Nivada Grenchen Chronoking Aviator Sea Diver Meca-quartz

Quick specs Nivada Grenchen Chronoking Aviator Sea Diver Meca-quartz
Price: € 437,95 | CHF 479’00 | $ 479.00 | approx. £ 425.00
Size: 38 mm
Reference: unknown

The fully revived Swiss brand Nivada Grenchen (Est. 1926) launches a vintage-looking quartz with a mechanical touch: the Nivada Grenchen Chronoking Aviator Sea Diver Meca-quartz. It is inspired by the Nivada Grenchen Chronomaster Aviator Sea Diver that was introduced in 1963. The good news is that it looks great. The bad news is it’s sold out.

Although the revival of the brand took place years ago it is still has some challenges to be a serious player in the market. The press release about the Nivada Grenchen Chronoking Aviator Sea Diver Meca-quartz talks about a limited edition of 150 pieces and 100 pieces. The webpage of the model showed a 404-Page not Found-error and we could not find any reference number of the watch. Who cares, as it is sold-out already? We do. With a reason.

How often does it happen that you see a quartz watch you really, really want? Sure, you might want all Moonswatches (let’s hope you can get the presentation box as well) and maybe a vintage Rolex or Patek from the time they made quartz watches, but does it often happen? Now, for us it did with this watch, but we are too late for this quartz version of a watch that was already relaunched in 2021. That one was available as a hand-winder and automatic: the Chronoking Aviator Sea Diver with a Sellita SW510 movement. Was, as it’s sold out too. Well, let’s take a quick look at the hybride Meca-quartz.

The Nivada Grenchen Chronoking Aviator Sea Diver Meca-quartz is a hybrid watch

The Nivada Grenchen Chronoking Aviator Sea Diver Meca-quartz is a hybrid watch because it is driven by a Seiko VK63 quartz movement with a 3-year lasting battery and it has a mechanical part. As the chronograph is a mechanical module added to the quartz. It is all housed in a 38-millimeter 316L stainless steel case with a water resistance of 100 meters / 330 feet. And with the double domed sapphire crystal, it’s bidirectional rotating bezel and matte black dial it has the right vintage touches that makes it such a looker.

Should you have been able to get one, then you had the choice between a brown leather or black leather strap or a steel bracelet. But the only thing one can do now is wait until a second batch is produced. With tropical sub-dials or whatever, and 100 or 150 pieces is okay. At a price level under 500 dollars, euros, or pounds, it’s a great deal anyway.