BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
Niton is a modern revival of a historic name from the watch industry. I know some readers will be rolling their eyes at that statement, but the new Prima from Niton is a good-looking piece that adds to my suspicion that jumping-hour watches are going to be big in the next few years. Let’s take a closer look.
Niton was founded in Geneva in 1919 and takes its name from two glacial stones, remnants of the Rhône Glacier from the last ice age, which are now regarded as a site of national geological heritage in Switzerland. The word Niton is derived from the name Neptune, the Roman god of fresh water and the sea, and the Roman counterpart to the Greek god Poseidon. Niton was founded by watchmakers Alfred Bourquin and Edouard Morel (previously of Vacheron Constantin), and watchmaker Auguste Jeannet – it was a movement maker first, providing calibres for Patek Philippe and more, most likely thanks to its ability to produce watches that met the criteria of the Poinçon de Genève (Geneva Seal).
In 1928, the company released a new jumping-hour watch that would establish Niton as a watch brand in its own right. In 1938, the rights to produce Niton’s jumping hour watch were sold to Ébauches S.A., the precursor to ETA today, which is owned by the Swatch Group.
In 2026, Niton returns under the leadership of friends Leopoldo Celi and Yvan Ketterer. Celi worked his way through the LVMH group before working with watchmakers like Audemars Piguet, Girard-Perregaux, and independent watchmaker Dominique Renaud; meanwhile, Ketterer worked at Zenith, Tissot, and Girard-Perregaux. He studied horology alongside the likes of Kari Voutilainen and the Grönefeld brothers, Tim and Bart. Evidently, there’s plenty of talent at play with Niton.
The new Prima has a case measuring 27mm x 35.5mm x 7.9mm and is offered in rose gold and platinum, with a limited run of 19 in both case metals – totalling 38 watches. The watch’s front is brushed but fairly open, with a sapphire crystal that offers a clear view of all essential information. The layout is very simple, with the jumping hour numbers at the top of the stack. The larger central display is the minute indicator, with a simple triangle placed on a circular-grained disk, pointing outwards towards the minute indices. At the bottom of the stack is the small running seconds indicator. That’s it, that’s all the information you really need, and yet it doesn’t seem lacking.
Powering Niton’s Prima watch is the new calibre NHS01, a movement designed and built in-house by Niton itself. This is perhaps the most impressive part of the new Prima, as it’s not often we see a new brand come out of the gates with its own movement. The NHS01 is rectangular to fit the rectangular case, which is itself impressive, as brands will so often use a round movement even in rectangular watches. Given that Niton has chosen this form factor for its first watch, it makes sense for its first movement to be rectangular, like the watch it’s going in. I wonder if we’ll see round watches with rectangular movements, what a reversal that would be.
Anyway, the Prima’s calibre NHS01 measures 21.5mm x 27.0mm x 5.0mm, and yet it has a long manually wound power reserve of 72 hours with a Breguet overcoil hairspring, which contributes to stable daily rates, thus helping the movement achieve chronometer certification. There’s also a zero-reset mechanism for the seconds for when the crown is pulled, and even a sonnerie au passage of sorts. The sonnerie au passage consists of a small hammer that strikes the case at each hour change. People who have seen the Prima in the metal describe it more as a click than a particularly audible strike from a minute repeater watch. It’s also a well-decorated movement, having been awarded the prestigious Geneva Seal, meaning that it is as beautiful at its heart, where you can’t see it, as it is in the places you can.
The pricing for these watches, if they are still available, is CHF44,750 in 18k rose gold and CHF47,750 in platinum.
Given the number of watch brands that have made jumping-hour watches in the past year, including but not limited to Audemars Piguet, Bremont, Cartier, Czapek, Fears, Maen and now Niton, we are likely seeing the rise of one of the most charming watch displays currently available. I hope more brands will have a go at this. Imagine a Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso with a jumping hour display on both sides, or the revival of Vacheron Constantin’s now iconic ref. 43041 Saltarello. It could be very exciting if even more watchmakers decide to hop on this trend, which is arguably a lot more interesting than a simple colour change.
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