Nivada Grenchen Depthmaster Orange Limited Edition

Quick specs Nivada Grenchen Depthmaster Orange Limited Edition
Price: approx. € 2.700 | approx. CHF 2’600 | $ 2,890 | approx. £ 2,300 (all excluding taxes)
Size: 39 mm
Reference: 14126A – limited to 10 pieces

The Nivada Grenchen Depthmaster Orange Limited Edition is a nice example of combining a vintage looking watch with a vintage movement. The reborn Swiss brand found 10 old orange dials with tritium, purchased 10 new old stock (NOS) ETA caliber 2472’s and build them into their Depthmaster. The result is a serious half-vintage diver with a reliable, almost antique engine.

The first Depthmaster dates from 1965 (the first diver to reach 1,000 meters) and the ETA 2472 is also a 1960s product. Sounds like a good marriage. Nivada Grenchen speaks about a “meticulously sourced” stock of 10, but you can find them (sometimes almost) new yourself on the internet for less than 400 euros. We assume NG will service them meticulously first before building them into their diver.

A dial with a new luminescent material when radium was banned

Let’s talk about the dial first because that looks like a barn-find. Somehow 10 of the brands original and orange Depthmaster dials were found. And as they date from the 1960s the indexes and Arabic numerals are filled with a material called tritium. This replaced the rather unhealthy radium that was used before but banned in 1962. At 6 o’clock is the original mark for Swiss made watches that have tritium in it: “T SWISS MADE T”.

However, tritium is also toxic, just like radium, as it is radioactive. For that reason, it was replaced by a non-toxic, non-radioactive material in the 1990s. Which was strontium aluminate–based photoluminescent material we now know as super-luminova. Or lumibrite if you have a Seiko. Now, don’t think these old dials are dangerous, as it is tritium-based luminous material. Still not healthy to eat, a bit radioactive, but safe to wear in a watch.

The Nivada Grenchen Depthmaster Orange Limited Edition has a power reserve of 42 hours

As said, this new vintage Depthmaster runs on an ETA caliber 2472 known for its chronometer-grade performance. As it uses a precise regulation with a moveable hairspring stud and long regulator arm. Furthermore, this caliber has a date display with semi-quickset feature, bidirectional automatic winding, and direct central seconds.

The Nivada Grenchen Depthmaster Orange Limited Edition is limited to 10 pieces and unfortunately already sold out. But you can get a version with a Soprod P024 automatic and new dial, all less cool, for less than 1,000 dollars. It is also limited, now to 100 pieces. Other colors, like this Nivada Grenchen Depthmaster with a green bezel are possible as well. Thanks to not-so-creative-marketing for watches, also a limited edition: 50 pieces.