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Nivada Grenchen Datomaster Review

Nivada Grenchen brings mecaquartz down to 36mm without losing any of the fun

Nevada Gretchen is one of the growing number of brands that have been brought back to life in the past few years, not from a distant member of the founding family, but by entrepreneurs and watch enthusiasts who bought the name with the intent of re-issuing certain iconic models of the brand. Many brands that have gone through this process didn’t always come out better than they used to be, begging the question of whether they should have been resurrected in the first place. Nivada is one of the few such brands that made a successful comeback and that’s for a good reason: it is bringing back almost 1:1 copies of its best models whilst endowing them with modern technology and flair. The Datomaster Mecaquartz 88001Q is a good example of it. 

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On The Wrist 

I can only imagine that wearing the original Datomaster from the 1960s would have felt equally nice as wearing its modern mecaquartz re-creation. The first feeling I had when I strapped the watch on my wrist was this warm feeling in my diaphragm indicating that I had just come across a gem of horological creativity. Sometimes we just click with a watch, we know it’s the right one for us because of the way it wears. It’s as if a watchmaker would have asked what would my dream watch feels like on the wrist, and I would have described this Datomaster Mecaquartz. When we find a watch that fits so well, we can’t pass it on because there are truly only a few watches that wear like this one (or whatever watch makes you feel this way).

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In the past two years, we’ve seen a renewed interest in smaller watches. The Rolex Explorer 1 came back to its original 36mm diameter and Oris makes a 36mm version of its popular Diver 65. This trend is inviting all of us to be in touch with our classier side, in that we now feel more comfortable wearing watches that are better fitted for our wrists. Let’s face it: we kind of all look ridiculous wearing 45mm tanks on our wrists, except if our name is Arnold Schwarzenegger. The essence of beauty is to find the perfect proportions for things, and that couldn’t be truer for watches. The Datomaster, as you could now have guessed it, comes in with a 36mm case, 43.5mm lug-to-lug distance, is 12mm thick, and a proportionate 20mm lug width. 

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The ratio between the case diameter and the lug width is what matters here the most. I’ve worn watches of this diameter but with 16mm or 18mm lug width, and the watches ended up looking too small—dare I say punny—even though I have a small wrist (16.5cm.) Having a 20mm lug width means that the watch is well proportioned and calls for the perfect amount of wrist presence. Having changed the case diameter by a couple of millimeters would have ruined the formula. What’s more is that the watch is thin and the lugs turn down, perfectly hugging the wrist. 

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Dial Details 

The dial is the other star of the show. Nivada managed to stick to the original design of the mechanical ancestor of the mecaquartz version. The dial showcases two sub-registers, one at the 3 o’clock position for the 24-hour military time, and one at the 9 o’clock position for the 60-minute chronograph. Unlike the original where the date was placed at 12 o’clock, this modern version of the Datomaster has the date at 6 o’clock, which some consider being the perfect location for a date window on any watch. The 24-hour sub-register has a pop of orange marking the first four hours of the counter. (This is a reference to the original in which the first 15-minutes of the chronograph were highlighted in orange.) 

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Many details make the dial of this Datomaster gorgeous to look at. Not only are the sub-registers perfectly symmetrical, but they also have a Speedmaster-like concentric circles that give an ever so slightly three-dimensionality to them. Furthermore, the hour markers are all applied and polished, the hands are also polished and well proportioned to the dial overall. The date window at 6 o’clock is framed and there is a discreet, fully-graduated minute track running on the periphery of the dial where one will find small plots of lume every 5 minutes. All in all, a beautifully-executed design. 

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Case, Bracelet, and Movement 

The case of the Datomaster is brushed for the most part except for the fixed bezel which is entirely polished, reflecting light quite effectively. The flat sides of the case fall straight down the wrist with a certain confidence, and the chronograph pushers, which are smaller than the crown, are well-proportioned in comparison with the case. The latter has deep knurling and is easy to grip (I wish it would be of the screw-down variety) and has the Nivada logo engraved on it. When we look at the overall case design, we are looking at a well-proportioned piece of horology. 

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The bracelet pictured in the photos did not come from the watch—however, it does make for a great combo. The watch can be had with either a beads-of-rice bracelet or a black or brown leather strap or a black perforated leather strap. Any option would look good, but if none is of your taste, don’t worry; you can easily change straps thanks to the drilled lug holes. I’ve put on the watch on other straps, for example, a brown rally strap and a black safiano one, and honestly the Datomaster looks good with any of them. 

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Last, but not least, the movement. I’m not as much of an automatic movement snob as I used to be and now I’m more and more ok having a quartz movement in a watch. But it has to make sense for the timepiece. While Nivada opted for a Seiko VK64 Mecaquartz movement, a very popular choice for affordable chronographs, it comes with a rather useless 24-hour scale sub-register at the 3 o’clock position, which is perhaps the only quibble I have with the Datomaster. This is not a fault on the part of Nivada since they don’t make the movements, however, it would be nice if someone could come up with a quartz version of the 70s dual-register chronographs, like the one the original Datomaster was equipped with. 

Final Thoughts 

The biggest takeaway about this Datomaster is that it’s cool. And I don’t mean it as Swatches are cool. No. The Datomaster is an easy watch to wear and use, it’s elegant and sporty, it sits flat on the wrist, and is super comfortable to wear. Pair it with your favorite strap and you would have found yourself a great everyday watch. And to fulfill that role the watch has to have certain key specifications that the Datomaster does have: a reliable movement that is accurate and hassle-free, 100 metes of water resistance, and solid case construction. Lastly, the most you’re going to spend on this watch is $500 with the beads-of-rice bracelet. Pretty good for a re-creation of an iconic model. 

Check out more Nivada Grenchen reviews at The Watch Clicker

Check out the Nivada Grenchn website

Nivada Grenchen Datomaster Specs

Case Width
36mm

Thickness
12mm

Lug-to-Lug
43.5mm

Lug Width
20mm

Crystal
K1 Glass

Strap
Leather or Bracelet

Water Resistance
100m

Lume
Super-LumiNova®

Movement
Seiko VK64

Price

$458 (additional $99 on the bracelet)

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