Croton Nivada Grenchen Chronomaster

Croton Nivada Grenchen Chonomaster

Nivada hit a legal hurdle when trying to sell in the USA, thanks to Movado who felt that their names were too similar and would confuse consumers. A judge ruled that adding ‘Grenchen’ to the title would suffice, and so watches sold thereafter are labeled as such.

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’. By the ‘60s, Nivada had hit their stride with watches like the Chronomaster, Aviator, Sea Diver. The unique design 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. Croton also worked with jewellry stores to promote their wares.

The CASD is a classic 1960s diver going through several iterations (like the Omega Speedmaster), with tritium, radium, broad arrow and baton hands, brown chocolate aged dials etc etc. They now have a big following, greatly enhanced by the recent Chronomaster Only book in 2018. The model has recently been reissued by Nivada in both manual and automatic versions but retaining a faithful appearance to the original.

Model One - straight lugs 1961 to circa 1971

This is the version covered in the Chronomaster Only book and most popular with collectors. They will appear with a variety of brand names. There are 5 main versions depending on the movement:

Venus 210

The very earliest versions have Chronograph rather than Chronomaster on the dial. Up to 1963 the dials and hands are radium with no T on dial. They are often found with browning dials due to a faulty lacquer used by Singer, the dial manufacturer. See also the VJ7733 models for the same problem in late 1969/70.

Valjoux 23

105-9870 VJ23 Croton only tritium dial circa 1966

Other Branded Versions

The CASD has been seen with the following company names, all being done with Croton in the USA and normally local jewelry stores:

Rudolph's Dependable

Jewellry chain in upstate New York near Albany. Close to the Croton headquarters.

Pierre Vallee

Trademark first used anywhere: : 12/14/1966 - possibly a Chicago-based jewellry chain

Austin Premier

The brand Austin was created by Gordon Jewelers of Austin Texas.

LE MARC 100

LeMarc100 tropical brown dial 1969 VJ7733

LeMarc's were sold exclusively by the Jewel Box a southern USA regional jewellery chain

Model Two - cushion case circa 1971 to 1978

Most with similar dials but in new background colourways such as green and red. Valjoux 7733 found in most examples.

Film and TV appearances

The CASD was seen regularly on the wrist of Brian Kelly, star of the Flipper films and TV series. He also wore it in several films including "Around The World Under The Sea".

Links

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