The Nivada Grenchen Chaosmaster comes with a twist

Press release

December 2022

The “Banksy” of the watchmaking world, Romaric André aka seconde/seconde/, disrupts Nivada Grenchen’s Chronomaster Aviator Sea Diver collection with another characteristic pop-minimalist touch. His graphic language sizzles with the brand’s watchmaking codes in a meeting of the minds brought about by Time+Tide.

The Nivada Grenchen Chaosmaster comes with a twist

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Press release

December 2022

The Nivada Grenchen Chaosmaster comes with a twist

omaric André a.k.a. seconde/seconde/ has come to disrupt Nivada Grenchen’s Chronomaster Aviator Sea Diver collection, with another hallmark pop-minimalist graphic twist.

The proposition this time is a simple one, and it was put forward by Andrew McUtchen, founder of Time+Tide: “It feels more than ever like we live in a mad world. Through war, pandemic, extreme weather, we’ve had to ask ourselves; how do we react when the world is upside down?”

“Are we just fine? Perhaps freaking out? Or are we fantastic? Romaric had the answer in the form of custom-designed emojis and upside down text, and Nivada Grenchen had the perfect model as a platform - the Chaosmaster Series that we have conceived lets the wearer choose their reaction – one watch, three emoji variations, each one produced in a limited edition of 33 pieces.”

While the growing appetite worldwide for so-called neo-vintage watches has certainly not gone unnoticed, Romaric proposes an extra serving straight out of his singular and transgressive universe. The counterpoint he takes is of the radical sort: could the envy of vintage watch purists be his endgame? Be that as it may, one thing is certain: he’s a huge breath of fresh air in this oh-so-serious world of patinaed dials and rusty hands that whisper sacrosanct authenticity. Romaric’s screaming second hands are as cool as they come. His graphic language is cool, too. A dose of sass and a return to simple graphic codes, that’s his recipe for stirring the pot seconde/seconde/-style. Could it be a natural reaction to an all too serious watch industry?

The characteristic universe of seconde/seconde/ lights up with those little sparks that tell us that we’ll never really grow up: colors, pixels, emojis, paper, cardboard, humor. Romaric shows us that it’s always in the details that big ideas are hinted at. His approach is instinctive. His work consists in totally or partially altering the seconds hand of big brand vintage watches, with icons that sometimes resemble emojis, sometimes pixel art. Never adulterating the original watch and always totally respectful of its intrinsic DNA, Romaric usually works his magic only on the central hand (the seconds hand), which explains his alias. His touch leaves the original product absolutely unscathed, nor does it in the least impact the mechanical functions of the watch.

In all modesty and discretion, he explains: “If I vandalize the products of others, it’s only because I can’t make my own.”

Priced $1,995 USD, these “upside down” timepieces are available exclusively on Australian-founded watch media and commerce platform, Time+Tide - which is all very appropriate, when you consider their location...

This is actually not the first time Nivada Grenchen and seconde/seconde/ have collaborated, nor will it be the last. Not too long ago there was the Super Antarctic “Keep Frozen”, the first venture of a collaboration initiated in September 2022. Today, chapter two: the “Chaosmaster" series.

The Swiss neo-retro brand is jazzed to share that it will be working on several limited-edition capsule collections throughout the year to come with Romaric, who is rapidly gaining a reputation as a ‘Banksy’ of the watch world by adding an artistic and though-provoking twist to watch design.

Over the coming months, Romaric’s flashy but minimalist touch will be gracing Nivada Grenchen watch dials, out of the blue and with laser-like focus. His hallmark? A vibrant-unconventional twist on vintage dials that will be taking the artistic direction of the Swiss watch brand’s into new territory for the 2023 product lineup, which is in the middle of a shake-up under the impetus of CEO Guillaume Laidet.