Credits: Article and images by Katherine Arteche @ Revolution Watch Magazine. See the original article here - https://revolutionwatch.com/watch-turkish-shooter-yusuf-dikec-olympics/
Et voilà, I found a Tumblr post documenting the backstory we needed. The Nacar brand was created specifically for the Turkish market where it was introduced in 1942. According to the author, a Nacar watch is a common heirloom in Turkish families.
Nacar was founded by Turkish-Armenian brothers Ohannes and Kevork Nacaroglu. In 1921, they established the Zila Watch Company and created Nacar, producing their first watch that same year. Ohannes, residing in Bienne, Switzerland, and Kevork in Istanbul, targeted their market to Turkey, Lebanon, and Syria. The author then quotes an interview (date unknown) with Istanbul master watchmaker, Recep Gurgen, who noted how customer behavior changed with the advent of quartz and cheap watches, which diminished the market for mid-budget, reliable mechanical watches. Before this shift, customers sought the best products they could afford from brands like Movado, Buren, and Delma. Nacar then emerged as one of the most beloved brands of that era. A popular saying was, “Saat alacaksan Nacar’dan, hatun alacaksan Macardan,” meaning, “If you’re buying a watch, it should be a Nacar; if you’re getting married, it should be to a Magyar.”
Credits: Article and images by Katherine Arteche @ Revolution Watch Magazine. See the original article here - https://revolutionwatch.com/watch-turkish-shooter-yusuf-dikec-olympics/
