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Disassembly sequence here
(Please sort by name in ascending order)

Assembly sequence here
(Please sort by name in ascending order)

The watch is an Enicar Star Jewels Ocean Pearl from the 1970s

A bit of background

I bought this watch on tradera.com (Swedish eBay) listed in the category "Klockor/Renoveringsobjekt" ("Watches / Renovation items"). It was listed as "working" despite lacking the winding stem. I bought it for three reasons. I wanted to try my hands on an inexpensive watch in visual need of renovation. I was curious of the Enicar brand and their in-house movements, and I thought the blue dial with its applied indices had potential.

It was clear that the watch needed a new winding stem, crown, and armoured crystal. I found an original stem on eBay from Spain for less than €10 including shipping (a bit of a bargain I think). I bought a bunch of inexpensive waterproof crowns from CousinsUK.com so that I could select the most comfortable and at least somewhat nice looking. I also bought a couple of inexpensive Sternkreutz armoured glasses from CousinsUK.com

Overall the movement looked pretty OK except for a third wheel pivot that was rusty. Removing the rust (using vinegar essence) the pivot became Coca Cola bottle shaped so I burnished it and in the process had to remove approx. 2 to 3/100 mm. This in turn created too much side-shake so I replaced the jewel as well. The mainspring looked pretty OK too so I kept it.

The cannon pinion also needed a bit of tightening. I guess the friction between the centre wheel arbor and the cannon pinion really can't last forever when a watch is being used for many, many years, perhaps even for decades (looking at the case back of this watch it has seen massive use). Anyway, to tighten the cannon pinion I first tried with my Seitz jewelling pusher and stake for lanterning cannon pinions, but it feels like the edges of the pusher and stake are somehow too blunt or perhaps not designed for wrist watch movements?! So, I resorted to my cannon pinion tightening tool (Bergeon 4733) which is really a bit scary to use but works very well once you've destroyed your first two or three cannon pinions learning how to use it. The trick is not to alter the position of the screw (unscrew it) once it reaches the inside of the handle. As soon as the screw touches the inside of the handle it's time to press. That will usually tighten the cannon pinion the required 1-3/100 mm (I would guess).

To give back some of the luster to the dial and hands I simply used a Dial & Hand Cleaning Pen from CousinsUK.com. It worked better than I had expected. The old lume was partly missing and what was left was completely crusty so I simply scratched the remains off and didn't bother to replace it (the blue colour shining through the hands looked pretty great and I don't care much for lume anyway)

Despite throwing everything in my arsenal of collected knowledge and experience on the this watch I couldn't get it to run perfectly. The amplitude (as well as the rate) in the horizontal positions fluctuates between 260 and 280 degrees but mostly stays around 260 degrees. I did adjust the curb pin as the hairspring was pinched between the boot and the curb pin and made sure it bounced evenly between the two, but the effect was only marginal. I suspect that the hairspring touches the lower part of the boot. Anyway, I decided to wait with further investigations, put it together, wear it and enjoy it. Despite this shortcoming it performs very well as a daily wearer, only varying in rate between about +1 and -1 seconds per day.

Edited by VWatchie
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Again one of your excellent walkthroughs with exquisite pictures. Your progress and achievements are keeping me amazed ! 👏👏👏

Can't wait to see a walkthrough of the Junkers 3133 ........ 🙃 (can share some experiences if required 😉 )

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On 4/2/2022 at 5:02 PM, Endeavor said:

Again one of your excellent walkthroughs with exquisite pictures. Your progress and achievements are keeping me amazed ! 👏👏👏

Thanks Endeavor! Really heart-warming! Yes, I put a lot of time and effort into trying to make these walkthroughs easy to follow and understand so your kind words feel truly encouraging 😃

 

On 4/2/2022 at 5:02 PM, Endeavor said:

Can't wait to see a walkthrough of the Junkers 3133 ........ 🙃 (can share some experiences if required 😉 )

Oh yes, the Junkers 3133 chronograph. Well, I've been putting it off as it would be such a great experience to do my first chronograph while following @Mark's chronograph course on watchfix.com. Unfortunately, it feels like we've been waiting forever for it to be published (or is it just me being too impatient!?). It's not that I lack the confidence to take on my first chronograph, but doing it while following along Mark's course would be so much fun.

