Clebar Zodiac Dr Pepper Logo Chronograph c.1970s

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As someone who is partial to a nice cold Dr Pepper (zero, of course.) in the sun, this Watch stood out immediately to me. You may think what the hell is a Dr Pepper logo doing on a 1970's Clebar Chronograph? Well if you're sitting comfortably with an (optional) Can in hand I'll unwrap things for you. 

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In the 1970's Dr Pepper entered an agreement with Zodiac Watches to provide promotional and employee award watches for them. The Dr Pepper logo is more commonly found on Zodiac Electronic Dress Watches and Astrographics.

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The trademark "Clebar" was first used in the 1920s by Edward Trauner, Inc., best-known for bringing Zodiac watches to the States. By the 1950s it became associated with watches that collectors have dubbed “Poor Man’s Heuers” due to their similarity to watches like the Heuer Carrera or Autavia. However, far from being pale imitations, “Poor Man’s Heuers” were made with the same care and attention to detail—and oftentimes the same parts.

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Faced with strictures on imports following the Great Depression, many Swiss watch brands partnered with U.S.-based companies in order to bring their products stateside. The partnership between Longines and Wittnauer, or Wakmann and Breitling, are examples of this type of symbiotic relationship. Watches would be manufactured in Switzerland—often with fewer jewels, to get around U.S. restrictions—and then sent to the States, for either assembly or retail.

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To prove that they were compliant with U.S. tariffs, the dials would be printed—not with the name of the manufacturer, such as Heuer or Breitling—but with the distributor’s.

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Since Zodiac had already gained traction in the U.S., Trauner pulled an old trademark from its archives and used it to import the sporty chronographs that modern-day collectors love.

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Above Clebar Zodiac Explanation taken from our friend at Analog Shift.

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It is very rare to find a Dr Pepper signed Zodiac Chronograph and even more so a Clebar signed example. 

The Specs