Archives & heritage

Archives & heritage

Treasures from Enicar’s golden age

By Serge Maillard

March 2020

The legendary Swiss watch company founded in 1913 comes to life again in a beautiful book by Dutchman Martijn van der Ven. The author used illustrations from the Europa Star archives, among others.

Treasures from Enicar’s golden age

By Serge Maillard

March 2020

Treasures from Enicar's golden age

The legendary Swiss watch company founded in 1913 comes to life again in a beautiful book by Dutchman Martijn van der Ven. The author used illustrations from the Europa Star archives, among others.

I

t is one of the most beautiful “sleeping beauties” in the Swiss watch landscape. Active for seven decades, before falling victim to the quartz crisis, Enicar deserved a book worthy of its impact on the industry as a whole.

Treasures from Enicar's golden age

Martijn van der Ven, a Dutch former advertising copywriter with a passion for watch brand history, dedicated himself to the task for several years, resurrecting archives and documents on Enicar (including pages from Europa Star). His book, “Time for a change, discovering vintage Enicar”, is the result of these explorations. The author focuses in particular on the brand’s “golden decades” between 1950 and 1970.

Chronographs and dive watches were among the specialties of Enicar, which produced up to 800,000 units a year. Divers, soldiers, pilots and racing drivers appreciated these timepieces. Through photographic reconstructions, Martijn van der Ven brings back to life a time when watchmakers were not afraid to experiment in the efforts to conquer a horizon that, at the time, seemed infinite!

The 280-page book includes original extracts on five emblematic Enicar models, a reprint of an interview from 1958 with the founder of the brand, Ariste Racine, and testimonials from former employees, that tell the story of the company from 1913 to 1987. It’s the ultimate resource on Enicar.

The book can be ordered from www.enicar.org

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