As a patron I do have access to the watchfix.com chronograph course development videos - which in my opinion are world class both technically and pedagogically - but as the videos are being gradually replaced and I can't follow along in real time, I've been waiting for the finished course so that I can take it from start to finish in its entirety.

So, if anyone (perhaps even Mark?) can give us an update on the progress and when we perhaps can expect the course to be finished, it would be much appreciated. There are some other chronograph courses out there and I might take one of them in the meantime, but what I really look forward to is Mark's course and I will enrol to it when published either way. 

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On 4/1/2022 at 7:46 AM, VWatchie said:

The cannon pinion also needed a bit of tightening.

Is this a "thing" for Enicars?  Seems like I read that somewhere.  I have a Sherpa that had a slipping cannon pinion.  I think it was my first serious repair when I started watchmaking a year and half ago.

BTW, I am not happy with the Seitz for doing this either.  I cracked a cannon pinion recently and that was all it took for me to return to my  modified nail clippers.

 

Edited by LittleWatchShop
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10 hours ago, LittleWatchShop said:

Is this a "thing" for Enicars?  Seems like I read that somewhere.

I haven't heard or read anything to confirm that. To me the design looks 100 % conventional (look at picture IMG_8049.JPG in the assembly sequence). Over a long period of time the friction between the centre wheel arbor and the cannon pinion will simply wear out, or that's my theory.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 4/1/2022 at 1:46 PM, VWatchie said:

BeforeAfterPicture.thumb.jpg.a4ba53d783ef6a7de4b2a5c72638b7fd.jpg

Disassembly sequence here
(Please sort by name in ascending order)

Assembly sequence here
(Please sort by name in ascending order)

The watch is an Enicar Star Jewels Ocean Pearl from the 1970s

A bit of background

I bought this watch on tradera.com (Swedish eBay) listed in the category "Klockor/Renoveringsobjekt" ("Watches / Renovation items"). It was listed as "working" despite lacking the winding stem. I bought it for three reasons. I wanted to try my hands on an inexpensive watch in visual need of renovation. I was curious of the Enicar brand and their in-house movements, and I thought the blue dial with its applied indices had potential.

It was clear that the watch needed a new winding stem, crown, and armoured crystal. I found an original stem on eBay from Spain for less than €10 including shipping (a bit of a bargain I think). I bought a bunch of inexpensive waterproof crowns from CousinsUK.com so that I could select the most comfortable and at least somewhat nice looking. I also bought a couple of inexpensive Sternkreutz armoured glasses from CousinsUK.com

Overall the movement looked pretty OK except for a third wheel pivot that was rusty. Removing the rust (using vinegar essence) the pivot became Coca Cola bottle shaped so I burnished it and in the process had to remove approx. 2 to 3/100 mm. This in turn created too much side-shake so I replaced the jewel as well. The mainspring looked pretty OK too so I kept it.

The cannon pinion also needed a bit of tightening. I guess the friction between the centre wheel arbor and the cannon pinion really can't last forever when a watch is being used for many, many years, perhaps even for decades (looking at the case back of this watch it has seen massive use). Anyway, to tighten the cannon pinion I first tried with my Seitz jewelling pusher and stake for lanterning cannon pinions, but it feels like the edges of the pusher and stake are somehow too blunt or perhaps not designed for wrist watch movements?! So, I resorted to my cannon pinion tightening tool (Bergeon 4733) which is really a bit scary to use but works very well once you've destroyed your first two or three cannon pinions learning how to use it. The trick is not to alter the position of the screw (unscrew it) once it reaches the inside of the handle. As soon as the screw touches the inside of the handle it's time to press. That will usually tighten the cannon pinion the required 1-3/100 mm (I would guess).

