Enicar Sherpa Rotor-matic 1958

The Enicar Sherpa range was introduced in the mid fifties as a sports / waterproof watch. At that time, practicing outdoor activities began to become popular, following a trend lead by renown explorers and adventurers like Edmund Hillary, Maurice Herzog, Walter Bonatti, Thor Heyerdahl, Richard Byrd, etc. and one had to be able to know the actual time.
Many manufacturers proposed a dedicated range and most of the names used for them are still used and the models quite (or very) sought after : Omega Seamaster, Rolex Explorer, Longines Conquest, Nivada Antarctic, Eterna Kon-Tiki, JLC Polaris, Tissot Seastar. And of course, the subject of today : the Enicar Sherpa.

Presentation

At first sight, this Enicar Sherpa gives an impression of robustness. The all stainless steel case has quite big lugs, the crown is large too. The diametre, crown excluded, is 36 mm, which is quite wide for a watch from the 50’s. The readability of the dial is very good.

The dial & hands

The black lacquered dial is sober, the writings refer to the brand, the model, the jewelling (30 jewels !) and the term ROTOR-MATIC shows that the movement is automatic. At the bottom, of course, the Swiss Made mention.
The hour markers are made of metal, with a stripe of luminous matter. The 12, 6 and 9 markers are trapezoidal, the date window is at the traditional position of 3 o’clock.
The hands are of Dauphine type with luminous matter at the centre.

The case

The case has been manufactured by EPSA (Ervin Piquerez S.A.) and is generally known under the name “Compressor”. The back has a bayonet mount, only a 1/8th of full rotation is necessary to open/close it. The crown has a grid engraved on it, as it is the case on most of the compressor cases. In additon, the Saturn logo of Enicar is there too.
On the back we can see the traditional elements found on many Enicar, the clover, the brand, the generic name Seapearl for waterproofed Enicars, two marks to set the caseback on the right position to open/close it.
On the inner face of the back, the usual elements found on a compressor caseback, the diver helmet and a very important information, the date of manufacture. Here, we have 1-58 engraved, which means that the case has been produced in January 1958.

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The movement

This Sherpa is fitted with an AR 1035 automatic movement. We can’t really talk of an in-house calibre since it is a rebranded A. Schild 1555N calibre.
It has 30 jewels and maybe more important, it is Chonometer certified. As you can see, this Sherpa is quite shy, the chronometer mention is not present on the dial. The movement has been temperature and 5-position adjusted.
The mainspring can be hand wound as well. There is a semi quickset to set the date, ie you have to go counter clockwise to 9 o’clock and clockwise to midnight as many times as required to set the right date.

Brand Enicar
ModelSherpa
Year1958
CalibreAR 1035 (AS 1555N)
Jewels30
Rate18,000 bph
Case materialStainless steel
Width36.2 mm
Length43.6 mm
Lugs18 mm
DialBlack enamel
Handsdauphine
Posted in Watch reviews.

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