View source for Compensamatic

1941-CROTON-COMPENSAMATIC-COMPENSATING-MILITARY-RADIUM-WATCH

IN 1938 THE BRITISH NOTIFIED THE SWISS WATCH INDUSTRY THAT THEY WERE BUYING WRIST WATCHES; THAT NO TESTING WAS NECESSARY. THEY HAD A SIMPLE FACT SHEET. A COMPANIES ONLY REQUIREMENT WERE PRETTY SIMPLE, SUCH AS 15 JEWELS, WATER PROOF, AND A FEW OTHER SIMPLE CRITERIA. CROTON WANTED TO PARTICIPATE.

CROTON DECIDED TO BUILD A COMPLETELY SEALED SINGLE CASE SYSTEM WRIST WATCH AS A CANDIDATE FOR MILITARY USE. THE PROBLEM THAT CROTON FACED WAS THE WYLER COMPANY. WYLER HELD PATENTS ON THE BEST WATER PROOF CASE DESIGN. THEIR WYLER SINGLE CASED, CRYSTAL SEALED, TWO PART STEM CASE SYSTEM WAS THE BEST IN THE WORLD. BETTER THEN ROLEX. IN FACT, THEIR CASE SYSTEM WOULD DOMINATE THE WORLD UNTIL THE END OF THE MECHANICAL WATCH ERA IN THE LATE 1970'S.


CROTON WENT TO WORK DEVISING AND DESIGNING A CASING SYSTEM THAT WOULD COMPETE WITH WYLER AND MOST OF THE STEEL SCREW BACK DESIGNS. CROTON CHOSE A SINGLE STEEL CASE IN WHICH THE MOVEMENT WAS FIT. THEY THEN SEALED THE MOVEMENT BY PLACING A RUBBER SEAL ON THE CASE TOP LEDGES, AND OVER THE SEAL, A "TOP HAT" CRYSTAL. THEY THEN INCORPORATED THE WYLER TWO PIECE STEM SYSTEM.


THEN TO KEEP IT UNIQUE, THEY BUILT A STEEL BEZEL[ WITH LUGS] THAT FIT OVER THE CRYSTAL AND THE CASE. THEY THEN DRILLED AND THREADED EACH LUG, WHERE THEY UTILIZED HEADLESS SCREWS TO PUSH THE CASE UP AND INTO THE BEZEL. THE PRESSURE WOULD COMPRESS THE SEAL BETWEEN THE CASE AND THE BEZEL. THEY THEN ADDED A "COMPENSATING" MOVEMENT AND CALLED THEIR "TECHNOLOGY" "COMPENSAMATIC".


"COMPENSAMATIC" WAS NOT A THING, AN ACT OR A SYSTEM, OR EVEN A TECHNOLOGY, IT WAS A WORD: A TRADE MARK THAT REPRESENTED THE "TECHNOLOGY" THAT WAS "CROTON"/"NIVADA". CROTON NEVER ACHIEVED GREAT SUCCESS SELLING MILITARIES WATCHES AS COMPARED TO BULOVA, PHENIX, OMEGA AND HUNDREDS OF OTHERS. BUT SOON THE NAMES "CROTON" + "NIVADA" WOULD DOMINATE A NEW MARKET. THAT OF THE SCIENTIFIC AND DIVING WORLD.


NIVADA AND CROTON WOULD BE AS ONE AND COMPENSAMATIC WOULD BE TRADEMARKED IN THE USA IN 1956 BY NIVADA. COMPENSAMATIC WOULD BECOME KNOW WORLD OVER AS NIVADA AND CROTON BUILT SOME OF THE MOST ADVANCED WATCHES IN THE WORLD. CROTON/NIVADA CHRONOGRAPHS, DIVE WATCHES, AND THE FAMOUS ANTARCTIC WATCHES HELPED MAKE THE WORD COMPENSAMATIC FAMOUS.

Credit - https://www.watchuseek.com/threads/nivada-antarctic.2212338/