Precimax

 By Bruce Shawkey

Precimax is not particularly a well known brand, and normally I wouldn't devote space to it. But I just love this ad from a 1942 issue of Europa Star magazine (Laten America edition):

 

The Precimax brand name was created in 1933 by S. Tripet in Neuchatel.

Here are a few images of  Precimax watches:

The brand is fairly obscure, not rare, and shows up fairly regularly on eBay by sellers hoping to score big with unsuspecting collectors. The exception ae the chronographs. The last two are being offered on eBay and Etsy at $1,500 and $892, respectively 

Here are some ads and pictures of Precimax watches:

Clebar

 By Bruce Shawkey

The trademark was first used in the 1920s by Edward Trauner, Inc., best-known for bringing Zodiac watches to the States. Here are some images from a 1965 catalog:

Here some additional images from a Zodiac/Clebar catalog from 1965:

Clebar also made time-only models:

Eterna/Eterna-Matic

 By Bruce Shawkey

Eterna was founded 1856 by Josef Girard and Urs Schild. in 1882. Six years later, Urs Schild died at age 58. His son Max took over the company and soon made a business trip to the United States. He returned to introduce machinery to the craftsmen. Max Schild was ahead of his time and his ideas were unpopular. Discouraged, he left the company and handed power over to his brother, Theodore, who turned Eterna into a prosperous 20th century business.

In the early 1900s, wristwatches were just starting to become fashionable. In 1905, Schild Fréres, as the company was then known, changed its name to Eterna. The company continued to be at the leading edge of wristwatch development, and in 1908 it patented the first alarm wristwatch. The watch went into production in 1914.

By 1932, Eterna had set up a subsidiary company, ETA SA, to make movements for itself and other Swiss watch companies. This same year, Theodore retired and handed over the control of the company to his nephew Rudolf Schild. Here is one of Eterna's watch from a 1942 advertisement:

In 1948, Eterna advanced self-winding watch technology with the development of the Eterna-Matic automatic movement. The use of five strategically placed ball bearings made the movement very efficient and significantly reduced friction and resistance on the oscillating weight. The five ball bearings became the logo for Eterna-Matic.

Between 1948 and the present, Eterna and Eterna-Matic was bought and sold several times. It is currently owned by Swatch Group. Eterna-Matics are now featured as one of many Swatch Group's brands.

Here is a history of Eterna-Matic published in a 1951 edition of Europa Star magazine:

Eterna-Matic

The first automatic watches 

The conception of a watch which would wind itself of its own accord while being worn goes back over 100 years, but wristwatches have been used for only a few decades. The earliest automatic watches were pocket watches in which a lever was installed to swing freely at a certain angle in the plane of the movement and above the middle: that is, between the movement center and pendant. The motions of the lever were transmitted by means of the action of a gear shaft on the barrel-arbor which was turned slighthy by each motion of the lever instead of by the winding stem. To avoid over-winding the mainspring the outer end of the spring was not attached rigidly but fastened to the barrel-arbor by means of a flexible bridle. 

The energy for winding the mainspring was provided by the natural movements of the wearer, as, for example, when walking. Through these natural movements the impulse lever started oscillating. The effectiveness of this winding arrangement depended primarily on the inertia of the weight of the impulse lever in addition to its length, which was limited in the watch. This lever was also thickened and widened as much as possible at its lower end. The principle of the oscillating lever has always proved the most serviceable for automatic winding mechanisms. The present-day oscillation weight developed from this oscillating lever, while at the same time the anchor-shaped lever was extended to approximately a semi-circle, yielding the greatest possible turning momentum of a given cross-section. 

Ladies' automatic watches

 In the application of the automatic principle to ladies' watches, a great  primary problem known to every engineer is immediately apparent: that the degree of efficiency of a machine diminishes as its overall dimensions decrease. The reason lies in the impossibility of minimizing the unavoidable losses caused by the motion of the energy-consuming parts etc. in proportion to the gross performance. In watches, this comparison with a machine is not entirely valid, and is in fact inadequate, since in manufacturing a watch these unfavorable circumstances increase immeasurably even with a moderate reduction in size. For example, a model of a large machine, such as a locomotive, built to 1" scale may still function adequately. On the other hand, a lady's automatic watch constructed on similar lines to a man's watch will not give as satisfactory a result. The performance of the automatic winding mechanism for the lady's watch would require improvement by the introduction of new principles.

