The Tasty Nivada Grenchen Antarctic Spider Salmon

The recently revived Nivada Grenchen brand offers five collections that draw inspiration from its glorious past. The new Nivada watches stay true to the original aesthetics while incorporating modern Swiss movements, cases, and sapphire glass. They remain accessible, with a significant portion of the collection priced below EUR 1,000. Following the success of the relaunched Antarctic Spider model featuring a very quirky and original dial design, the company strengthened its offer. It has just revealed a new and enthralling timepiece, the Antarctic Salmon Spider, with a (surprise, surprise) salmon-coloured dial.

Nivada, founded by Jacob Schneider and partners in Grenchen, Switzerland, in 1926, faced a fate common among Swiss watch brands in the 1970s and fell victim to the aftermath of the collapse of the Bretton-Wood monetary system and the quartz crisis. However, a stroke of luck awaited the brand when it was relaunched in 2020 by Guillaume Laidet, who had previously sold his successful watch company, William L. 1985 (known for affordable quality watches inspired by vintage Swiss chronographs from the 1950s). Laidet received support from Remi Chabrat, CEO of the Montrichard Group, a private-label watch manufacturer.

Nivada, under new management, places great emphasis on customer feedback, particularly on Instagram, to ensure its products align with consumers’ desires. The re-edition of the unique Nivada Grenchen Antarctic watch was triggered by a picture posted by a fan on social media. This led to the release of the remarkable Antarctic timepiece with a distinctive Spider dial design in 2021. Initially available in steel with a sunburst silver dial, two limited-edition, blue-toned dial versions were subsequently produced in collaboration with a retailer in Paris. This new iteration is affectionately referred to as a “version far too beautiful to be limited” by the brand.

While the Nivada Salmon Spider Dial shares many characteristics and functionalities with its predecessors, the salmon-hued dial gives it a distinct character, perhaps due to the paradox of the calming effect of the colour and the excitement salmon dials framed in steel exude. The Nivada Salmon Spider Dial is housed in a satin-brushed stainless steel case, conservatively sized at 38mm in diameter and 11.5mm thick, 45mm lug to lug, topped with a double-domed sapphire crystal. The excellent vintage-looking curved salmon-coloured dial, featuring a brushed sunburst finish, contrasts the case’s understated appearance. Still, the watch maintains a water-resistance of 100m and features a screw-down crown.

The watch’s throwback to the 1963 Antarctic Spider dial pattern is mesmerizing. The date aperture’s cyclops magnifier acts as a time machine, and the crosshairs printed at the centre of the dial extend to the edge, serving as hour markers for 12, 3, 6, and 9. The Dauphine-style hour and minute hands, with a touch of luminescence, complement the design perfectly. The faceted baton-style indices, representing hours 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, and 11, are vertically mounted, forming the eight “spider legs” radiating from the centre. With the addition of eight Super-LumiNova dots, one can let their imagination wander and imagine these as the eyes of a spider, as arachnids typically have eight legs and eight eyes.

Beneath the dial of the Nivada Antarctic watch lies the Soprod automatic calibre P024, comparable to an ETA 2824 or an SW200. This reliable Swiss movement powers the watch, providing a power reserve of 38 hours. With the new Nivada Grenchen Antarctic Salmon Spider, you can choose from a wide range of straps or a beads-of-rice bracelet. This attractive timepiece is very sensibly priced and is already available to buy from the brand’s website, starting at USD 750 and topping out at USD 950 on the BoR bracelet. Honestly, it’s quite a steal.

For more information, please visit www.nivadagrenchenofficial.com.