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Nivada Grenchen Antarctic Thoughts

W
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Of course you can add the Antarctic to your website, my watch would be honoured!!
Unfortunately the crown is not signed but it does look like it’s from a polerouter....?!
I’m about to start reading Assault on the unknown by W Sullivan, I don’t know if watches get a mention but I’m going to find out!
Antarctic values have definitely gone up in the last 6 months, I was trying to get an Antarctic 2 on eBay.co.uk the other day... it sold for £275, not to me, and to put it in context I paid £42 for my gold Antarctic just over 6 months ago!!
 
Spinakerr
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Yes saw that - the II is a really nice watch, undervalued for ages or not even recognised anywhere. That example was particularly good and well photographed and described.

Plenty of bargains still out there.
 
Professor
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Well I just joined the Croton Aquamatic club. Picked this one up on Ebay today, at a very reasonable price (less than 50 USD) if the seller's claim that it was just serviced is true. Seller's images indicates its running condition at least.
s-l1600 (31).jpg s-l1600 (32).jpg


Is this some sort of compressor or even Super Compressor case?

PS
Got the watch just now, delivered two days early.
Looks much better in the flesh than in the seller's images.
The dial is very nice despite the speckling, with a pearly luster.
There don't seem to be any actual scratches on the case and the crystal is without blemish.
Case is 31.5mm lug width is 17mm, I was expecting 17.5mm. I have a well worn 1940's pigskin band of that approximate width which I'll put on it for now.
Seems to be running fine, its set aside for now to check accuracy very few hours.
Only downer is the stem is more than a bit loose and wobbly. I'm guessing its missing a stem gasket of some sort, but it operates just fine.
I'm wondering if this model has a screw down crown, there are coarse threads showing on the thick stem when retracted.
Didn't expect it to retain its water proof seals, That's something to be rectified in the future, but the claim of recent servicing seems to be true.
I'm guessing a previous owner put a lot of work into restoring this watch then ran into a problem with finding seals and the stem, possibly a ill fitting replacement, then just gave up on finishing the job and let it go cheap.
Won't be opening this one up unless I find detailed information on its waterproofing and a source for replacement seals.
Edited:
 
Spinakerr
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Hi there - great looking aquamatic - the line from the 50s is merely 'waterproof' and automatic, at least when manufactured, and were the precursor to the Antarctic line.

Nivada did have some signature diving watches - the Depthomatic and Depthmaster 1000 were well designed and aimed at professional divers. Well received and now sought after models. The Aquamatic was more of a 'capable dress watch' that often had the dauphine lumed hands and blued second hand you ahve, as well as some love dials.

As far as I can tell Nivada never licensed the EPSA Piquarez 'Compressor' case for any model.
 
Professor
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Spinakerr Spinakerr
as well as some love dials.
Looking closely at the dial in good light it appears the speckles might be part of the original finish. I've seen polished stone work with a similar look and the specks are not only very evenly distributed but look to be flush with the surface.

PS
Just checked accuracy. In 16 hours it may have lost around half a second.

Cool!
Found a video showing how these cases come apart, pretty complicated and you'd have a tough time finding a replacement crystal for one of these since it has a broad flange.
Found two videos on these, The movements are bumper types.
In this video they say its self winding only but mine has a manual winding option.
The stems are two piece split stems. My crown appears to be afixed by some sort of ball and socket joint, which explains the wobble.

PPS
After the complete stem pulled free of the movement I found it necessary to open up the case to see what is wrong. It was a lot easier that it looks in the videos because the watch had obviously been completely cleaned, both movement and case inside and out.
I was surprised to find the movement is a more sophisticated type than the bumpers in the videos.
Its probably an ETA. Very bright pristine golden look to it.
The stem is intact. The stem latch (?) also appears to be intact. I suspect the stem was not properly inserted the last time it was worked on. The stem looks fine, perhaps some hardened gunk on the stem prevented it from seating properly, a tiny sliver of hardened gunk came out with the stem. I'm awaiting a new set of screwdrivers to try to back off the latch to allow me to re-inset the stem. I've replaced pulled out stems before, so I'm optimistic. Just hope the screw isn't torqued down too tight since its not easy to hold onto the movement with the dial in place. I may have to pull the hands and dial before proceeding.

A bit surprised to find the entire case of these are base metal Must be hard chromed to maintain such a pristine look.
Edited:
 
Polar44
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that’s a really great start Spinakerr.
Be great to see a central resource for all things Nivada Antarctic


Spinakerr Spinakerr
Thanks all - if you have any more Antarctic pictures and would not mind me using them on a site I'm putting together that would be most welcome.

Here's the site link, only the Antarctic page up at present, and very much a newbie at this website business.

https://www.vintagenivada.com/antarctic

I can't find guidance on posting links in this forum, but as I see posting up links to their own youtube channels and such in the review section hopefully this is acceptable!
 
Polar44
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W wpybus
Of course you can add the Antarctic to your website, my watch would be honoured!!
Unfortunately the crown is not signed but it does look like it’s from a polerouter....?!
I’m about to start reading Assault on the unknown by W Sullivan, I don’t know if watches get a mention but I’m going to find out!
Antarctic values have definitely gone up in the last 6 months, I was trying to get an Antarctic 2 on eBay.co.uk the other day... it sold for £275, not to me, and to put it in context I paid £42 for my gold Antarctic just over 6 months ago!!

