A vintage Nivada Chronoking

[themaninblack]

I was looking for a gift for a nephew who loves vintage watches and came across this very good looking Nivada Chronoking from around 1972 for sale at a local watchmaker. The watch is close to NOS condition, barely a scratch or mark, just some very light wear and the brushed finish original Nivada signed bracelet is almost pristine. The price seemed more than reasonable given the condition so I bought the watch. I did a bit more research later and was surprised to see the prices being asked around the internet on these was somewhat higher than I paid and higher than I thought.

So to the watch itself. I asked myself the question what differentiates the quality of this watch from the more famous highly esteemed sports watches of the era. Rolex, Tudor, Breitling, Longines, Heuer and Omega are obvious examples.

At the heart is the movement. The Nivada Chronoking uses the Valjoux cal. 234, a column wheel chronograph with date. The 234 is the same improved Valjoux movement as Tudor used in the manual wind Monte Carlo 7159. Many other top chronographs used this movement or sibling movements from Valjoux. The winding action via a large Nivada signed crown is lovely and the pushers click with firm certainty, they feel superb.

I really cannot fault the finishing of the case. It appears to be of excellent manufacture. Sharp, sturdy and weighty. It is rated waterproof to 20ATM/200m. I cannot say if it meets specification. The lack of screw down crown and pushers makes me wonder somewhat as the rating must be achieved with double O-rings or the like.

The dial is full of interest and I have been told it was made by Singer who of course made dials for many leading brands including Rolex. The tachymetre is on the perimeter of the main matte dial outside of the chapter ring. The text print application is quite reminiscent of Rolex matte dial sports watches of the era. The sub-dials have ribbed concentric inner circles and an outer ring circle of stunning shiny polished chromium like material with the marker tracks applied and it is quite a cool look. Serious legible tritium markers and hands that still give a brief glow. The red chronograph minute hand is pointed dagger style. Red hand on the 45-minute counter sub dial, black hand on the constant running 60 seconds counter sub dial.

There is a peculiar anomaly on this watch. The date window at 12 o’clock, which some might think is odd in itself, and the date wheel are out of alignment, the numbers sit too low in the window and this is so on all pictures of this model I have found on the internet. I assume that the wrong measurements were given to the dial manufacturer or the dial manufacturer got it wrong but Nivada decided to use the dials anyway, perhaps they ended up getting them for free! Anyway, probably not something that would pass muster at Rolex or Omega.

The watch has an elegant domed plexi crystal and a good firm and smooth action bi-directional 60-minute bezel that also has 12-hour sub markers. The bracelet is brushed stainless, it’s solid but has good flex and is very comfortable, the quality seems comparable with other bracelets of the era from the big manufacturers. It’s a little generic in style perhaps. The closure has a very firm snap making me think again that this particular watch has seen minimal wear in it 44 years.

So what is the discernible quality difference between this watch and other more famous mid-priced chronographs from the brands I mentioned earlier? I own some of them and have handled many others. I may not have the technical expertise to tell but from a layman perspective there appears to very little difference at all, with the exception of that oddball date window!