Hopefully some of the more experienced forum members will be able to help with this one.
I've just spotted this Polerouter advertised for sale that's unlike any I've seen before. Caseback and possibly the case appear to be from, or the same as, a Polerouter Electric, hands look wrong, dial is an odd one but the printing isn't bad and similar to this:



Movement looks to be out of a chronometre







Interested to read what your thoughts on it are - cobbled together mess or something interesting.

thanks

 

I strongly suspect it's been cobbled together.

The watch was sold on ricardo.ch last week. Apart from it looking totally unfamiliar, the chapter ring looks dreadful to me, with the outer edge badly damaged right round its circumference.

There is another similar watch on ricardo.ch this week (picture below). The seller has a different name but the same address. It is described as possibly being a prototype. Again, it has a movement from a chronometer.

I agree that they are both similar to the watch in your first picture. What is the story behind that particular watch?

 

I've got very little information on the first watch other than this blog post where it's described as a "prototype" http://www.moonwatchonly.com/omega-...views/12-questions-only-to-balthasar-de-pury/
The case of that one appears to be different - slightly thicker.

Like you, I strongly suspect that both watches sold and currently listed on ricardo.ch are bitsas, my interest piqued by the relative scarcity of some of the components involved

 

Interesting, thanks. I remember seeing the watch on Instagram now.

 

A final note to conclude that the "prototype" sold on ricardo.ch and now listed on chronomania http://cda.chronomania.net/forum_entry.php?id=188088 is a bitsa; the dial was sold on ebay earlier this year



and the caseback is from a polerouter electric.

 

cobbled for me too ...

 

Good Evening to everyone,

I bought this watch last week-end on Ricardo to the person with various names located at the same place. I am a private collector who sometimes sell pieces to buy others, well nothing incredible. The photos on cda are mine as i sell often pieces on this forum.

A potential buyer contacted me and ask me details about the watch, i gave all the details i know. After his alert and further investigation i found that the watch isnt original. I asked for a fully refund and looking to send the watch back.

Thanks again to the person who alerted me,

I will keep you updated,

Regards,

Thery

 

Hoping for a swift resolution for you. Finding good, genuine examples is a bit of a minefield - the knowledge in this forum has saved me more than once. Good luck

 

I think an old friend resurfaced here. It went instantly but I never saw a price.

https://shop.analogshift.com/collec...as02751-prototype-universal-geneve-polerouter

 

And I quote “While this dial configuration was never issued for retail sale by Universal Geneve, this particular prototype dial was lovingly kept and cared for by a former UG employee, and was recently fitted into a complete case assembly to finally showcase how it might have looked if they were ever put up for sale in the 1960s.“

 

God damn. Wow. Analogshift are known to be quite reputable eh?

A friend mentioned to me that it's possible A/S took or bought an entire lot of polerouters...their gilt one was going for 4850usd.

 

LOL. How do you lovingly keep and care for a dial? Water daily and put in a nice sunny spot?

 

Wow, an homemade prototype...

 

Don't forget sing and talk to it daily; that's how they grow into such nice watches

 

to be fair to A/S, that passes as an honest description, at least to me. And the different chapter ring is better than the one from the OP.