A beautiful example of a Mark III Enicar SherpaSuper-Divette reference144-35-01from circa 1968/9. Originally from the collection of author of the excellent book 'Time for a change, Discovering vintage Enicar'via one of our favourite customers!
For those not familiar with the brand, Enicar watches are well worth seeking out due to their stunning designs and place inhorological history. Established in 1914, Enicar were originally known for producing robust pocket watches during WW1. By the 1930's they had begun to produce wristwatches and over the coming decades would release a number of innovations and model lines.
In 1958Enicar released their line of divewatches with theirinnovative "Super Compressor" case design manufactured by Ervin Piquerez S.A. (EPSA).This famous design used a spring-loaded caseback that allowed the case to adjust its tightness depending on the pressure underwater. The design found widespread adoption by many of the Swiss brands of the time includingGirard-Perregaux,Longines and Jaeger-LeCoultre, to name but a few.
Moving into the 1960s, Enicar would go onto produce over 100 models of the Sherpa line for every conceivable sport and in 1964 released the first two-crown dive watch, the Super Divette 33 (predecessor of the Super Divette you see here).
The dual crowns at 2 and 4 oclock are used to control the inner divers rotating bezel (top crown) and adjust the time (bottom crown). The crowns feature distinctivecross-hatch finishing associated with the EPSA cases.
As mentioned this particular example was originally from the personal collection of the author of . For anyone interested in vintage Enicar, I would highly recommend getting yourself a copy!
Whilstthis example is no safe queen, overall the watch is in superb condition. The dial and hands arestunning and free from major marks. The 36mm case shows scratches commensurate with its age but retains good sharpness.The calibre1145B movementis also running well.
Ultimately like so many Swiss brands, Enicar suffered during the quartz crisis and in1987filed for bankruptcy. Purchased by a Hong Kong investment company the brand still lives on and so does the Sherpa line of watches.
Fuelled by renewed interest in the brand, prices of vintage Enicar are rising quickly and we don't see any signs of that slowing anytime soon!
This truly is a wonderful watch and guaranteedtoigniteyourpassion for vintage watches when youwear it. It really is the type of watch that you'll find yourself wearing in place of watches 10 times it price, such is thecharm of this Enicar Sherpa Super Divette!
