Send in the clones

[jbcollier]

I love my Enicars but, because they are #$%& vintage watches, they are not my first choice for the beach, motorcycle rides, or working in the shop. Here are some clones I found that may fit the bill for everyday, mucking-about wear.

Jet/Super-Jet styling in a 40mm case:

COMPRESSOR GMT | Landeron

landeron.com

Super Divette/Dive styling in a 40mm case:

COMPRESSOR VINTAGE | Landeron

landeron.com

There are a number of hand and strap variations on the site:

Landeron | Vente de montres

landeron.com

Any other clones out there? I'd be over-the-moon if the "new" Enicar would release modern clones of the tool watches of the 60s.

 

[jbcollier]

 

[jbcollier]

 

[Joe_A]

Thank you for posting. Interesting homage choices for not a lot of money.

Some of the photos, like the one immediately above, makes one wonder what the actual face will look like?

I like the 765-ish clown clone and the Type XX clone as well.

One can do worse than have a cloned Venus Sea-gull movement.

 

[kazrich]

Not sure that I like the way that the Super Jet clone is advertised. Initially I assumed it had a mechanical
movement and good value. Then realised Ronda 515 - 24H is a one Jewel battery movement !
However, the compressor clone does use a Japanese Miyota 8215 automatic movement for an extra 50 euro's.
I do like the Breguet clone and antiquing the lume works well.
I do wonder who Landeron is marketing their watches to. The website is in French and I couldn't find any provision
to change to English. They give no indication where the watches are manufactured so I would assume China ?
The 'Super Jet' dial says Swiss Movt ( proud to own a 350 euro one jewel battery watch made in China ? ).
It's entirely possible that Landeron assigned their website design to an advertising agency completely out of
touch with watch enthusiasts, but It might be prudent to tread carefully here.
That said, he seems happy.

 

[jbcollier]

Yes, there are battery movements in most of them but a few autos as well. Nothing to replace an actual Enicar but perhaps something interesting to have on the wrist when you are trenching a gas line, felling trees or brazing up a bike frame.

 

[Joe_A]

I also wonder whether this Landeron entity bears any connection to the original Charles Hahn & Cie which eventually went out of business or whether just the name was acquired by a new entity?

The 550 Euro watches with three registers house Sea-gull ST-1902 Chinese mechanical movements.

The two-register watches house the Sea-Gull ST-1901 movement which is an updated and legal clone of the Venus 175. A Chinese company bought the tooling for the movement in the early 1960s. I'd bet the quality has steadily improved over the years.

All the ST-19xx movements use column wheel switching.

I have a Sea-Gull 1963 Pilot reissue watch that uses the ST-1901:





At the offered prices, I'd be surprised to learn that the watches were not all made in China.

More info here:

Seagull ST19 Chronograph movement (Review) + Brief History

Today we are gonna take a look at Seagull ST19 chronograph movement. I recently published a review of Wancher Strom Jet which features the ST19 and I really wanted to write an article about this mo…

kaminskyblog.com

 

[jbcollier]

Definitely no association with the old Landeron company. Just a name on inexpensive watches. They used to offer ETA movements until ETA went all in-house.

 

[paulb12]

I also wonder whether this Landeron entity bears any connection to the original Charles Hahn & Cie which eventually went out of business or whether just the name was acquired by a new entity?

The 550 Euro watches with three registers house Sea-gull ST-1902 Chinese mechanical movements.

The two-register watches house the Sea-Gull ST-1901 movement which is an updated and legal clone of the Venus 175. A Chinese company bought the tooling for the movement in the early 1960s. I'd bet the quality has steadily improved over the years.

All the ST-19xx movements use column wheel switching.

I have a Sea-Gull 1963 Pilot reissue watch that uses the ST-1901:

View attachment 1331

View attachment 1332

At the offered prices, I'd be surprised to learn that the watches were not all made in China.

More info here:

Seagull ST19 Chronograph movement (Review) + Brief History

Today we are gonna take a look at Seagull ST19 chronograph movement. I recently published a review of Wancher Strom Jet which features the ST19 and I really wanted to write an article about this mo…

kaminskyblog.com

How do you like your Sea-Gull? My experience with the ST 1901 has been overall positive. Very accurate and fun.

 

[paulb12]

This is an interesting topic. I know that a number of Seiko collectors have purchased homage watches from WR Watches out of China—for this very reason. To get that vintage Seiko feel without worrying about doing damage to an actual vintage watch. Some of WR Watches’ homages—particularly the 6105-8000—are 1-for-1 recreations and are quite good and use Seiko movements.

 

[loniscup]

Just out of curiosity. Why do you call them Enicar clones? A number of brands had this style of super compressor case back in the days

 

[Malus65]

Interesting topic, ofcourse I don’t take my vintage watches to the beach but I dont feel the need to buy a clone. I rather take a modern beater such as a Seiko (mini) Turtle. Nice, not too expensive and easily replaced when something went wrong. Also I don’t like the re-issue watches who imitate the compressor style, but in fact are conventional such as the Longines Legend Diver.

 

[jbcollier]

Yes, there were quite a number of two-crown, super compressor divers back in the day. Not so much with the Jet and Super-Jet though. That's the clone that struck me first. Still haven't decided if I'll actually get one. What got me looking is the realization that the Enicar super compressors were creeping out of the price range where you could use one casually.

I too use my moderns as beaters. Mostly the Autavia chrono reissue -- actually they've had a steady stream of Autavia reissues, mine is the Heuer-02 version -- and a Chris Ward GMT diver. I'm partial to watches with 12 hr bezels or a GMT complication. They are just so useful in real life.

 

[Joe_A]

Many prefer the term homage watch rather than the term clone for a watch that looks similar or nearly identical to a classic watch but may sell for a tiny fraction of the price of the watch it is based on.

How many under 100 USD watches are in circulation that at first glance look like Rolex Subs?

When I go swimming I use one of my Seiko watches with a stainless bracelet.

I'm pleased with my Sea-Gull 1963 reissue, but it does not get much wrist time. I find that there are just a couple of watches that I favor over the rest of my small collection. I wear the Enicar Mark III as a daily driver as well as any of the Gallet Multichrons. I wear the Mark 1d more often than I do the Sea-Gull.

One can find inexpensive homage watches from Undone and Dan Henry. Steinhart and Sinn make Daytona and Navitimer homage watches respectively that appear to be of good quality.

 

[kazrich]

I considered buying a homage watch 5 years ago but was reluctant to pay £400 for a watch that I would still take care of and be equally
upset if I ruined it as much as if it a was £ 4000 watch.
For messing about with classic cars, gardening and other messy tasks I decided to go quartz and go real cheapo
( new or used under £ 20.00 ) on the basis of 'If it breaks it breaks', am I bothered ?
So, 4 years ago ebay enticed me to splash out £16.00 including post for a 1970's French Floosie chronograph called LIP.
She came on a very attractive LIP signed brushed s/s bracelet ( must be worth more than the watch but I changed it for leather ).
She's used more often than my vintage watches and still keeps excellent time.

Last year I 'invested' £5.00 on a new Chinese Junghans style modernist watch. I needed to convince myself that it was possible
to manufacture a watch in China and sell it in the UK for a fiver including the postage. It still works !
The strap was made of compressed cardboard and I think the case was chrome plated tin.
However, I changed the 20mm strap and wore it a few times. It was slightly noisy for a quartz watch but I showed it on WUS and received
plenty of likes !
The makers name was GENEVE and I think members figured I was wearing a Universal Geneve.

 

[jbcollier]

And the clone I settled on:

 

[jbcollier]

Do you ever settle on one?