This is my second UG. Impulse purchase is usually not wise. When I saw this on ebay drawing from the knowledge i picked up from this forum, many obvious elements seem not right. E.g. the red hand should be with the moon phase and the gold hand on the left subdial (measuring seconds) shouldn't probably be gold.

Also the Spanish month, doesn't match the English day of the week. Came with a serial no. 1316100 but no ref. no. The applied hour marker seems to have aligned towards the left side of the painted hour marker. The right subdial (telling date)'s out most circle looks off. But still, call me a sucker but I liked the look. Any insights from fellow UG lovers into these suspicious flaws always appreciated.

Thanks,
Eric

 

I believe the month and day of the month hands need only be switched and were ignorantly placed by a tinkering watchmaker. Shouldn't be a problem.

Here is an identical example, sold under Marvel with the same colors: http://www.farfo.com/menswatches/Page1/mervos-universal-geneve-moonphase-calendar-watch.html

I believe the day of the week wheel may be a replacement, which would explain why it's in English.

 

From Sala, the case looks similar to a 31305 ref. no, maybe it's not that off after all, but still not having ref. no, is that possible?

 

Wow, that looks like a long lost twin. Thanks for pointing out. This is very interesting.

 

If you didn't already know, Martel sold movements to Universal Geneve - so the puzzle pieces seemingly fit together nicely.

 

They don't "switch". The pinion sizes and depths are different.

This is a redial. Mismatched (incorrect) hands. Questionable crown. All signs point to... dum dum dum.. Frankenwatch.

 

Very plausible. Also the serial number is missing ref no. That is also a no no? I wonder why the franken composer put together a serial no. That is exactly the same as the mervos, could the case of this UG have come from the mervos? The movement though seems to have come from another UG With the UG signature.

sigh, first rule is never buy on impulse.

 

I'd bet that's what happened. A poor Mervos-to-Universal "upgrade." Not too surprising, as all of the Mervos/Martel examples that I've seen come to market have been in pristine condition. You'd a thunk they didn't sell well.

If you can get your money back, I'd be all over that.

There's plenty of calibre 291 and 293s floating about... apparently a popular target for the gold melters. Many don't even have the requisite 'drawer' wear.

 

Lesson learned, will keep that in mind. I will just keep the watch though, good reminder of mistakes. I guess any person with the right tool and settings can simply make
engravings (like the one here under the case
back with UG period seal)

Lou, looks like I am going to really follow your advise and have more than 1 triple calendar

 

I didn't know they couldn't be switched. Good to know.

 

another similar franken on EBAY just now, wrong hand color....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-UNI...276942033?pt=Wristwatches&hash=item417d6986d1Purchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network

 

Have not scrutinized the above watch... but lest we label everything with a red date hand an automatic Franken, I'll remind everyone that hands were frequently repainted during routine servicing at the customer's request. Vintage purists today would view that with horror, but you gotta remember that a mechanical wristwatch was not a luxury good back then. Today we can check our internet-synced, radio frequency aligned, atomic-clock-verified digital time pieces--aka, our cell phones. So wearing a watch today is much less of a utilitarian experience.

Back in the vintage realm, paying up got you a time piece that would keep more accurate time, and potentially track the date, day, month, moon phase, and function as a stop watch. That's utility! No surprise then that customers frequently asked for their dials to be refreshed (repainted), and for hands to be painted non-factory colors. Frequently you'll see steel hands on black dials painted white for added contrast, or... yes, blued date hands painted red.

Original hands are some of the hardest replacement parts to find, so many of these red and otherwise incorrect hands are simply poor aftermarket substitutions. Only your watchmaker will know... as it's easy to detect aftermarket hands that have been modified to fit vs an original that was painted, but only when you've got everything apart and under magnification.

Hands can always be painted back... or in the above case, the paint could be stripped, the steel polished and heat blued. Though you'll have to find a watchmaker who truly embodies that title and is more than a repair hack, and even then you're likely looking at a hefty bill for the service.