Hands-On With The Nivada Grenchen Chronoking Mecaquartz Inter.bezel

Geneva Watch Days is the year’s second-largest watch fair after Watches and Wonders. While the brands, except for a slight overlap, are different, many journalists love the show for several reasons. Unlike the ultra-controlled Watches and Wonders event, GWD allows us to sit directly with brands and their watches in a laid-back, casual atmosphere. Often, we may even see something that has yet to be released or come home with a watch for a review, saving shipping time and hassle. That is how I got my hands on the new Nivada Chronoking Mecaquartz Inter.bezel.

If you feel like you’re experiencing déjá vu, don’t worry — you’re not. The Chronoking Mecaquartz has been out for a while; I even reviewed it back in August 2023. This new version, however, has an ingenious upgrade.

Nivada Chronoking Mecaquartz Inter.bezel

Before discussing the watch’s new feature, let’s look at the basics. This Chronoking is a 38mm chronograph with a 13.4mm thickness and a Seiko VK63A mecaquartz caliber inside. The watch has a 46.5mm lug-to-lug length, making it comfortable and effortlessly wearable for watch lovers with smaller or larger wrists. The case has two pump pushers and a solid steel case back, and as the Seiko movement does not offer it, there is no date complication. Polished and brushed surfaces are present on the case, as you find with other Chronoking models from Nivada. It also offers a 100m water resistance rating and a double-domed sapphire crystal. So far, the watch could be just another regular Chronoking. And for the most part, it is. However, there is a twist with one of the essential physical features of the watch — its bezel. Or shall I say “bezels”?

Distinctness and interchangeability

Throughout watchmaking history, creating something unique or customizable for the watch’s owner has always been at the forefront of design. You have read stories about bronze watches that “develop a unique patina as the case ages,” making your timepiece distinctive. The ’80s and ’90s were decades famous for interchangeable watch cases, which let the owner pop out the movement and recase it in another color. Just think of the Fortis Colors. Changing a strap or bracelet is the easiest way to “customize” a watch. Vintage pieces like the Omega Dynamic or the Tissot Sideral come to mind when considering these types of watches. One could remove the strap or bracelet and insert the whole case into a new strap to create a different look. Lastly, you may remember those gold Gucci ladies’ watches from the ’80s with colorful interchangeable bezels. Now we are getting somewhere.

One becomes five

While the main profile of a watch will not change if you swap out the bezel, doing so can still significantly alter its look. Sadly, swapping a bezel is not that easy to do — unless you have one of the new Nivada Chronoking or Chronomaster Inter.bezel models, that is. Thanks to an ingenious technical solution, you can easily pop the bezel off and replace it with another one. The Chronoking comes in the classic Nivada box but with a little twist. At the bottom is a small drawer containing four more bezels besides the one that comes installed on the watch. Pull the bezel upward to remove it, pick a new color, and push it onto the case. It’s as simple as that. The bezel designs are the same; the only thing that differs is the colors. Therefore, you can complement the matte black textured dial with five distinct hues.

Nivada fans may remember that when ordering a watch from the brand, you can pick the strap or bracelet you’d like your watch to come on. While that is true for this new Chronoking Mecaquartz, you can also choose between two sets of bezels. You can either opt for 12-hour GMT or tachymeter bezels. In the case of the tachymeter bezels, you get blue, orange, red, gray, and black. If you fancy the watch with a GMT bezel, the colors are similar and always complement a black outer ring. The choices there are gray, pink, blue, orange, or green. My review watch came with the tachymeter bezels, but you can also order the other set separately (for US$130) and swap between them, giving your Chronoking 10 distinct looks.

Chronoking and beyond

At US$579 on a strap, the Nivada Grenchen Chronoking Mecaquartz Inter.bezel is an affordable and fun watch. I particularly love the dial with its three-dimensional orange indexes, embossed logo, and yellow Super-LumiNova. Still, I know that mecaquartz is only some people’s choice regarding chronograph movements. Because of this, Nivada decided to launch this new Inter.bezel model line with three watches at once. Aside from the Chronoking Mecaquartz, the mechanical Chronomaster Broad Arrow and the panda-dial Chronomaster Paul Newman are also part of the Inter.bezel family. The latter two start at US$1,975 on a strap.

I played with my review watch and all its bezels for a few weeks, and it truly surprised me how much the bezel would change the watch’s look. Add a new strap, and you almost have a whole new watch and an entirely different feel on the wrist. Let me know what you think of this concept in the comments below.