Nivada Grenchen Chronoking “Paul Newman” Orange

Quick specs Nivada Grenchen Chronoking “Paul Newman” Orange
Price: € 430 | CHF 410 | $ 479 | £ 375
Size: 38 mm
Reference: 87034Qxx

The Nivada Grenchen Chronoking “Paul Newman” Orange is another hybrid quartz by the restarted Swiss brand, and just like the Nivada Grenchen Chronoking Aviator Sea Diver Meca-quartz it’s just a pretty good looking watch. We wonder if the brand got the rights to use the name of the late Paul Newman, but watch lovers might know what it means: the art deco-style “Newman” typography. If you order one, you have to wait for a few months as you can only pre-order now, and get it delivered by the end of October 2023. And it’s a limited edition, although we could not find how limited on the Nivada website.

We could find there is a Seiko VK63 movement inside but the page on Nivada’s website also tell it’s a Seiko VK64. Anyway, both are hybrid quartz movements with a mechanical chronograph on top. And both come with a date which has been left out by Nivada Grenchen.  If you want to buy such a movement: it will cost you around 30 dollars / euros, so it’s cheap. But reliable and accurate: approximately + or – 20 seconds per month. Which is what your mechanical watch is doing per week if you are lucky.

The Nivada Grenchen Chronoking “Paul Newman” Orange has a hybrid Seiko quartz movement

The Nivada Grenchen Chronoking “Paul Newman” Orange is housed in a subtle 38-millimeter stainless steel case with a matt black dial and three sub-counters in yellow/orange colors. And these have the art deco-style “Newman” typography, which can (still) be found on the Rolex Daytona of which actor and racing driver Paul Newman owned one. Actually his watch, the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Paul Newman Ref. 6239, was actioned in 2017: take a look at the typo of that one.

Is it a cheap copy-paste piece? Nah. There are a lot of watches that look more or less the same, just like cars or fashion. Besides that, Nivada Grenchen already launched a Chronoking in the 1970s with this typography, better known as the Nivada Grenchen Chronoking “Paul Newman dial”. A cool 43 x 47-millimeter chronograph with a hand-wound Valjoux 72 caliber which is hard to find nowadays – and worth at least 10k in fine condition. So it’s just a good thing that these vintage looks are now available at an affordable price. Just don’t bother if it has a VK63 or VK64. We’ll be patient until the end of October…