Affordable Vintage: Croton Nivada Grenchen Antarctic

In 1957/58, a group of about forty countries, including the US, Soviet Union, and most of Europe came together to declare the International Geophysical Year (IGY). It was a scientific collaborative effort to explore the Earth’s poles, climb the tallest mountains and advance the exploration of space. This was a time of burgeoning scientific progress, and the watch industry was right there too.

Wristwatches were becoming more capable of highly accurate timekeeping, as well as being exposed to extremes of temperature and water depth. This made the IGY a perfect opportunity for watch manufactures to tie in their products with these scientific endeavors. Earlier in the decade, some of the big Swiss companies had already had their watches tied to famous explorations. Rolex sent their Explorer with Hillary and Norgay on their ascent of Everest in 1953, Vulcain accompanied the assault on K2 in 1954, and Enicar was there for the climbing of Lhotse in 1956. Rolex had great success tying their Explorer to the Everest expedition, and they and other watch manufactures wanted to take advantage by advertising their exploits and attaching themselves to the popularity of the IGY. Two manufactures in particular took advantage of the IGY: Jaeger-LeCoultre (JLC) and Nivada. In 1958, JLC sent their now famous Geophysic Chronometer with the USS Nautilus nuclear submarine on its journey under the North Pole, while Nivada sent a watch to the Antarctic in 1957.

The bezel is nice and wide, and the whole case has a polished finish. The crown is large for a case of this size; I imagine that was to make it easier to wind with gloves on. The crown has a unique design, with a large rounded top and deep grooves spaced out around the edge. While not signed, it is still distinctive enough to be easy to spot. I’m a sucker for original crowns on vintage watches, and finding this example with its correct crown was a bonus.

As nice as the case and crown are on the Antarctic, it’s really the dial that is the hero here. It is a light champagne color, and has a mild rippled texture to it. I’ve seen plenty of textured dials before, but never anything quite like this one. It has applied steel hour markers, with the 12, 3, 6 and 9 being Art Deco styled numerals, and the other markers are a faceted arrowhead or icicle shape. These are truly brilliant, literally and figuratively. There are curved luminescent lines painted at the outer edge of each marker instead of your typical lume dots. The dial is signed “Croton, Nivada Grenchen” below the 12, and “Antarctic” above the 6. There’s a “Swiss” below the 6, but it’s mostly hidden under the inner edge of the reflecting ring.

The hands are classic dauphine style in steel, with a lume filled stripe. The long second hand is blued steel, which is a great look and a classy touch. Overall, the combination of stylistic elements adds up to one fantastic watch, with a unique look and feel that truly gives you that vintage 1950s vibe.

This example of the Antarctic is powered by a gorgeous gold-toned 17-jewel ETA 1256 automatic movement. The 1256 has a rate of 18,000 bph and a power reserve of 40 hours. Interestingly, this movement has the capability of having a power reserve indicator, but Nivada unfortunately declined to add this complication to the Antarctic.

What’s really amazing about the Nivada Antarctic is that it is a completely under-the-radar watch. Despite its rich history with the military and scientific exploration, the Antarctic can still be had for less than $300. Try finding a vintage Rolex Explorer or Jaeger-LeCoultre Geophysic for less than the price of a small car! Granted, Nivada certainly does not have the cache of these bigger brands, but for a few hundred bucks you can get a technically innovative watch with an incredible history and you won’t break the bank. The Antarctic was made for many years and there were several different versions available, so finding one isn’t too difficult. That said, finding one in good original condition can take some time, but it’s definitely worth the time and effort.