Universal Genève Tri-Compax ref. 22283, 'Brushed' silver Non-Luminous Dial

Dealer description — Oliver & Clarke

Universal Genève was one of the many great brands that succumbed to the quartz crisis of the 1970s. While they disappeared, it was not for their lack of impressive watches. To underscore that fact, keep in mind that Henri Stern Watch Agency in their nearly 80-year history has only ever sold two brands: Patek Philippe, and Universal Genève. Touted until this very day as an incredible achievement in complicated watchmaking, the ‘Tri-Compax' family of watches was introduced in 1944 and slid in above both the existing chronographs (e.g., Compax, Medico-Compax, Dato-Compax, Film-Compax etc.) as well as the other complicated calendar watches offered by UG at the time as the brands most complicated timepieces. In many ways, the Tri-Compax combined the two ranges of watches, adding a moonphase, day, date, and month complication to a chronograph. It was produced for around 25-years in a variety of metals, shapes, sizes, and with a slew of dial variants. The example that we have here, a Ref. 22283, dates to circa 1943, actually pre-dates the official launch of the model, which occurred the next calendar year, making it a very early example. It also happens to be amongst the finest examples of any chronograph from this era that we have ever had the pleasure of offering. The large-for-its era 37mm case with prominent factory finishing present throughout showing just normal signs of wear. The 'square' pushers retain their fine chamfers and the caseback engravings remain crisp and clear. On the left case profile, there are 'micro-pushers' for setting the month, moonphase, and 'pointer' date around the moonphase aperture., which by the way, has a whimsical and always brightening face on the moon. The dial itself is very nicely preserved for a piece of this age, due largely in part to it being a non-luminous variant. The Arabic' indices are silvered 'foil' and are cropped at the 3 & 9 o'clock positions — a very thoughtful and almost funny detail found only on a handful of chronographs from select brands during this era — and are complimented by a 'feuille' handset with the chronograph hands a beautiful blued-steel. Powering this piece is UG's Cal. 481 manual-winding movement. Design details like the dynamic nearly perfectly sized case, the complicated movement within, and the busy, yet incredibly sophisticated dial layout, amount to a piece that clearly shows why Universal Genève was ultimately considered to be one of the finest manufactures in the era. Examples in condition like this with a desirable configuration simply do not surface on the open market all that often... and with the recent re-launch of the brand, collectors seem to be holding on to pieces like this, making for a great opportunity to grab this one.