ABOUT THIS WATCH

In the early 1900’s when young Artiste Racine wanted to follow in the footsteps of his famous watchmaking family and start his own brand he had to come up with a unique name other than his own because, of course, the Racine name had already been trademarked. So in what has become a great example of a simple and creative solution to a distinctive problem, he conveniently chose the name “Enicar” which is just his surname in reverse (naturally, his wife thought of the idea).

By the time WWII ended, Enicar’s production had expanded to over 70,000 units and growing while the 1950’s saw technological achievements such as a chronometer certification as well as producing movements cleaned by ultrasound which would require less oil throughout the life of the watch. Their biggest achievement in that decade though, was the launch of the Sherpa line of watches, which was originally conceived from sponsored mountain expeditions much like the Rolex Explorer, but eventually evolved into a smorgasbord of over 100 different Sherpa models designed for different purposes.

One of these such models, the Enicar Sherpa Divette, was one of the most popular models created and is the smaller version of the Sherpa Dive 600, which was designed for deep underwater dives during the same time the United States Navy (USN) first documented enriched oxygen gas procedures for military use of what is today called nitrox. The Sherpa Dive 600 was evaluated successfully by the USN and were purchased through Enicar on a need by need basis. With the technical and commercial success of the 41mm Sherpa Dive, Enicar designed a more fashionably versatile and wearable version with the Divette at an ideal 36mm.

With a quirky but charming and useful design, this watch is clearly reminiscent of dive watches of the late 50’s and 60’s and wears beautifully on the wrist. It has obviously been well-loved and worn, but not at all abused as it is in great honest condition for it’s age. The edges of the case are still sharp while the bezel has a nice even fade to it. All of the original radium lume on the dial and hands are intact and the dial maintains its original gloss finish, despite a few spots where radium dust is apparent. The caseback and original crown are in great working shape and the original crystal is decent but spidering. I would personally replace it, but I’ll leave that up to the next owner. Having just been recently serviced, this superb watch is keeping time as well as any vintage watch should.

As most dive watches are designed to be very large, here is your chance to own one that looks great on any wrist while having enough class to be worn with almost any outfit. It’s yours for the taking.

WATCH SPECS

Maker: Enicar
Model: Sherpa Divette
Reference: 100/216
Year: 1959
Material: Stainless steel
Dimensions: 36mm diameter; 12mm thickness
Crystal: Plexiglass
Lume: Radium
Caliber: Enicar self-winding caliber AR 1125
Bracelet/Strap: Beige veal leather strap
Lug Width: 18mm
Box/Papers: N/A

Note: No guarantees of water resistance because of it’s age