So many interesting watch brands have been lost to time. From the well-known to the completely unrecognizable, any number of Swiss brands failed to survive the Quartz Crisis of the 1970s, folding completely and disappearing or being rolled up into conglomerates that pillaged their stores of parts.
Elvia is one such brand.
Frankly, we couldn't find out much about them - whether they had their own factories or whether it was simply a contract licensee, we just don't know. What we DO know is that this watch - a stainless steel diver dating from the late 1960s-early 1970s - is just plain cool.
With a simple and rugged ETA automatic movement with date function beating away inside, this particular watch has all the hallmarks of a golden-era diver that we so adore: Large cushion contract case with factory brushing, crisp beveling and rotating steel bezel, locking crown, and bright, luminescent hands. This watch also features an eye-catching blue gradient dial with a wildly cool textured bar bisecting the upper and lower halves, applied stick indices and stylized Arabic quadrant markers, pointed crown guards (!!), and acrylic crystal, making it one of our favorite no-name dive watch finds in quite some time.
Fitted to a leather two-piece strap or a colorful nylon NATO-style fabric strap, this Elvia serves as proof that your watch doesn't need to be emblazoned with a recognizable brand name -- or a high price tag -- to be counted as properly cool and vintage!