Is there a forum consensus on black dials from this era? Legit and super rare... or something else? https://www.phillips.com/detail/UNIVERSAL/CH080117/221
I don't know about the forum consensus but looks a redial to me. And i have many doubts about the hands...
What an original finish black dial looks like. I can't say anything definitive about the hands, but I have seen two other occasions when these syringe hands were used *shoulder shrug*
I'm going with redial. The 3's in the sub dials are rounded, while the ones in the out scale are flat topped. I can't think of a legit dial that had miss matched 3's. Overall it just looks like a mess. Could be wrong though.
You are not wrong, excerpt from a listing found by @DirtyDozen12 "This is an amazing looking triple-Date moon phase chronograph complication produced my Universal Geneve in the 50’s. The stainless steel case measures 34mm. and displays fine condition. The manual winding and highly complicated UG movement was cleaned and accurate. The black dial was beautifully restored and maintains the original handset. The moon phase aperture retains the original paint and finish. You are going to love it."
Yes, I agree. The rounded 3s are always a tell tale sign of a refinished dial for this era UG. It's a shame auction houses such as Philips don't spend some of their returns on more thorough research prior to listing.
The real question is what helps their bottom line more, disclosure or underdisclosure? Seems like you could make arguments for both.
It could be, and if this is indeed the case then hat off to them, because it would mean that even though they should have done the due diligence to begin with at least they keep their eye open and they are honest enough to admit to errors and rectify them. A similar thing happened at their last auction with a Zenith gold El Primero chronograph that had a never seen before dial on a gold chronograph (the same as the A386, which is in steel). Also in that case the watch was discussed here and the eventually pulled it from the auction. I honestly think them and Christies are actually quite good and reputable.
The lot was pulled after myself and another collector contacted Phillips directly through social media channels. That dial had so many obvious issues its amazing they ever took the piece to begin with.