Having an impromptu yacht race with your mates? There’s a yachting scale in the minute totalizer. Piloting a single prop for the afternoon? Again with the tachymeter. Heading out for a dive? The rotating bezel has you covered. Timing a race? Check out that chronograph and tachymeter. That’s the point of the watch however, to provide you with the right tools regardless of what you happen to be doing. The name is a mouthful, and sounds a bit like 3 different watches jammed into one. The unique designs and functionality of these watches struck a high note with consumers, and Nivada saw their exports go from 52,000 in 1964 to 173,000 in 1969 as a result. By the ‘60s, Nivada had hit their stride with watches like the Chronomaster, Aviator, Sea Diver, and Depthomatic – which housed a depth gauge on the dial. In 1940 Croton was formed to distribute Nivada watches to US retailers, and subsequent watches could be found bearing the name ‘Croton’, or ‘Croton Nivada’ or even ‘Croton Nivada Grenchen’. A judge ruled that adding ‘Grenchen’ to the title would suffice, and so watches sold thereafter are labeled as such, but it’s not that clear cut. Upon their attempt to enter the US market, Nivada was presented with a legal hurdle to overcome thanks to Movado, who felt that their names were too similar and would confuse consumers. Side note, the expedition was filmed by the US Navy and Disney Studios, and as a result Walt Disney was named an honorary member of the expedition. By the ‘50s, Nivada watches were being worn by the members of the American Navy’s Deep Freeze 1, dubbed Task Force 43, during their expedition to the South Pole in 1955. Their watches were early to adopt automatic movements from the likes of ETA and Phénix S.A in the ‘30s. Their aim was to create professional instruments that were practical, usable, and tough. The brand operated under the name Wüllimann Schneider Nivada S.A for its founders Otto Wüllimann, Hermand Schlindler, and Jacob Schneider. This Croton Chronomaster Aviator Sea Diver 9870 was introduced in 1969, and it was produced until 1978.The Nivada Grenchen brand dates to 1926, and is named for the town in Switzerland that sits east of Lausanne. It includes a micrometer regulator, and the mechanism oscillates at a frequency of 18,000 vph (2.5Hz). It's constructed with 17 jewels, an Incabloc shock absorber device, a straight-line lever escapement, and a self-compensating Breguet flat balance spring. 248/Valjoux 7733 mechanical manual-winding chronograph movement. This Croton Chronomaster Aviator Sea Diver 9870 has a Landeron cal. It has a 45-hour power reserve at full wind, and the 14mm thick case, dial, and movement are all signed. There are twin recessed black subsidiary dials, including a running seconds register at 9 o'clock, and a 30-minute chronograph totalizer with a red 5-minute regatta countdown wedge. It has luminous broad arrow steel baton hands, and a center sweep chronograph seconds hand. ![]() There is a black dial with luminous baton hour indices around an outer minute/one-fifth second scale, twin luminous dots at 12 o'clock, and the perimeter has a tachymeter to 600 UPH. The 38.5mm diameter solid two-body case, downturned lugs, and bi-directional rotating flat bezel with a 60-minute dive scale with Arabic numeral hour markers every five minutes, are polished/brushed. SWISS." It has a black bi-directional 60-min bezel with 2 time zones. There are round chronograph push buttons with a screw-down winding crown, and a solid screw-down case back, inside of which is hand tooled a sunray pattern and engraved with "CROTON INTERNATIONAL WATCH CO. It has a shell cordovan strap with a stainless steel tang buckle, and a scratch resistant sapphire crystal. 1970's stainless steel Croton Chronomaster Aviator Sea Diver 9870. More about Vintage Chronomaster Aviator Sea Diver SS
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