thoughts on a 1950s Uni-Compax

eustace
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Ok, so I bought my first Universal Geneve last month. I think I'm hooked (am I totally screwed???).

Now, I've stumbled upon this:

1950s Uni-Compax
New plastic crystal but the owner claims that everything else is original
35mm case without crown
Cal. 287

Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

unicompx.JPG uni2.JPG
 
Modest_Proposal
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Looks all original to me. The dial has some age marks, clearly. Looks like the lumed hands were in one position for a very long time stained the dial behind them.

Yeah - a 287 caliber. Movement picture is pretty bad - but the movement looks to be in decent shape, too.

Some might consider the pushers to be odd, seeing as they don't have a secondary pusher piece. But I've seen many uni-compax examples like this. Heck, one is coming to my house right now with the same design.

Looks pretty good - if you're ok with the dial patina.
 
eustace
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Hi Modest_Proposal,

Thanks for your input. I think I'm ok with the dial patina. What bothers me is that this watch has been up on ebay multiple times under difference aliases. Interestingly, the "new" seller doesn't bother to change the font type/color when changing user names. Now that's just lazy! I'm trying to give people the benefit of doubt, but I'm rapidly losing faith...
 
eustace
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I've been staring at the "PAX" in UNI-COMPAX for some time now and I think I've convinced myself it's a redial. Thoughts?
 
Alpha
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Know less than nothing about these but would doubt it is possible for a redial to have lume burn.
 
U
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eustace eustace
I've been staring at the "PAX" in UNI-COMPAX for some time now and I think I've convinced myself it's a redial. Thoughts?


Can't help you with your question, but thanks for putting your own avatar in place of the assigned one. 👍
 
woodwkr2
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Redial. They double stamped the "45" in the subdial. Looks like older work. LouS and I were previously discussing the pushers on this one. Apparently they're a quite rare variant, and certainly look unusual. These aren't the "small mushroom" pushers that are described in the Universal brand auction that Antiquorum did way back when.
 
woodwkr2
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Just checked my ebay watchlist. You're right, this one's been up several times and under a few different sellers. I wouldn't be sending my money that way. Caveat emptor.
 
woodwkr2
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Modest_Proposal Modest_Proposal
Some might consider the pushers to be odd, seeing as they don't have a secondary pusher piece. But I've seen many uni-compax examples like this. Heck, one is coming to my house right now with the same design.


Do you mind posting some photos of your new uni-compax with this style pusher under a separate topic in the forum? The example in question was the first that I recall seeing with this pusher variant. I'd love to see more.
 
woodwkr2
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woodwkr2 woodwkr2
Redial. They double stamped the "45" in the subdial. Looks like older work. LouS and I were previously discussing the pushers on this one. Apparently they're a quite rare variant, and certainly look unusual. These aren't the "small mushroom" pushers that are described in the Universal brand auction that Antiquorum did way back when.


Having looked at my copy of Sala to make the Universal Pusher thread, it appears that this dial should not have a 45 stamped on the subdial at all!
photo.JPG
 
eustace
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woodwkr2: great work -- I'm glad I posted this before buying. Keep up the good work!
 
LouS
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woodwkr2 woodwkr2
Having looked at my copy of Sala to make the Universal Pusher thread, it appears that this dial should not have a 45 stamped on the subdial at all! 41326

Don't assume that dial-case combos are constant with UG. Many different types of dial can be found in the same case style. The reference number refers to the case alone.
 
Modest_Proposal
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Indeed,

The one I'll be showcasing tomorrow (hopefully) has a dial configuration closer to the OP's watch-in-question.
 
Waynepjr
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Had a bid thought on this one myself but the dial looked off to me as well. Inner voice said to keep looking. Glad I did too. And yes, older redials can have lume burn also. It is an old trick of the Argentine dial community to make it LOOK older than it really is. This dial was probably done by them.

Wayne
 
Modest_Proposal
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An interesting development:

I've done some research and it seems the "double stamped" "45" is not unique to this watch.

You could say that they have all been refinished (the second one for sure), but could they all really have been subject to such a blatant and frankly peculiar error?

Examples:

Example #1:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/251447226883?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2648

Examples #2

https://www.google.com/search?q=uni-compax watch&biw=1120&bih=616&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=raD7Uvu6L-b-2gXl8IFQ&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=LI-sD0Fg6F8ovM%3A;CeDd9r5KUlY5CM;http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bachmann-scher.de%2Fcms%2Fupload%2Fuhren%2FA5077%2Funiversal-vintage-uni-compax-chronograph-h.p.c.-stainless-steel-1962-mint.%2C-stainless-steel%2C-1962%2C-mint!-b.jpg;http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bachmann-scher.de%2Fen%2FFurther-brands%2FUniversal-Vintage-Uni-Compax-Chronograph-H.P.C.-Stainless-Steel-1962-MINT.html;640;480

Example #3

 
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gatorcpa
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I didn't comment until now as I wanted to see if more UG examples were to be found.

I've seen 2 "45's" before in a seconds at 9 chronograph subdial. One printing goes with the minutes track and the other is with the subdial for the stopwatch seconds.

Sounds stupid, but there is a good reason for this. When dials were originally manufactured, the dies for the subdials were a standard size and font. When the contractor produced the dials for UG, it was specified at 9. It could have been at 3 (if that's what UG wanted). In that case, you might have had two "15's".

I vote that dial is original.

Hope this helps,
gatorcpa
 
Waynepjr
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Have to agree having seen said examples that even though I absolutely dislike the terrible sub dial printing on all these watches, they have to original as GatorCPA points out nicely. Kudos to the detective work here MP.

Wayne
 
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