Great Historical Reference for fans of the Stingray AND the TR-1000

[cpotters]

I have always been a fan of the original Blancpain Fifty-Fathoms, and it's historic importance to the development of the modern dive watch. From this watch sprang the military TR-900, the BP MilSpec and other really important watches.

On Ebay, right now, is an even MORE obscure watch whose DNA is linked to the Stingray and the TR-1000, and its unlikely you'll see another, so take a look at this Bulova which has come up for sale:

Bulova Diver

While missing its original bezel - which looks identical to the bezel and insert found on the MkII Stingrays, this watch's story shares alot of the back-story that led to the development of Alan Tornek's TR-900 as the successful bidder for the US Military contract for the diving watch it sought in the 1950s

www://ihc185.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/990103944/m/5821038392

I know I tend to post info that is a little obscure sometimes, but I think its this kind of color and historical context that makes Bill's homages to these early designs all the more impressive. Enjoy!

[incontrol]

Wow! I never knew anything like this ever existed! Thanks for posting this!

[marchone]

Very cool, Charlie. BTW, the link you posted is bad. Here it is:

The restoration of my Bulova MIL-W-22176 USN dive watch prototype is finished! - Topic

[NWP627]

I know I tend to post info that is a little obscure sometimes, but I think its this kind of color and historical context that makes Bill's homages to these early designs all the more impressive. Enjoy!

Please continue to post as much "obscure" historical information about watches as you wish, it is appreciated.
N

[cpotters]

Please continue to post as much "obscure" historical information about watches as you wish, it is appreciated.
N

Thanks - sometimes us ol' timey collectors get a little "lost in the weeds".

"Very cool, Charlie. BTW, the link you posted is bad. Here it is:

The restoration of my Bulova MIL-W-22176 USN dive watch prototype is finished! - Topic

Thanks for fixing the broken link. The coolest thing here - educationally anyway - is the actually USN test report document at the end of the post. Buried in the evaluation report 24-59 (dated 11 May 1959) is the complete list of watches evaluated by the USN for use with its divers. The watches tested included:

2.1 Bulova-U.S. Navy Submersible Wrist Watch
2.2 Enicar Sherpa Diver 600
2.3 Enicar Seapearl 600
2.4 Blancpain Fifty Fathoms
2.5 Rolex Oyster Perpetual

That's right: not one but TWO Enicars on the list. The fact that very few people know about the Enicar Watches (Racine spelled backwards, and the Racines were cousins to the Gallet family of watchmakers) and that they were considered as good in the tests as the Rolex and Blancpain as far as performance truly amazes me, as you can see by their Ebay pricing that they are not held in the same regard today. Who knows, if they had bested the competition back then, all of the Yuppies and Masters of the Universe over the last three decades might have been wearing Enicars, and not Rolexes. Se La Guerre!

[Galpo]

Very interesting, thanks!
I love seeing old army tests, gives another angle about the quality of watches,
besides their brand and market value.

This thread is very interesting, regarding Navy's diver watch tests for digital watches

Cheers,
Galpo