News · Nivada Grenchen

Nivada's centenary F77 hides its best idea behind the stone

Seven new stone dials front the F77 MKII 100 Years, but the switch to a 68-hour La Joux-Perret movement is the reason to care.

Hen & Mills Editorial · 4 min read · 26 September 2026

• Nivada Grenchen marks its 1926 founding with the F77 MKII 100 Years, a collection of seven new natural stone dials on its integrated 38mm sports watch.
• A La Joux-Perret G101 replaces the Soprod P024, lifting the power reserve to 68 hours and trimming the case to 11.5mm thick.
• Prices are A$3,050 or US$1,790 on the bracelet and A$2,710 or US$1,590 on a strap, shipping from early November, with a 100-piece ice agate edition.

Stone dials have been everywhere for a few years now, and I will admit my eyes have started to slide past them. Every brand with an integrated-bracelet sports watch seems to have discovered lapis, then aventurine, then meteorite, usually in that order, and usually with nothing else changed. So when Nivada Grenchen announced seven more stones to mark its hundredth year, I expected to shrug. Then I read what is behind the dial, and the story turned out to be somewhere else entirely. This is the F77 MKII 100 Years collection.

A hundred years from Grenchen

Nivada Grenchen was founded in 1926 in Grenchen, Switzerland, by Otto Wüllimann, Hermann Schindler and Jakob Schneider, which makes 2026 a genuine centenary rather than a marketing round number. Like a lot of Swiss makers, it was knocked flat by the Quartz Crisis, and its production facilities in Solothurn closed in the late 1970s before the name passed through several hands and was eventually revived. The F77, which the brand describes as a 1970s-inspired integrated design, has been the backbone of that revival, and it is the watch Nivada has chosen to carry the anniversary.

The engine is the real news

The previous F77 MKII ran on a Soprod P024, with a power reserve of around 40 hours. For the 100 Years collection the brand has switched to the La Joux-Perret G101, an automatic calibre running at 28,800 vibrations per hour on 24 jewels, in a no-date version, and the reserve jumps to 68 hours. That is close to three days off the wrist before it stops, rather than well under two, and it matters more than it sounds on a watch many owners will rotate with others.

Nivada itself calls the new movement the major mechanical evolution of the collection, and for once the press language undersells it slightly, because the change has also taken 0.7mm out of the case.

Slimmer, and open at the back

The case is still 38mm across in 316L stainless steel, with the integrated bracelet and octagonal bezel that define the F77, and a lug to lug of 46.2mm. It is now 11.5mm thick, down from 12.2mm, and it is sealed with a double-domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating. Water resistance is 10 ATM, so a swim is fine.

Turn it over and there is a sapphire exhibition caseback engraved Celebrating 100 Years, which is new for the stone-dial F77 MKII, since the earlier stone models had solid steel backs. It gives you a view of the G101 at work, which is a reasonable reward for paying the extra.

Seven stones, and one I keep coming back to

The dials themselves come in labradorite, jade, azurite, shungite, smoky quartz and black opal, plus an ice agate edition of 100 numbered pieces that marks the centenary. Each dial is fitted with shiny silver applied indices and luminous white dots, and as with any natural material, no two will look quite alike.

Stone dials are not new to this watch: Nivada already sells the 38mm MKII in lapis lazuli, green and dark blue aventurine, meteorite and onyx. What is new is this particular set of seven, and I think the brand has chosen well, because several of these stones have movement in them that the flatter materials lack. Labradorite is the one I keep coming back to. On the brand's photographs it goes from slate grey to a flash of blue-green as the angle changes, like the sheen on a magpie's wing, and it suits the hard lines of the F77 better than anything soft or pretty would.

Black opal runs it close. The Shungite Black will be the one for people who want the texture without anyone noticing it from across a room.

Bracelet, canvas or rubber

Every version is offered on the integrated stainless steel bracelet, on a canvas strap with a hook-and-loop fastening, or on a black rubber Tropic-style strap. The bracelet measures 22mm at the case and tapers to 16mm, and that taper does a lot of the work in making a 38mm integrated watch sit comfortably rather than feeling like a slab on the wrist.

The new collection costs US$230 more than the Soprod-powered stone models in each configuration. Given that the extra buys a thinner case, a display back and more than a day of extra reserve, I think that is the easiest upgrade to justify that Nivada has offered in a while.

The stones will get the headlines, and they are lovely. The movement is why this one is worth buying.

Nivada Grenchen F77 MKII 100 Years pricing and availability

The collection is sold through Nivada Grenchen's own online store, with shipping from early November. The ice agate is limited to 100 individually numbered pieces and had already sold out on the brand's store by 25 September. Every stone is the same price. On the bracelet: A$3,050, US$1,790, CHF 1,550, €1,870, £1,630. On the canvas or rubber strap: A$2,710, US$1,590, CHF 1,380, €1,660, £1,450.