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Enicar

Switzerland

Enicar

Enicar were founded in 1913 by Ariste Racine and his wife Emma Blatt. Because the racine family had already trademarked their name, the couple simply reversed the word and called the brand Enicar.


During the mid 20th Century, Enicar went from strength to strength, becoming the supplier of choice for Japanese Airays, Swiss Air, and even the US navy.


Some of their designs around this time were amazing, with the Sherpa mark being the most revered.


As with so many, the Quartz crisis was not kind to Enicar, and 1981 the company went into liquidation. A rescue company was formed but that too was bankrupt by 1987 and sold off all it's assets. The company name was bought at auction in 1988 but the new company did not use any of the old Enicar equipment, processes or parts so while Enicars are still made and sold today, there is a break in the lineage to the company that was so popular in the 60s and 70s


Why are they special?

Marketing & Sales

For a small privately owned watch company, Enicar did a super job of getting their name out there, as far afield as China where they were very popular.

A lot of this was due to smart marketing. The Sherpa name derived from their sponsorship in the 1950s of a Swiss expedition to climb Mount Everest. They also attached one of their watches to the rudder of the Mayflower II. Finally they had a knack for giving fancy names to fairly mundane features. The 'Star Jewel' watch was just one that had a jewel as a hub on a wheel in the movement, while the 'Ultrasonic' was so named because of a cleaning process.


Why we like them

Vintage enicars (other than Sherpas) are easy to come by and generally very good value for money.

The logo, a kind of retro planet, is a great nuclear age style image that is great for incorporating into designs.

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