Enicar and Indonesia

paulb12

Member
Enicaristi
Sherpa
Hi, friends.

I was doing research on Vietnam-era PX watches for an oral-history project, and I came across this post on the Military Watch Forum. This might not be new information to many of you, but I thought it was very interesting. This explains perhaps why so many Enicars -- particularly Guides -- pop up from Indonesian sellers. (Maybe Enicar sponsored the Asian games in the 60s and it gave them long-lasting brand recognition?)

It makes me want to keep digging to figure out the relationship. If anyone knows more, please share!

In Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia, on its main street named Jalan M.H. Thamrin, you can find Enicar Big Clock on the tower of a police post. It's four sides/face clock facing to the east, west, north and south of the street. These is the authentic proof that between Enicar and the Republic Indonesia government, at that time, has a very close relationship. It still not clear for me, what kind of relationship between these two parties. My late father was said that the clock was installed during the Asian Games in the 60's. Which probably answer why the 1960's Enicar is quite popular for the Indonesian at that time.

NB: Unfortunately I haven't got any opportunity to photograph this lovely clock. As soon as I got the chance, I will post it in here.


 

JimJupiter

Moderator
Staff member
Enicaristi
Sherpa
I am allways asking my self, why the Sherpa Guide. Its the biggest watch Enicar had to offer. My wrists are small (16,5cm) and it looks funny on them. Can't imagine how this would look on an Indonesian officier wrist ;)

Nico
 

jbcollier

Member
Enicaristi
Sherpa
Pretty sure Indonesians, and their wrists, come in all sizes. From what I have seen and heard, a lot of Guides ended up there. Most seem to have lived a rough life as well. The tropic's humidity, sun and heat are hard on things.
 
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paulb12

Member
Enicaristi
Sherpa
Separately, apart from the Enicar/Indonesian connection, it's fascinating why certain watch brands - and models - end up in certain parts of the world. A great majority of vintage Zenith Defys 28,800 are in Italy. The Seiko 7106-8000 almost always pop up in South American countries. My working theory about the Zenith/Italian connection is that Italians can better appreciate ahead-of-their-time designs (at the time, these Zeniths didn't sell well initially on a global level - but they sold well in Italy). That said, I wonder why the Guide has been so popular in Indonesia (at least based on the vintage market availability). Fascinating.
 

JimJupiter

Moderator
Staff member
Enicaristi
Sherpa
Are we sure the google maps location is the same as on the pic? The watch looks the same, everything else looks completly different (Bigger Streets, more buildings etc.). Maybe its kind of a standard watch tower, that is branded individually?

Nico

Edit: nevermind, I found the tipp Thamrin, which is the street on google maps.
 
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