This particular watch was brought to the group’s attention at a recent Set Back in Time meeting. It’s not a vintage watch that anyone owned or was interested in buying. It was simply a novelty. The watch in question is this Nivada Visualmatic wristwatch, dating from the 1950s. The reason it caught our attention was due to the power reserve indicator on the dial, we hadn’t seen one before on a vintage piece.
A brief history of Nivada
Nivada Grenchen was founded in 1926 in Grenchen, Switzerland. It rose to prominence by creating reliable, high-quality watches. These included innovative automatic and water-resistant models like the Antarctic. The brand became well-known for its popular “tool watches”, such as the Chronomaster Aviator Sea Diver (1961) and the Depthmaster (1965), a dive watch with an impressive 1,000-metre water resistance rating. The Quartz Crisis in the 1980s significantly impacted the company. It lay dormant for many years until vintage watch enthusiasts Guillaume Laidet and Remi Chabrat relaunched the brand in 2018. The history of the company is a little uncertain, with more detail on our Nivada brand page.
AS 1382N calibre
The AS 1382N calibre is a 17-jewel automatic movement with a power reserve of 36 hours and a frequency of 18,000 vph. It features functions such as automatic winding, sweep seconds, and Incabloc shock protection. Operating from the 1890s through the 1970s, A. Schild S.A. (ASSA) was a highly influential Swiss producer of ébauches and watch movements. After separating from Eterna, Schild commenced independent movement production in Grenchen, Solothurn, post-1896. Through its comprehensive output of various calibres, the company rapidly ascended to become one of the premier and largest movement manufacturers in Switzerland by the 1920s.
The power reserve mechanism
The power reserve indicator is a direct window into the watch’s energy status, it acts much like a fuel gauge in a car. For manual watches, it reminds wearers when to wind their watch. This ensures that the watch never stops beating and keeps accurate time. It is somewhat redundant on an automatic movement like the calibre AS 1382N.
How it works
The power-reserve wheel, which meshes with the mainspring barrel, drives the power reserve indicator. On the underside of the mainspring barrel are two additional gears which drive the indicator; one mounted to the barrel itself and the other on the end of the barrel arbor. When the watch is wound, either manually or by the automatic winding mechanism, the barrel arbor turns clockwise, taking the power reserve wheel with it. This increases the “Reserve Power” reading on the dial.
In contrast, while ever the watch is running, the mainspring will be unwinding and moving the power reserve indicator back towards zero. Whether the indicator is rising or falling at any given moment depends on the activity level of the wearer.
If the power reserve indicator reaches its maximum (the watch is fully wound). At this point, ball bearings sandwiched between the gears in the transmission wheel act as a friction clutch. This allows the barrel arbor to keep turning, but also protects the power reserve mechanism.
Case and dial
The watch measures 35mm in diameter, excluding the winding crown and the lugs. The case is rose gold-plated, and overall, it is in good condition. There is a minor mark to the edge of the bezel at 4 o’clock. The stainless steel case back states that the watch is “waterproof”. However, as with any vintage watch, it should be kept away from water and moisture. The lens is in good condition. The signed dial is in its original finish with original hands, centre seconds hand and outer minute markers. There is some light freckling across the dial, but overall, it has a charming appearance. The power-indicator, tracking the 36 hours of power reserve, sits below the 12 o’clock marker. The watch features a new leather strap.
Summary
The interest in this watch was mainly in the “redundant” power-reserve indicator. No one in the Set Back in Time group could see the point of having a power reserve indicator on an automatic watch. The Nivada Visualmatic would simply be a novelty in anyone’s collection. We can’t see any of the group rushing out to buy a Visualmatic anytime soon. That said, the watch has been sold, so what do we know?
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