The New And Very Vintage Nivada Grenchen Autochron Automatic Orange

Some brands flourish in the field of heritage watchmaking, at least for inspiration. Remakes, re-editions, re-designs and whatnot all rely on successful designs of the past. Nivada Grenchen is one of those brands, bringing back several very popular models from its rich history, yet it also has a more quirky side. Recreating a rather obscure chronograph prototype that never made it into official production, for instance, in the form of the Chronosport, released about two years ago. This was succeeded by a blue dial edition last year, and now receives an update and a new name: Autochron Automatic Orange. Strongly rooted in the 1970s still, the new Autochron Automatic includes several colourful updates, yet retains that ever-charming 1970s style.

The rather stout-looking case is actually sized quite reasonably, at 38mm across and 12.75mm in height without the crystal, or 15.20mm including it. That means it’s the same size, yet slightly slimmer than before. The case is finished with broad polished bevels and brushed surfaces, and topped with a matte black-coated aluminium unidirectional rotating bezel (120 clicks for a full rotation) with a double scale in white. At noon, or rather zero, a beige luminous pip enhances the vintage charm. On the right side, the knurled crown is flanked by a pair of classical pump-style pushers. And lastly, to back up its resilient looks, it’s water-resistant to a very comfortable 200 meters.

The face of the Autochron Automatic is finished in matte black, with a grained texture to sort of mimic the look of asphalt. From the outside in, you first come across a tachymeter scale in black, then a bright orange minute ring and two recessed snailed subdials in beige. The asymmetrical vibe is distinctly 1970s, further enhanced with the typical markings in the subdials, the shape of the hands and so on. The applied markers as well as the central hands for the running time are finished with Super-LumiNova, and the central chronograph seconds hand is lacquered in bright orange.

Although it’s shielded from view by a solid caseback, the Autochron Automatic relies on the self-winding cam-operated ETA/Valjoux 7750 chronograph ‘engine’ to stick with the automotive theme. This runs at a frequency of 28,800vph, which means the small and central chronograph seconds hands take 8 steps per second. The power reserve is 42 hours, which in today’s day and age feels a bit underwhelming yet should be no dealbreaker. Along with running and elapsed time, it shows you the date at 3 o’clock as well.

The new Autochron Automatic comes on either a black racing-style leather strap, complete with perforations for that motorsports vibe, or a stainless steel three-link bracelet with narrow mid-links and a folding clasp. The price is set at USD 2,295 on the leather strap, or USD 2,495 on the steel bracelet. An orange FKM rubber Tropic-style strap is also available, as can be seen in the images, yet there’s no mention of a price difference compared to the other two options.

For more information, please visit Nivada-Grenchen.com.