Amazing Black Dial Tri-compax: Take A Look. Place Your Bets.

Sherbie
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Is it me, but there seems to be a lot of scratching on the inside of that caseback?

The serial number (1072???) would date this to 1943-5, of course, which I,d guess would be about right.
 
LouS
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woodwkr2 woodwkr2
Today's Pic: Inside Caseback

13283 13284

OK, now I really don't like it. I've not seen a Tri-Compax inner caseback that didn't have perlage. I've never seen a screwback in a Tri-Compax of this vintage, and I've never seen a notched screwback, period. The third digit of the reference number is incorrect for the movement - should be a 4 or 5, not a 2 with a cal 287.

Eager to see the rest....
 
MMMD
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Sherbie Sherbie
Is it me, but there seems to be a lot of scratching on the inside of that caseback?

It looks like someone went at it with steel wool.
 
woodwkr2
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Case measures a massive 39mm X 56mm (w/o crown and pushers). Clearly a new bezel would have to be fabricated for this case as the pitting near the crystal appears too deep to simply polish out.

Note the vertical graining on the sides of the case is consistent with other known Universals.

I will only comment that I've inspected the lugs and their attachment to the case under the loupe and they do not appear to have been installed after the fact (I'm thinking specifically of some of the hack jobs that come out of Argentina and Peru where new lugs are soldered onto the case).
 
LouS
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UG made some flamboyant cases in their time, but nothing like this. To itemize things that are out of place:
1) dull case finish full of swirlies, different from the vast majority of steel Tri-Compaxes that are demonstrably original.
2) metal full of imperfections, similar to forged P-subs discussed in another thread (and explain to me how you get all the pitting on the bezel alone - it's not exposed to sweat. That's just poor casting).
2) screw back
3) waaaay too early for mushroom pushers based on case number
4) absence of perlage on inner caseback
5) obliterated last digits of case number and reference - just the ones that most obscure the origin of the piece
6) redial

So I see a legitimate movement, a repainted dial and a wholly forged case. I imagine movement and dial came from a gold watch that was scrapped.
 
MMMD
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At the risk of being flagged for piling on, to get back to that case back... all the scratches on the inside lead me to believe that it kicked around in a pile of metal in a drawer somewhere without a case to protect it... then a case came along.
 
woodwkr2
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Go back to the 1st page of this thread and take a look at the notches cut out of the case back--they are not even. Some of the notches do not square up and appear inconsistently cut. I do not have any other UG examples with a screw down case backs to compare to, however.
 
woodwkr2
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The pitting to the bezel could be explained by inappropriate crystal glue (which normally wouldn't be used at all with this style crystal). But I did scrape out some kind of dried (glue?) junk from the inside of the bezel which had coalesced with the rust. I've also heard of plastics causing metal breakdown... indeed I read somewhere (consider your sources) that bubble wrap can do it.
 
woodwkr2
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After my extensive search, I did find one example of this case. It was from a French watch forum in 2010, and the watch sold for 2,500 euro!

Notice the watchmaker putty used to secure a 283 movement in the case. Unfortunately no case back pictures.

image26900.jpg image26902.jpg image26903.jpg image26904.jpg
 
dsio
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Is the green stuff "watchmaker's putty"?
 
woodwkr2
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Yes, the green stuff is watchmaker's putty. The brand I'm familiar with is called Speedi-Fit. It is commonly used for non-nefarious purposes to secure a movement when a retaining ring has been lost, for example.
 
LouS
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That case has a totally different and more credible finish, although no evidence it is a UG and the watch is a put-together.
 
woodwkr2
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For all of the original followers, this thread isn't dead. It's just on pause, while I handle a return/refund that I do not want to turn messy.
 
x3no
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A few years later, and this really helped me learn more about things to look for in UG compaxes. Thanks guys.
 
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