Were all Clebar REALLY made by Zodiac? Some facts to consider...

[Grossisten]

Hi all,

I realize that my topic has been covered previously - but I've come accross information that may widen the understanding of the relationship between Zodiac and Clebar.

When I acquired my Clebar featuring a Landeron148 (presented in a different post) I did a bit of research on the brand. The information was contradicting, the most convincing being the one I found on this site. So I kind of assumed that the watch was produced by Zodiac for Trauner under the Clebar label. However I had doubts. I've seen other Clebars that could easily have been Zodiacs ("poor-man-Heuer" models typically). But this one is older than most Zodiacs I've seen and resembles none that I have.

So I dug at bit further. It turns out that Clebar was registered as a trademark to Trauner in 1925. But also to Leonidas in 1958. And to Zodiac (no date). This is obviously confusing. However: When did Trauner become an agent for Zodiac? I seem to remember having seen info that this was later than 1925, in which case Zodiac may not have been producing early Clebars. Trauner was an agent for other brands, so perhaps they collaborated with more manufacturers on producing Clebar-watches in the early years of the brands existence? As my watch is a chronograph, Leonidas is not unlikely to be the actual manufacturer of this particular watch, that being their specialty. 

Leonidas was acquired by Heuer in 1964. If Heuer had a different agent in the US than Trauner, this would explain why they no longer produced Clebar watches and Zodiac took over. This would also make the claims (that Zodiac manufactured Clebar) seen on watch cases that have been posted here true - but only from a specific point in time.

Could this be the "true" story behind Clebar? That more manufacturers originally provided watches under the label, Zodiac only becoming the "sole" provider after a certain point?

What are your thoughts on this?

[Grossisten]

Here a few pics of the Clebar in question.

[Grossisten]

the movement

[Grossisten]

face

[Grossisten]

back