Enicar Sherpa Jet MKII: a 1960s watch with two time zones
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During the golden age of long-haul flights, airlines and travellers wanted watches that could show two time zones at once. The Sherpa Jet answered that need with a fourth hand and an internal 24-hour bezel operated by a second crown.
Enicar: Racine's brand and the Sherpa adventure
The company Enicar was founded in the early twentieth century by Ariste Racine, whose surname spelled backwards gave the brand its name. Based in Lengnau, Switzerland, Enicar built a range of mechanical watches combining precision, design and industrial production.
Its sporting identity developed in the mid-1950s. Enicar watches accompanied the1956 Swiss expedition to Lhotse and Everest, an episode the company links to its Sherpafamily. The name subsequently became associated with generations of exploration, aviation and diving watches.
Sherpa models combined water-resistant cases, specialised crown systems and displays designed for various activities. The Sherpa Dive, Sherpa Graph, Sherpa Guide and Sherpa Jet served different purposes, but all followed the idea of a tool watch.
The rise of air travel and GMT displays
After the Second World War, intercontinental journeys became increasingly common. Reading local time and the time at the point of departure became operationally important for crews and useful for passengers. Watches with GMT functions answered this need with an extra hand usually making one rotation every 24 hours.
Unlike a conventional hour hand, which travels around the dial every twelve hours, a GMT hand completes its circuit in 24 hours. It is read against a dedicated scale. To retain a second time zone, the indication is matched with a bezel marked with the day's 24 hours.
Enicar adopted this principle in several models. The Sherpa Guide and Sherpa Jet both featured 24-hour readings, but differed in size, bezel arrangement and construction.
1963–1968: the Sherpa Jet and the MKII generation
Specialist Enicar archives place the first Sherpa Jet models around 1963. Early versions, known to collectors as MKI, featured dauphine or paddle-style hands, a GMT indication and an internal bezel marked for 24 hours.
The MKII, produced approximately between 1966 and 1968, introduced broader hands, including shapes described as tuning fork, and changes to hour markers and bezel typography.
The Jet models differ from the Super-Jet in their proportions. The Enicar.org study gives approximate case diameters of 36 mm for the Jet versus 40 mm for the Super-Jet ; these variations suggest similar, but not necessarily identical, audiences and uses.
Calibre AR1146 and the 24-hour internal bezel
The Sherpa Jet MKII frequently uses the Enicar AR1146 automatic calibre, a GMT development of the AR1145. Its fourth hand is designed for a 24-hour scale. A second time zone can be read using a rotating internal bezel, operated by the upper crown on the two-crown case.
On this type of historical GMT, the second time zone is not necessarily set through independent jumps of the central hour hand, as on some modern travel watches. Instead, the function depends chiefly on matching the 24-hour hand with the rotating scale.
The case belongs to the EPSA Compressorconstruction family, with distinctive crowns and a domed crystal. The result is a travel watch with the relatively compact profile of a 1960s sports model.
The Sherpa Jet MKII in travel-watch history
An Sherpa Jet MKII AR1146 of about 36 mm with two signed crowns and an internal GMT bezel shows this design at maturity. Its dial brings together local time, a second time indication and day/night markings without a bulky external bezel.
Later generations adopted brighter colours and larger cases. The MKII strikes a distinctive balance between the elegance of 1960s Swiss watches and the new demands of international travel.
The Sherpa Jet illustrates that a complication can depend as much on how information is read as on the movement itself. Here, the 24-hour bezel is an essential part of the GMT function.
Sources and documentation
- Enicar.org — documented study of the Sherpa Jet and Super-Jet, MKI to MKIV.
- Enicar.org — internal GMT bezel architecture.
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