Exercito Brasileiro Uni-Compax Ref. 22431

Tohz · Mar 5, 2023

Posting these pictures for documentation purposes here.
This Uni-Compax ref. 22431 was sold by a small German auction house recently.
Haven't seen this reference with EB engravings before. The dial is a redial, however, I think the engravings are genuine.

Anyone else has come across examples of this reference with EB engravings?

bgrisso · Mar 5, 2023

Offhand I thought EB and FAB in 18k only, no stainless, but that’s just from memory

Vint.Enthusiast · May 23, 2025

I am posting this pictures to find out more about the watch: I got this beautiful 22431 from my grandfather as a gift. It also has the E.B. marking, even though most I've seen before are indeed in 18k. Have the suspicion that the dail might be repainted due to the overlapping color at the numerals. Overall a beautiful watch and for the time also quite large with its 38mm. Happy to hear any extra information I can get my hands on. Thanks in advance!

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bgrisso · May 23, 2025

Vint.Enthusiast
I am posting this pictures to find out more about the watch: I got this beautiful 22431 from my grandfather as a gift. It also has the E.B. marking, even though most I've seen before are indeed in 18k. Have the suspicion that the dail might be repainted due to the overlapping color at the numerals. Overall a beautiful watch and for the time also quite large with its 38mm. Happy to hear any extra information I can get my hands on. Thanks in advance!

Welcome and congratulations on your watch. It would be interesting to know if your case serial is close to the other example in this thread? The last 4 digits are blocked so cannot tell. (Given that EB is uncommon in SS, I would think it’s likely your example would be tightly clustered with the other serial number).
Yes your dial is redone, although not unattractive, and it looks like most or all of the hands have been replaced. Still, it’s a lovely watch and hope you enjoy it.

Vint.Enthusiast · May 24, 2025

bgrisso
Welcome and congratulations on your watch. It would be interesting to know if your case serial is close to the other example in this thread? The last 4 digits are blocked so cannot tell. (Given that EB is uncommon in SS, I would think it’s likely your example would be tightly clustered with the other serial number).
Yes your dial is redone, although not unattractive, and it looks like most or all of the hands have been replaced. Still, it’s a lovely watch and hope you enjoy it.

Thank you! The two serials number are indeed very close together. The serial number of my watch ends on 2459, hence only 47 watches were produced in between. Would you recommend to search for the fitting set of hands to get closer to the way it was orignally issued by UG? It seems like at least the second hand is not original. Another question: as this was given to me by my gradnfather, I would like to gather as much information on this watch as possible to store and later hand over to my children/ whoever seems to be most enthustic in my family. Any tips you miht be able to share?

Furthermore I notice that you are referring to the 22431 as Uni-Compax however in the archives I can only find it under Compur. Are these names interchangable? Thank you in advance for answering any of my questions!

bgrisso · May 25, 2025

The examples that I have seen, and that I have had myself (see below is one EB (army) and one FAB (air force), have what are called leaf hands, instead of stick hands, like on your example. I believe all the hands are replaced on yours. I think a complete set of blue leaf hands (or gold color) would be more correct, but it may be difficult and expensive to find a complete set, and given that your watch dial is already reprinted, I'm not sure it would be worth the expense and effort (from a collectors perspective), unless for personal/sentimental reasons.
Is your movement a calibre 285? If so you can search for cal 285 hands and see what you turn up.
Regarding the case reference 22431, I believe there is cross over between Compur and Uni-Compax (which was the replacement for Compur).
Regarding information about EB, I don't now much myself. You can search everything you can find here on OF using the search function, and perhaps elsewhere using google, and compile into a document for your children.

Vint.Enthusiast · May 26, 2025

Thank you bgrisso for the detailled answer. The leaf hands are absolutely gorgeous, however it seems to me that the hands on my watch are similar to the picture found for the 22431 on the UG official website (besides the seconds hand). The pictures might not show it, but the hands are actually blue. I think the caliber is 285 but I would need to open the case back in order to confirm 😀 Besides a service, I'll probably won't do much on that watch. Maybe one last that you can help me with: do you have any estimation of the worth? I would like to include it into my general insurance. Best regards and many thanks.

bgrisso · Jun 3, 2025

Vint.Enthusiast
Thank you bgrisso for the detailled answer. The leaf hands are absolutely gorgeous, however it seems to me that the hands on my watch are similar to the picture found for the 22431 on the UG official website (besides the seconds hand). The pictures might not show it, but the hands are actually blue. I think the caliber is 285 but I would need to open the case back in order to confirm 😀 Besides a service, I'll probably won't do much on that watch. Maybe one last that you can help me with: do you have any estimation of the worth? I would like to include it into my general insurance. Best regards and many thanks.

sorry for the delay, been traveling. I believe stick would be correct for Compur, as pictured in archives, but not likely for Uni Compax. And your stick hands don't look like stock UG stick hands to me anyways, as the hour hand is slightly thinner and has a different tip compared to the minute hand. You can also notice that the chrono minute hand is not stock (much too thick). Anyhow given the dial was refinished it's not suprising to see different hands as well. As you suggest, it looks nice, I would not worry about the hands or try to change them unless you found something cheap.

As for value that is impossible to say, as there are probably no market comps for a redial version of this reference, so it just comes down to what someone would pay. In this case, without gold case (for melt value), it does not have much value to collectors because of the dial. I don't know, maybe $1K if everything is working right and someone is not concerned about originality. But I'm just making that number up, it doesn't mean anything.

LarryG · Jun 4, 2025

bgrisso
Offhand I thought EB and FAB in 18k only, no stainless, but that’s just from memory

FAB in stainless uncommon, but they do exist.