Vintage watches reborn as modern versions are nothing new, so to speak. The trend has been going strong for years in the watch industry, and now it’s not just vintage models but entire brands prominent in the mid 20th century that are being resurrected. Joining the likes of Ollech & Wajs, Timor and others is Nivada, the venerable 20th-century watch brand, and its first models are finally available to order.
Founded in Grenchen, Switzerland, and later known for its chronographs and other tool watches, Nivada was another historic company that disappeared in the Quartz Crisis. The new Nivada is being relaunched by two industry veterans with the idea of recreating the brand’s popular past models. It appears to be following a model similar to other startups by offering direct-to-consumer sales and keeping its wares reasonably affordable.
The brand is debuting with two models, both remakes of its well-known vintage watches. There will be a simple, 38mm three-hand watch in a range of dial options called the Antarctic (date and no-date versions available) and the brand’s well-known manually wound chronograph called the Chronomaster with a 39mm case. Both will be powered by Sellita mechanical movements and carry the Swiss Made label. If successful, more examples from the brand’s archives will follow.
The first models are now available for preorder, with deliveries expected in December 2020. The three-hand Antarctic will have a price starting at $698 on a strap ($892 on a beads-of-rice bracelet); and the Chronomaster chronograph will start at a price of $1,686 on a strap with a manually wound movement and going up to $2,083 with an automatic movement and steel bracelet. The first 500 buyers get a discount of 15% using the code NIVADAISBACK
