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BenClymer
·Hi Guys,
As you know, i am an avid (maybe "rabid" is a better term?) hunter of pre-Val 72 Universals. This week I scored something I'd been hunting for years, and purchased a 46mm Compax. But, what makes it so special to me is that it is one of a very few double-signed 46mm watches. And, the reason I'd been particularly interested in this watch is because the retailer, Gumbiner, was actually a New York store!
Without further ado, here is the watch:
And the store, Gumbiner, which I've never seen on another Universal, was a long-time retailer of some fantastic watches including Patek Philippe (as seen here on this 1463 (pic via my friend Corrado M.)
Of course, Universal and Patek were distributed by the same company at the time (HSWA) so it would make sense that this features the name of a Patek retailer. However, we always hear that these gigantic watches were seldom sold publicly, which makes this one so interesting as it is very clearly a consumer-oriented watch, despite the over sized case, luminous hands and luminous dial. Now, because it was sold in New York, that means it had to have gone through Henri Stern, so I am going to see if my friends there can provide some information on it. Stay tuned on that note, and if there are any other 46mm UG Compaxes out there, I'd surely love to see them.
One final note on Gumbiner....here is a clipping from May, 1920, with a story of a robbery at the Upper West Side retailer.
As you know, i am an avid (maybe "rabid" is a better term?) hunter of pre-Val 72 Universals. This week I scored something I'd been hunting for years, and purchased a 46mm Compax. But, what makes it so special to me is that it is one of a very few double-signed 46mm watches. And, the reason I'd been particularly interested in this watch is because the retailer, Gumbiner, was actually a New York store!
Without further ado, here is the watch:
And the store, Gumbiner, which I've never seen on another Universal, was a long-time retailer of some fantastic watches including Patek Philippe (as seen here on this 1463 (pic via my friend Corrado M.)
Of course, Universal and Patek were distributed by the same company at the time (HSWA) so it would make sense that this features the name of a Patek retailer. However, we always hear that these gigantic watches were seldom sold publicly, which makes this one so interesting as it is very clearly a consumer-oriented watch, despite the over sized case, luminous hands and luminous dial. Now, because it was sold in New York, that means it had to have gone through Henri Stern, so I am going to see if my friends there can provide some information on it. Stay tuned on that note, and if there are any other 46mm UG Compaxes out there, I'd surely love to see them.
One final note on Gumbiner....here is a clipping from May, 1920, with a story of a robbery at the Upper West Side retailer.