The basic movement of the ETERNA-MATIC: The actual movement of the lady's ETERNA-MATIC model is circular with a diameter of 7-3/4 lignes (17,5 mm) and is of special construction with direct drive for the sweep-seconds hand. Apart from its other uses, this hand assures the wearer by a single glance at the dial that her watch is going. The public, and even some people in the trade, still have misgivings about the sweep-seconds hand, since they harbor the notion that such watches are less reliable. As a matter of fact, the chances of interruption are somewhat greater with an indirectly operated seconds hand than in a movement with either a small seconds hand or without one, because the indispensable brake spring places an additional burden on the movement. In the new style ETERNA-MATIC movement, the brake spring and the sweep-seconds wheel over the third wheel are omitted and the very large and easily controlled train of this special arrangement ensures a more certain operation of the movement than one with a small seconds hand. The balance wheel of the ETERNA-MATIC is mounted on a shock-proof assembly and is thus protected against injury from rough handling.

 Construction of the automatic mechanism

In producing the automatic parts of the ETERNA-MATIC movement, the aim was to restrict to the minimum the increased bulk due to the winding train. Advantage was taken of the additional height required for the center-seconds train illustrates the relation of height. Thus, the wheel disc of the third winding wheel rests a little below the surface of the seconds-wheel. The automatic mechanism was successfully constructed as a self-contained unit to facilitate separation from the basic movement. The automatic bridge shaped like a three-quarter plate is attached to the barrel-bridge and the train wheel bridge by two pins and three screws which arc easily removable. The automatic bridge carries the complete automatic winding mechanism except those parts necessary to the basic movement itself. The oscillation axle is mounted on the side of the automatic bridge. The automatic reversing gear is secured through the head of the oscillating weight and turns easily on its pin. The automatic bridge also contains the bushings for the upper pivots of the second and third winding wheels. A small flat supplementary bridge is screwed from below to the automatic bridge. The supplementary bridge has a slender pin on which is set the bored pinion of the first winding wheel as well as a bushing for the lower pivot of the seconds wheel, and on account of the supplementary bridge remains in position when the automatic mechanism is detached. A bushing is provided for the lower pivot of the third winding wheel in the barrel bridge. 

By introducing better finished components in order to conserve power, by employing less sensitive operating parts: for example, coarser teething for the automatic winding wheels, By prevention of wear at certain points, By the use only of rotating parts. Simplification of repair problems — by more careful construction (or assembly), By an easier method of separating the watch movement from the automatic mechanism. Improvements in all these matters were effected in order to produce a lady's watch which would not only be serviceable, but good in every respect.  

Here are some photos and ads for Eterna/Eterna-Matic watches over the decades:

Leonidas

 By Bruce Shawkey

The Leonidas company traces its roots to 1841, when Julien Bourquin began selling watches in Saint-Imier.  Julien's son, Ferdinand, took over the company in 1886. He had worked in Russia, selling watches to the aristocracy there and establishing the Bourquin name. It was at that time that Leonidas was established as a brand. Originating from Greek roots, the name Leonidas means “son of a lion.”

In 1901, Ferdinand Bourquin relocated to Switzerland. He was constructing his own workshop but died of a heart attack in 1905, before the new factory opened. The Leonidas name first appeared in 1902. In 1903, a Leonidas ad showed chronographs, stop watches, and extra-thin pocketwatches. 

The first advertisements for a Leonidas wristwatch appear in 1916.  Leonidas worked with ebauche manufacturers Valjoux, Venus, ETA, and others and produced high-end watches for men and ladies, complicated watches (chronographs and full calendars), and precision timers and stopwatches.

After World War II, Leonidas focused on mass-market chronographs, stopwatches, and simple watches. The company had become the leading Swiss stopwatch company in America. Jack Heuer saw Leonidas' business as complementary to his family firm.In 1964, he acquired the company. The combined firm became Heuer-Leonidas. 

