The new Nivada Grenchen Antarctic Diver Green

During the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, there were dozens of editions of the Antarctic watch by tool-watch brand Nivada Grenchen, some of them already back to life such as the Spider of the Super-Antarctic. In 2023, the brand revived one of the collection’s earliest models, an early dive watch that stood out in its own way, but also the brand’s first diving watch that appeared at the end of the 1950s, the Nivada Grenchen Antarctic Diver. First presented with a classic matte black dial, it now comes back with a green dial and some more updates to note. 

When it first came out in 2023, the Nivada Grenchen Antarctic Diver relied on a fairly simple but efficient recipe; a modernized version of a vintage watch, using classic retro styling and modern movement and materials. No surprises here, it is the trick that’s been used by the brand for a few years now, since the return of the Chronomaster Aviator Sea Diver under the impulse of CEO Guillaume Laidet (also behind several other projects, including SpaceOne, Vulcain or Excelsior Park). The inaugural model, using a traditional black dial, was a rather faithful evocation of the past, not a 1-to-1 recreation, with proportions lightly updated to match the current trends.

There’s a new edition, however, that feels less classic, thanks to a brightly coloured dial – and some minor design updates to take into consideration too. What remains is the case and the overall list of specifications. We still look at a classic skin-diver watch with a fairly compact diameter of 38mm, a reasonable thickness of 12.9mm and a shape that’s typical from the late 1950s, early 1960s. The crown is unprotected and the lugs are fairly elongated. But all in all, the design surely evokes the past. Concessions to modernity have been made, with a unidirectional ceramic bezel (with a fully-graduated 60-minute scale) and a double-domed sapphire crystal. Thanks to a screw-down crown and a solid steel back, the watch is water-resistant to 200m.

The dial is where things have changed. First, there’s the obvious; the emerald green colour and the sunray-brushed pattern. The distinctive handset of the original black model has been kept, with its bold rectangular hours and minutes hands, and the old-school Antarctic Diver in cursive font is still there. But there’s more, as the crosshair of the black edition is gone, and we now have new hour markers, with a combination of applied and painted rectangles, a simpler minute track and cream-toned SLN. Nivada gives you the choice between a no-date or a date display, and the latter doesn’t feature a magnifier anymore.

Power comes from a modern Soprod P024, Festina group’s clone of the ETA 2824-2. This simple automatic movement runs at 4Hz and stores 38 hours of power reserve. It’s nothing extraordinary but it keeps the costs down. As always, the brand offers the watch with a variety of straps (leather, rubber) or steel bracelets (BoR, Flat Link).

Released as part of the permanent collection, the Nivada Grenchen Antarctic Diver Green is fairly priced, coming at EUR 955, CHF 890 or USD 995. For more details, please visit NivadaGrenchenOfficial.com.