I was watching that too wypbus.
Wonder who got it ??
Superb watch.
 
S
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I love the Nivada Grenchen Antarctic 1, and finally got my hands on one about 18months ago. £250 on ebay, not cheap, but I've not seen one like it since. 91d6a5be-6eb5-4868-ad79-e27339e55d56-jpeg.1113703 0ead7591-6455-4921-86ca-6e7338d623ba_1_201_a-jpeg.1113708
I love the red second hand, which isn't the usual colour, so I thought I'd post a picture.
 
91D6A5BE-6EB5-4868-AD79-E27339E55D56.jpeg - 4.7 MB 0EAD7591-6455-4921-86CA-6E7338D623BA_1_201_a.jpeg - 2.3 MB 0EAD7591-6455-4921-86CA-6E7338D623BA_1_201_a.jpeg - 2.3 MB
Spinakerr
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Polar44 Polar44
Another Antarctic added to the collection.
Antarctic Glacier.
That blue is gorgeous - once again Nivada showing off on their dial design. The polygon numerals wouldn't look out of place on any 'haute horology' submission today.

S sawbones
I love the Nivada Grenchen Antarctic 1, and finally got my hands on one about 18months ago. £250 on ebay, not cheap, but I've not seen one like it since.
I love the red second hand, which isn't the usual colour, so I thought I'd post a picture.

Yes the days of finding the Antarctic I for pennies seems like a distant memory! Great original dial there, the 3D texture is always a winner. I believe the hour and minute hands have been relumed or may be replacements but they are a very close match - just the shape of the lume that gives it away as Aquamatic hands. The second hand looks correct and from a black dialled variant, very rare in itself - this may have been serviced by Nivada given the parts.

I managed to snag a last-of-the-line Antarctic I with a wonderful linen dial recently, once the crystal is replaced it should be a lovely example.



 
Polar44
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Spinakerr Spinakerr
That blue is gorgeous - once again Nivada showing off on their dial design. The polygon numerals wouldn't look out of place on any 'haute horology' submission today.


Yes the days of finding the Antarctic I for pennies seems like a distant memory! Great original dial there, the 3D texture is always a winner. I believe the hour and minute hands have been relumed or may be replacements but they are a very close match - just the shape of the lume that gives it away as Aquamatic hands. The second hand looks correct and from a black dialled variant, very rare in itself - this may have been serviced by Nivada given the parts.

I managed to snag a last-of-the-line Antarctic I with a wonderful linen dial recently, once the crystal is replaced it should be a lovely example.




Thats a great looking Antarctic Spinakerr
 
MoclovFlop
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Polar44 Polar44
Not sure if this a fake but it looks a little suspect
Wrong spelling of “Antarctic” on the dial and it’s in a strange place.

thoughts ??

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303858933722

I wouldn't say it's fake, just a bad partial redial.


Someone is hopefully buying it because they need a numbered movement and case for their watch. Otherwise, it's really expensive for what it is.

Edit - I guess it's solid gold. So there's a lot of the value.
 
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xbarx1
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Has anyone seen a dial configuration like that before? The two misspellings on one dial is bonkers. 'Antartic and Chronometer' are both not right. The casting of the seal on the case back is pretty rough, looks like a sand casting, as the spaces around the lettering are textured and not smooth. Here's two pics for reference.
unnamed.jpg unnamed-1.jpg
 
Spinakerr
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Yes I think this is one to avoid, sadly. Have not seen many 18kt examples for sale, ever, but this one has been through the mill - redial, case polishing... a shame!

I hadn't seen the 'gold trench circle' style dial on a chronometre before - I thought there were only the following:

1. Silver vertical brushing, icicle steel markers.



2. Silver 'frosted' diagonal finish, slightly boring steel markers.



3. Grey vertical brushed dial, gold markers (as above).

4. Silver brushed dial with gold markers and hands (gold case only).
 
Polar44
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Not sure if this a fake but I suspect it is.
Wrong spelling of “Antarctic” on the dial and in a strange place.
Hope no-one here is bidding.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303858933722



xbarx1 xbarx1
Has anyone seen a dial configuration like that before? The two misspellings on one dial is bonkers. 'Antartic and Chronometer' are both not right. The casting of the seal on the case back is pretty rough, looks like a sand casting, as the spaces around the lettering are textured and not smooth. Here's two pics for reference.
unnamed.jpg unnamed-1.jpg

Totally agree xbarx1.
I reckon this is someone attempting a clone / fake
 
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MoclovFlop
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Polar44 Polar44
Not sure if this a fake but I suspect it is.
Wrong spelling of “Antarctic” on the dial and in a strange place.
Hope no-one here is bidding.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303858933722





Totally agree xbarx1.
I reckon this is someone attempting a clone / fake

You already posted the same thoughts a couple post up.

Again, I don't think it's a fake. I think it's a very bad redial.

- It has a serialized ETA that is adjusted to 3 positions, a less common version of the movement.

- The case has a corresponding gold stamp under one of its lugs. And the casting "texture" is constant with other gold watches. You wouldn't want to machine a caseback from a block of gold so they are usually cast.

I think it's a worn out example worth the value of scrap and is just insanely rare. Who in their right might would fake an Antarctic chronometer?

A bad redial, yes.

But calling it a "Fake" is the wrong word here. Otherwise every redial out there would be "fake"
 
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