Hello Francisco,
Thank you for sending in this interesting wrist watch to mearto.com for an appraisal. I will be happy to help you with this today.
TITLE:
Gent’s 18k yellow gold plate and stainless steel, manually wound, mechanical, anti-shock wristwatch, made by the Nivada Watch Company, Gretchen, Switzerland, circa 1960s.
DESCRIPTION:
CASE - Size not provided, but estimated to be approximately 34/35 mm diameter round, two leaf, watch case of polished and brushed gold-plate and stainless steel with a textured tree-bark type of gold-plated bezel, fluted gilt winding crown, curved textured gilt lugs, stainless steel case back cover with gold plated dial surround. The back cover is marked, “30017, and has a presentation to 'C.A.E.' dated 'February 14, 1970'.
DIAL - An unsigned, emerald colored dial with raised gilt-metal Roman hours, steel black and gilt baton hands with a center seconds pointer. The dial is signed 'Nivada' with their trademark 'N' inside a shield.
MOVEMENT - Not shown – Perhaps the manually wound movement, Calibre 140-C, 17 jewels, vibrating at a frequency of 18000 beats/hour with a power reserve of 37 hours and the functions: hours, minutes and seconds.
CONDITION:
DIAL – The emerald dial is in good condition with wear to the gilt Roman hours from oxidation. The hands have lost some of their gold plating as well.
CASE – If you look at the bottom of the bezel you will see how the gold plating has worn away so this is NOT 18k solid gold but a gold-plated white metal.
MOVEMENT – assumed to be functioning.
HISTORICAL:
Nivada is a Swiss watch company. It was founded in the town of Gretchen, Switzerland. Nivada is a manufacturer of Swiss watches. Nivada was founded as early as 1879 in Gretchen, Switzerland. The company gained traction after World War II, producing a series of successful watches before succumbing to the quartz crisis. In 1926, Nivada was operational in Gretchen as Wüllimann Schneider Nivada S.A. The company relied on proven movements from ETA and Phénix S.A., as was typical at the time, and the company was known for quality mass-produced watches. Nivada celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1979. The company was run by Max Schneider, grandson of the founder, at that time. Nivada was prevented from using their name during the 1960s and 1970s due to its phonetic similarity with Movado, so the products were labeled "Nivada Gretchen". In the United States, Croton was formed in 1940 as a distributor for Nivada products, so many were sold under the "Croton Nivada", "Croton Nivada Gretchen", and simply "Croton" names. The Nivada brand was also used in South Korea by the Kim Suk Keun Watch Company from 1985 through the 2000s but appears to be defunct now.
Today, Nivada is still incorporated in Gretchen, Switzerland and the brand continues in some markets, notably in Mexico.
PRICING:
Comparing your watch to other Nivada examples from the 1960-1970 era it appears the fair market value ranges from $125-$175. Retail prices of course will generally be higher than those figures.
I hope this has been of some help to you.
David