Enicar Star Jewels MRO (AR 165D) - First project ever

[Kruttskjegg]

Enicar Star Jewels MRO (AR 165D)

A while back I won this watch at an auction here in Norway. I’d never heard about Enicar before, but a Google search made me stay up until too late. What a charming brand and history!

If you ask, they had some killer design going on for a while and all their movements are inhouse. And It was so cool to find that this brand also had a little community going online!

From the guy who made a nice book about the brand; enicar.org to a youtube favourite of mine HorologyBiology who has vintageenicar.com.

And also enicar101.com deserves a mention for sure.

It’s cool to discover a brand like this and learn about its history. I’ve never been so into vintage watches before, but discovering this brand opened the door for me on what’s out there.

 

So on to this project:

This will be my very first watch service/reparation ever(!). I have disassembled a Seiko before, that’s it

This design is so 70s its funny! A strange way to design a watch with a sort of inlay between the dail and plexy. Unfortunately, this inlay had come loose on this watch, and as a result, scratched the dial very badly.

This watch has an AR 165D movement which was launched (and I think mostly used) in 1975. Making this watch about 50 years old.

Does anyone know what MRO stands for?

I guess I have to find a original Enicar dial that fits. I found some on ebay that will match the calibre, but maybe not the design with the inlay.

In hindsight, this movement is probably not the best to start out with. They seem to do stuff a bit different, and this movement has A LOT of parts. A cool feature is a quick set date that changes one day when you press in the crown.

29 jewels and a nice design. Well, it's no way back now.

I couldn’t find too many guides online, but I got some quality expertise from these ones;

Vwatchie made an excellent guide for a similar calibre although a bit less complex:

https://www.watchrepairtalk.com/topic/22036-enicar-calibre-161-service-walkthrough/

But there is a lot of solid information here, and I will also use it when reassembling the movement.

On youtube I found  French Watch Collector who has a good video about a very similar movement.
Also some good information about the Brand etc:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ea0fwnsspk8

 

But the only one I could find who is working on this specific movement was Horology Biology who made an excellent video. Unfortunately, it isn’t real-time and It can be hard to copy at times. Not everything is shown.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJpucnLHbB8&t

 

But with all this expertise thrown together, I think I have enough to get this watch assembled again.

I have done a complete disassembly now, even the mainspring! And so far I only know one major mistake I made. I should have used some rodico to hold down every spring when removing. I didn’t, and one tiny spring flew into another timeline or dimension.

So not only do I need to buy a new dial, I probably will end up buying a backup movement as well. I have some concerns regarding the balance wheel also. Even though this watch did ok on the timegrapher.

Luckily they aren’t too expensive.

In the meantime my plan is to do a DIY cleaning, rinse and drying without a proper machine. And then try to polish the case. Im not sure how it will turn out, but im sure I will learn a lot.

All feedback and tips are very welcoming! It's my very first project, so some more mistakes are probably expected

[Nucejoe]

No flimsy screw, robust and  easy to tear down movement.

 Enicar sherpas Chrnongraph can be a bit pricey, but best of the crop, I think is Enicar Chronometer which I have been on the look out for one. Hard to find one for sale in my neck of the woods and ebay is not an option here.

Guess you need a strong magnet looking for the  spring. Not sure about balance complete , but all parts seem to be original in your watch,  shame to replace any with after market ones. 

Some calibs were powered by valjoux 72 and are sought after.

Good luck 

 

[Kruttskjegg]

Hi Nucejoe. Cool to meet a watchmaker from Iran! I was thinking about buying an original AR 165 movement from eBay to use from parts. A whole movement doesn't seem to cost much more than to buy just one spare part. So that would still make the watch original I think? 

[Nucejoe]

5 hours ago, Kruttskjegg said:

 I was thinking about buying an original AR 165 movement from eBay to use from parts. A whole movement doesn't seem to cost much more than to buy just one spare part. So that would still make the watch original I think? 

Hi,  Good idea a whole movement as a donor is best option.  

Back in the days, spare parts were made by Renata which is good quality, I don't know who else did, if any.

The idea is to keep integrity of the piece, specially vintage collectables and antiques. 

In case you haven't yet bought a timegrapher,  WATCH ACCURACY METER app is good for start, easy to download off the web and works with your smart phone, , it will at least give the beat error, daily rate and an idea of the escapement's health.

Let us work with you every step of the way please.

Good luck 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kruttskjegg]

Thank you so much Nucejoe, I really appreciate it! 

(before picture) 

My next step is case cleaning and polishing. I used naphtha and IPA on the case (only cleaning I have right now. Waiting for L&R in the mail) and dug out a lot of gunk and maybe even some old glue(?) with pegwood. The cleaning process was very satisfactory for me but I would love some help with the polishing. 

I have some polishing stones made for jewelry, but they seem to be way too fine for these scratches. I know very little about polishing in general, but I understand there are some techniques to be learned as well, not only finding the right tools. 

[Nucejoe]

On 8/9/2024 at 12:31 AM, Kruttskjegg said:

I understand there are some techniques to be learned as well, not only finding the right tools. 

 I google for previous discussions on WRT ( you should add watchrepairtalk to keywords). 

This ends repeated questions, you get quick responses, enriches the old threads, opens a window to PM  members whom have dealt with similar issue and are here to learn and  share experiences ....etc.

Good luck