The ChaosMasters return – this time with different colour dials, and as a box set trio
Andrew McUtchenAs you all no doubt know, it’s World Emoji Day 😵💫😎😅. That means two things. 1. Like me, you’re going, what? There’s a World Emoji Day? and 2. We have some pretty good news, that comes off the back of a difficult situation. You see, when we launched the ChaosMasters, back in November of last year, we mentioned that there would be a box set coming down the pipe. It would have two out of the three emoji dials – which are “Swirly”, “Sigh of Relief” and “Sunglasses Dude” – with different coloured dials, and it would come in a box.
Several of the world’s pre-eminent collectors (with one of our local legends in Sydney among them) jumped on the opportunity, and we managed to supply them their Chaotic trio only recently. However, with supply shortages from Nivada Grenchen, and an issue encountered with packaging, we have held off on promoting the collector set at all since November.
Until now.
We are delighted to announce that we have five ChaosMaster Collector Trios to sell in the Time+Tide Watches Shop right now. The Set is comprised of the Nivada Grenchen Chronomaster Aviator Sea Diver in three variations, with two out of three dials in new colours.
Watch 1: “Swirly” goes reverse panda
First, we have the borderline iconic “Swirly” ChaosMaster, now with an off-white dial and black bi-compax subdials – giving us our first and only “Reverse Panda” version. I don’t know about you, but the white dial twist here adds a hint of optimism to poor old Swirly’s eternal whirring in confusion – like a contextual reminder that, even though things can seem dark where we are, there are brighter, whiter days ahead. Or, perhaps it just looks good. Either reaction is fine!
Watch 2: “Sunglasses dude” goes on holiday
Next up, is Sunglasses Dude, and they are happier than ever. Because they’ve found their way to a warmer place. Here, we have a tropical dial version, with matching tropical subdials. The effect here is delicious – somewhere between milk chocolate, tobacco and pages of a Hemingway novel that have darkened in equatorial sunlight. Whatever you think of this watch, Sunglasses Dude is in their own world, spinning out on how great things are.
Watch 3: “Sigh of Relief” remains relieved
Like always, and like we said in the story announcing the ChaosMasters, Sigh of Relief knows life is all about expectations. So this model has stayed unchanged – still in black, to give the other brand-new ChaosMasters the perfect Collector stablemate in a standard black dial. There are no tweaks or adjustments or Easter eggs here, and Sigh of Relief is super happy as always just to be here. There’s a lot we can learn on a daily basis from Sigh Of Relief, which might explain why this version was so popular.
In addition to these five box sets, we do have some more upside to report for ChaosMaster fans – and that is that we have a handful of reneged / unfulfilled customer orders that we are releasing at this time to celebrate the launch of the trio. If you have a customer order with us for this watch and have not paid in full, please check your emails and respond immediately. Just check if the individual listings for the watches are displaying “Out of Stock” – if not, shoot, and shoot quick – the first allocation went out in a blast, and as you can tell from the constant reposting that goes on with these little champs, they do not fail to disappoint on the wrist.
Spec-check recap
The wonderfully wearable 38.3mm stainless-steel case is unchanged, complete with the alternating brushed and polished finish on the slender, drilled lugs. The bezel is bi-directional, with the aluminium insert printed with two different scales. The more obvious one is the countdown timer, which can be equally useful for aviation and dive purposes alike. The more subtle printing is the 12-hour scale, allowing you to use the Chaosmaster for tracking a second time zone – you’ll just have to keep track of your AMs and PMs.
The large, unguarded crown is a screw-down one, guaranteeing 100 metres of water resistance in the manually wound model. Pump pushers complete the ’60s chronograph look, while the caseback is engraved with its limited number. The accompanying tropic-style strap is super comfy, not to mention quick-release, which along with the drilled lugs makes this a complete strap monster.
Movement-wise, the watch is powered by the manually wound version of the Sellita SW510. The 23-jewel calibre provides 63 hours of power reserve, beating at 4 Hz. This is the two-register version of the cam-operated SW500, with a 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock and running seconds at 9.
Nivada Grenchen x seconde/seconde/ x Time+Tide ChaosMaster Series pricing and availability:
The Nivada Grenchen x Time+Tide x seconde/seconde/ Chaosmaster Box Set is a limited edition of 5 sets. Price: A$9,500 / US$6,475 / €5,800
| Brand | Nivada Grenchen |
| Model | Chaosmaster x Time+Tide x seconde/seconde/ Box Set |
| Case Dimensions | 38mm x 46.60mm x 13.75mm |
| Case Material | Stainless steel |
| Water Resistance | 100 metres |
| Crystal(s) | Sapphire crystal |
| Dial | Tropical brown, black, and white reverse-panda dials |
| Strap | Tropic-style rubber strap |
| Movement | Sellita SW510 M BH b |
| Price | A$9,500 / US$6,475 / €5,800 |