[ltri]

I have 3 Vantage watches with mechanical movements. From what I have found on the interwebs Vantage was a budget brand for Hamilton. All the Vantages I own and from the ones I have seen on ebay have movements mark Standard Time or Standard Time Corp. The ones I own don't have the country from where it was made on the dial or the movement. From what I have read Hamilton had a partnership with Ricoh watch company of Japan,which only lasted from 1962 to 1964, to produce the Hamilton electric movements. I have seen one vantage with a movement marked japan

also have seen a vanatage electric with and ESA 9154 that was marked Standard Time and swiss

The 3 Vantage watches I have are marked standard time are very similar to my Enicar movement, a Laco, and a Endura I saw on ebay.

pic of the 3 vantages

here is my vantage marked Standard 90, size is 11.5'''

my other vantage marked Standard Time caliber st 91, size 10.5'''

and my last vantage Standard Time caliber st 92, size 10.5'''

my Enicar size 10.5'''

Laco

and Endura marked canava and Candada, here is ebay link 1940-50's Endura 17 Jewel movement Made in CANADA - eBay (item 150539162873 end time Jan-01-11 14:21:59 PST)

here are the links were I got info from
???? ???????? - ????? ??
Vantage
Hamilton Ricoh Watch Company

 

[Eeeb]

Very interesting exposition of a niche!

 

[ltri]

What I am curious about is who made the movements in my vantage watches and why are they almost exact copies of the Laco and Endura movements, even the click and pallet bridge are the same. The Laco also does not have a country of origin on it and the Endura was made in Cadada.

 

[Eeeb]

What I am curious about is who made the movements in my vantage watches and why are they almost exact copies of the Laco and Endura movements, even the click and pallet bridge are the same. The Laco also does not have a country of origin on it and the Endura was made in Cadada.

To the best of my knowledge, there have never been wrist watch movements made in Canada. How have you come to believe the Endura is from Canada?

At first people have a hard time realizing the Swiss watch industry was fairly integrated -- many vendors bought and sold to whoever. 'Private label' movements where one vendor marks for another have been common for over a century. Laco and Endura probably made the movements originally.

 

[Hartmut Richter]

Looks like it might be some sort of copy of an FEF movement (FEF 350 for 10.5''', FEF 380 for 11.5'''):

bidfun-db FEF_380: FEF 380

Not sure whether the Enicar movement is based on the FEF or whether it is an entirely independent production (the automatic winding system for the Cal. Enicar 114x family was "borrowed" off the AS 1700).

Hartmut Richter

 

[Roland Ranfft]

Hi ladies,

this movement was originally designed by Durowe (Laco) and itroduced in 1950.
It was available in the following variants:
420, 421: 10.5''', manual wind, sub second
422: 10.5''', manual wind, sweep second
520: 11.5''', manual wind, sub second
522: 11.5''', sweep second
552: 11.5''', automatic, sweep second

The Enicar 410 (sub second) and 412 (sweep second) are too similar to Durowe 420/422
to believe in an accident; even the holes for tool alignments are the same:

It is pretty strange that a German factory supplied a Swiss company with ebauches, but
remember: just two versions were finished by Enicar, and Enicar was an order of magnitude
smaller than Durowe - simply by far not able to supply the Durowe demand.

Another reason to believe that it is from Durowe: The U.S. Time Corporation (Timex) bought
Laco-Durowe in 1959 to get access to the knowhow for electrical watches. Already in 1965
the movement division Durowe was sold to the Swiss Ebauche SA, and forth only mechanical
movements were continued under the brand Standard. The ST 90/91 therefore are just
cheaper successors of the Durowe 422 and 522 (10.5''' and 11.5''' respectively)

Regards, Roland Ranfft

 

[Ernie Romers]

Received this information by email from someone called Lilo von Possel:

I wanted to tell the person that has a watch which says on the back Canava American Watch Factory, that I worked in the office of that factory from 1957 until 1960. Watch movements came from Pforzheim, Germany from the Deutschen Uhrenrohwerke Ludwig Hummel, Mr.Hummel's daughter was president of the factory in Quebec City. The watch cases were made there and then the watches were assembled there. They were fine watches and the all factories were sold to TIMEX after I left to immigrate to the U.S.

 

[Chascomm]

Thanks Ernie, and thanks Lilo. That all lines up perfectly with the rest of the information in this thread.

 

[ltri]

Great info, thanks for the feedback.

 

[Nytepsyce]

I have a Unichron mechanical watch that was given to me for repair. The crown is broken off so I need to buy a new stem and crown. However the only identifying marking I have is the one pictured in the original post with ST 92 stamped on the movement. How do I find out what kind of stem and crown I need for the movement. If anyone could help me with this it would be most appreciated.

 

[Gumby992]

I have a Unichron mechanical watch that was given to me for repair. The crown is broken off so I need to buy a new stem and crown. However the only identifying marking I have is the one pictured in the original post with ST 92 stamped on the movement. How do I find out what kind of stem and crown I need for the movement. If anyone could help me with this it would be most appreciated.

The ST 92 is listed as a variant of the Durowe 422 on Ranfft - see details at link below which includes info on the stem:

bidfun-db Archive: Watch Movements: Standard Time 92 (Durowe 422)

www.ranfft.de