To give back some of the luster to the dial and hands I simply used a Dial & Hand Cleaning Pen from CousinsUK.com. It worked better than I had expected. The old lume was partly missing and what was left was completely crusty so I simply scratched the remains off and didn't bother to replace it (the blue colour shining through the hands looked pretty great and I don't care much for lume anyway)

Despite throwing everything in my arsenal of collected knowledge and experience on the this watch I couldn't get it to run perfectly. The amplitude (as well as the rate) in the horizontal positions fluctuates between 260 and 280 degrees but mostly stays around 260 degrees. I did adjust the curb pin as the hairspring was pinched between the boot and the curb pin and made sure it bounced evenly between the two, but the effect was only marginal. I suspect that the hairspring touches the lower part of the boot. Anyway, I decided to wait with further investigations, put it together, wear it and enjoy it. Despite this shortcoming it performs very well as a daily wearer, only varying in rate between about +1 and -1 seconds per day.

Nice walk-through vw. I've passed up on a couple of these in the past, this has encouraged  me to have a pop at one. These are the nice vintage cheapo pieces  I enjoy learning on. Love the caseback design and the Enicar Saturn logo, I used to be an astromer. Good looking solid crown choice, I hate the skinny hard to to wind , bit difficult  for me to gauge when they're  fully wound. Overall nice restoration 👍

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58 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Nice walk-through vw. I've passed up on a couple of these in the past, this has encouraged  me to have a pop at one. These are the nice vintage cheapo pieces  I enjoy learning on. Love the caseback design and the Enicar Saturn logo, I used to be an astromer. Good looking solid crown choice, I hate the skinny hard to to wind , bit difficult  for me to gauge when they're  fully wound. Overall nice restoration 👍

Did you have a reason for re jewelling over a re pivot?

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8 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Did you have a reason for re jewelling over a re pivot?

Oh, I don't have the tools or skills to re-pivot. I guess as long as you don't take off more than about 2-3/100mm from a pivot > 15/100mm re-jeweling is more convenient. Don't really know what it does to performance though. After all, pivot diameters must be designed with a specific diameter for a reason, no?

Edited by VWatchie
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13 minutes ago, VWatchie said:

Oh, I don't have the tools or skills to re-pivot. I guess as long as you don't take off more than about 2-3/100mm from a pivot > 15/100mm re-jeweling is more convenient. Don't really know what it does to performance though. After all, pivot diameters must be designed with a specific diameter for a reason, no?

You don't have a lathe ? Bugger it you've just reminded me I was watching a really good condition re pivot tool on ebay, bugger, bugger, it went yesterday for around 35 euro. 😭

Edited by Neverenoughwatches
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1 hour ago, Tiny said:

Noobie question

 

VW did you polish your movement parts I only ask because they look quite shinny 

Not really. I'm very particular with pivots, pinions, and jewels, but other than that that's what ELMA RED 9:1 does to these copper/golden coloured parts; making them look very shiny.

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4 hours ago, HouseofGeorge said:

Mine wasn't in-house but was based on A. Schild 1525 movement. Very interesting.

Interesting! I just assumed (haven't done any research into Enicar's history) that Enicar only used their own movements. Anyway, it is my impression that the A.Schild movements are some of the most highly regarded Swiss movements, so I'm not surprised it was used by Enicar. I have only serviced one A. Schild, an AS 1203 and it was a joy to handle. I have saved all pictures I took of it (disassembly/assembly) but never edited them so never published a walkthrough of it.

4 hours ago, HouseofGeorge said:

Nice job and love the pictures.

Thanks! 🙂

EDIT: Here are a couple of pictures of that AS cal. 1203:

939859023_AS1203TopSide.thumb.jpg.ef6dabd7b76c410eee0f337913874cc4.jpg

1341577081_AS1203BottomSide.thumb.jpg.34ffe6c2c0f81acf252ff522a15f4b43.jpg

Edited by VWatchie
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