I'm looking to get a nice, vintage, dress watch and started looking at Omegas. People were really helpful and kind with their options on starter watches in my budget. Some people recommended looking outside the Omega brand, so I stumbled upon the Universal Geneve Polerouter Date.

However, there as so many design, conditions and fluctuating prices. Anybody have any thoughts on what one should be paying for one in good condition?

 

Polerouters certainly are great watches, but I wouldn't consider them dress watches in the strictest sense - more of a dressier sports watch like the Datejust. Like you mentioned there a lot of different designs to choose from, but I personally prefer the ones that use the Microtor movements cal 215/218 with the classic Genta design elements like the bombe lugs and crosshairs. You should still be able to find a good example in stainless steel for under a 1000 usd.

Here is mine:

 

These also came with the cal. 69...

 

Did not know that! Thanks

 

You're welcome, I believe the cal. 69 came a little later.

 

This example is beautiful. I love the dial design you have and the leather strap. I saw a similar one but they were asking $1200.

 

Pardon my lack of knowledge of the cal 69, but what is the difference between these two calibers?

 

These should cost well under $1000!

I'm not a watchmaker but I'd hazard a guess that their isn't a whole lot of difference. But wait and I'm sure someone more knowlageble will come along with an explanation.

 

I know most of the collectors here would disagree with me, but if it is a very nice example (pictures please!), I think the price is ok. With the UG market being what it is, I would still consider this a relative bargain and you can always make an offer if you are not happy with the price. Call me crazy, but I think this is a far more interesting watch than some of the more expensive UG pieces like the Nina Rindt Compax.

The only upgrades from 215/218 to 68/69 are in the Micro-rotor and the winding mechanism - nothing that effects time keeping in a major way. I don't own one personally, but from what I hear, the keyless works on the 69 is a bit more finicky, at least when it concerns the Sub and Super references. That may just be a result of the screw down crowns though.

I had never seen the 69 used in the Polerouter Dates, but it makes sense since UG stopped using the cal 218 in 1962 and the model was in production until 1968. As an aside, an italian dealer told me that cal 218's (218-2 in my watch) are the most rare since they were made for only two years, but I don't think that effects the value of these watches too much, if at all.

 

That makes sense since my watch dates to ~ 1965

 

For a bit more than $1200, u could get a solid gold example!

Here's my cal 215.

 

Thank you for the the information--very insightful. I guess i'll just have to wait till you are ready to sell your beautiful specimen

 

And my steel black dialed version for reference ( sans date ) :

 

Here are some photos of the one I'm looking at. I'm told the dial is all original, but not the strap. I'm waiting on work on the crystal but it all looks almost too nice. Thoughts? @jordn @gatorcpa

 

Saw this one on ebay. The dial doesn't appear to be refinished and the crystal looks correct, but it's a no go for me at that price. The logo is off-center, the lugs have lost a lot of their sharpness, and the lume plots look a little iffy

 

Man, I have so much to learn as it pertains to the details of these watches. I looked at the polerouter.de page and the dial that resembled this was a cal 69 where the lume didnt have a black outline as the one for sale. And the logo does look off-center. Really appreciate the input as this price is too hight for something that feels a little off. (below is a reference photo from polerouter.de)

 

As always, I appreciate your input and knowledge. For my education, what do you mean when you say the lugs are not sharp?

 

Since we are playing "You show me yours and I'll show you mine"...