Never have the 70s been so hip – the colors, the materials, the design... Vintage chronographs are surfing on the trend and have never been so popular. They’re bouncing back big time, much to the delight of collectors and those nostalgic not only for disco.
For this reissue, Nivada Grenchen worked on a new version of its fabled Chronomaster, inspired by a vintage Chronoking dial straight out of those wild and wonderful seventies. Originally sporting «Paul Newman»-style sub-dials, it was on a tonneau case housing a Valjoux 72 movement and behind this very special dial, a very special name: Jean Singer, a leading Swiss dial maker based in La Chaux-de-Fonds and highly regarded for producing some of the most iconic and collectible exotic dials the watchmaking world ever had and has to offer. Dials such as the striking Speedmaster Racing, the punchy Heuer Skipper or Universal’s intensely blue Nina were all made by the one and only Jean Singer.
This new version of the Nivada Chronoking is flamboyantly 70s, setting all the codes of this global success on fire. Tan sub-dials – with the telltale art deco-style “Newman” typography – that light up the black dial, the minute track an orange gradient; the combination creates an unusual sense of depth.
The Nivada Chronoking, assembled in Switzerland, houses the tried and trusted Seiko VK63A meca-quartz movement. Press the stopwatch pusher and watch the chronograph hand sweep over the dial with that same smoothness we love in a mechanical watch. The meca-quartz movement combines the precision of quartz with the feel of a self-winding mechanical movement, the best of old-school and avant-garde. The quartz module keeps the time, while the mechanical assembly keeps the chronograph running
smoothly. That’s why they are often referred to as hybrid movements.
