The Two-Tone Luminescence of the Nivada Grenchen Antarctic Diver Aquamar

Since its revival in 2020, Nivada Grenchen has been something of a secret among collectors of vintage dive watches, with reeditions of some of its cult tool watches produced between 1950 and 1970 at accessible prices. Founded in 1926, Nivada Grenchen produced its first automatic and waterproof watch, the Antarctic, in 1950. Put to the test in extreme conditions by members of the U.S. Navy during the Deep Freeze 1 expedition to the South Pole from 1955 to 1956, like Rolex and Tudor, the brand promoted its watches with testimonials printed in newspapers. With a rich archive, Nivada recently revived the Aquamar, a lesser-known dive watch from the 1960s, presented in a compact case with a surprising twist.

Referencing the smaller diameters of dive watches in the 1960s, the 38mm stainless steel case size is coupled with a reassuring thickness of 12.9mm. The bidirectional rotating bezel features a sleek black ceramic insert, and along with the screw-down crown and caseback, the watch is good to go to depths of up to 200 metres. Decorated with brushed and polished finishes, the caseback features an embossed penguin.

However, what separates the Aquamar from the ever-growing crowd of retro divers is found on the lower layer of the dial protected by a double-domed sapphire crystal. Available in matte blue, grey or black (we photographed the blue dial), the sandwich dial features cutouts marking the hours. Beneath the top layer of the dial is a second layer treated with luminescent material. Nothing we haven’t seen before. If you look closely at the photos, though, you will notice that there are actually different tones of lume. Using the date disc like a roulette wheel to advance the two-tone Super-LumiNova disc, the cutouts display either white or vintage beige lume.

As CEO Guillaume Laidet explains, the two-tone lume allows you to choose two distinct looks: “Some days you want that clean desk diver look. Some other days, you want the watch from your grandfather with a ton of patina and history. Why choose? One watch, two moods. Just twist.” Powered by a reliable and easy-to-service automatic Soprod P024, the watch beats at a rate of 28,800vph and delivers a somewhat short 38-hour power reserve.

There are at least ten different strap/bracelet options to accompany the Aquamar, although a recent visit to the brand’s website indicates that the steel beads-of-rice bracelet is not currently available. The watch, available on a rubber, leather, or NATO strap, retails for EUR 1,095; on a steel bracelet, it is slightly more expensive, retailing for EUR 1,295.

For more information, please visit NivadaGrenchenOfficial.com.