Heuer-Leonidas faced difficulties in the late 1970s. A stake was acquired in 1982 by Nouvelle Lemania. TAG invested in 1985 and it became TAG Heuer. The Leonidas brand was retired around this time.

Here are some advertisements and photos of Leonidas watches culled from various sources over the years. A 3-register chronograph in the 1955 catalog retailed for $104 at the time. Don't you wish you could buy one (or a dozen!) at that price today?!

1955 Catalog

Other Leonidas images:

Enicar

 By Bruce Shawkey

Enicar was founded in 1913 by Ariste Racine and his wife Emma. The Racine brand name was already registered and couldn't be used, so the story goes that Emma suggested they simply reverse the letters of their last name to ENICAR. Originally, the factory was located in the Racine's house in La Chaux-de-Fonds. But they soon moved to the city of Lengnau in 1916 to Emma's mother's house.  In 1919, the Racines built a factory in Lengnau, and that’s when they started using the  “Enicar” brand on all their watches.

The company promoted wristwatches almost from the start. One  model looked sort of like a "pocket/wrist" model that incorporated a compass (users could also insert a small photo of a loved one) into the bezel (left). But it did have wire lugs on the case, and so was intended to be worn on the wrist.

Here is an ad from the 1930s for Enicar warches: 

Ariste's son, Ariste Jr., joined the firm in 1934 and by this time was developing some of its own inhouse calibers but also using movements from Valjoux and A. Schild.

Ultrasonic cleaning of watch movements had been around since the 1930s. This development led to the incorporation of the word “Ultrasconic” into some Enicar models, and also the birth of their logo which many watch collectors recognize: the elliptical rings encircling a globe (above).

Here are two Enicar watches from 1940s issues of Europa Star, a trade magazine for jewelers:

The 1960s ushered in what is arguably Enicar's most famous model, the Sherpa:

The Sherpa came in all sorts of variation, time-only, and chronographs, for mountain climbers and divers. It has been said that there are more than 100 distinct Sherpa models. Here are a few:

 

Here's an ad for Enicar in the Nov./Dec. 1957 issue of Swiss Horological Journal. The Sherpa model picture in the advertisement survived a trans-Atlantic voyage across the Atlantic Ocean tied to the rudder of the Mayflower II, re-creating the historic voyage of the Mayflower 337 years ago.

Enicar (Racine spelled backward) is a historic Swiss watch brand, founded by Jules Racine in 1914.

Their most famous watch is arguably the Sherpa, introduced in the mid 1960s. The Enicar brand is currently owned by by Wah Ming Hong Ltd. of Hong Kong. Their movements, however, are still made in Switzerland.

At this point, we’ll take a  look at some Enicar ads and watches through the decades:

By Bruce Shawkey

Found this ad in the March/April 1958 issue of Swiss Horological Journal for Enicar watches. The watch shown is the automatic Enicar Sherpa, a watch normally associated with Mt. Everest expeditions. But the ad claims the watch is equally suited for race-car driving, and has gained the endorsement of Sterling Moss.

Moss was a British Formula One race car driver. In the 1950s, he won 212 of the 529 races he entered across several different motorsports competitions. In a seven-year span between 1955 and 1961 Moss finished in second place four times and in third place three times. He has been described as "the greatest driver never to win the Formula One World Championship." 

Here is an obit for Mr. Racine who passed away in 1958:

Here are some additional pictures of Enicar watches:

You Would Never See a Watch Ad Like This Today

By Bruce Shawkey 

Check out this ad from a 1942 Latin issue of Europa Star Magazine:

It features a very Arab-looking man with large nose, beard, and turban. Damas was a trade name of Beguelin & Cie. The company is listed as being in business from the 1940s-1960s.

Damas was a trade name of Beguelin & Cie. Beguelin was a large Swiss family or at least a name on a number of Swiss watch related businesses.  The company is listed as being in business from the1950s and 1960s.

This is a short piece. It just surprises me how the definition of "acceptable advertising changes over time.