also lend an inherently sporty look. If you want to try other options, such as the Nivada Grenchen, the 20mm lug width gives you plenty of options.
Verdict
I doubt the Nivada Grenchen Chronomaster will be the first watch to spark the modular watch trend, but when it comes to Nivada watches, it’s one of the best approaches I’ve seen. It doesn’t feel too gimmicky, and the dial is good enough to gain fans with or without the bezel change. The brand no doubt plans to release more bezels in the future, so it will be interesting to see how the watch changes.
Nivada Grenchen Chronomaster Singer Paul Newman Pricing and Availability
The Nivada Grenchen Chronomaster Singer Paul Newman will be available from September 19th, 2024. Price: $1,975 USD
Brand Nivada Grenchen Model Chronomaster Singer Paul Newman Case Size 38mm (D) x 13.75mm (T) x 46.5mm (LTL) Case Material Stainless steel, interchangeable aluminum bezel Water Resistance 100 meters Crystal Sapphire Dial “Paul Newman” white panda Strap Multiple leather, rubber and steel bracelet options available Movement Landeron 70, manual winding Power Reserve 43 hours Functions Hours, minutes, running seconds, chronograph, interchangeable bezel Availability Scheduled for release on September 19, 2024 Price $1,975 USD
