The vendor of my recent acquisition said the crown was a replacement. Pics on the internet of a couple of other examples show the crown as domed and it has been described as signed. It resembles Polerouter crowns. Does anyone know if they would be a good substitute?
Strangely it doesn't have a serial #. That made me suspicious until I saw the movement # 9298 was also inscribed on the caseback. The case ref is 12501/1.
Strangely it doesn't have a serial #. That made me suspicious until I saw the movement # 9298 was also inscribed on the caseback. The case ref is 12501/1.
It’s amazing to me how few of any type of UG Railrouters turn up, much less the Chronometre variant(s). Very few seem to have survived. These watches were true tool watches and I imagine most had many parts changed over the course of their hard lives - you have an interesting project there for sure! I recently acquired a well-loved example of the elusive Railrouter 1205-0 fitted with a replacement crown. I eventually found the correct crown but only after going down the rabbit hole on these and meeting a few very helpful souls along the way. I agree @MattF is something of an oracle on these. For what it’s worth, @CafeRacer recently added Railrouters to his fantastic site and both Chronometre variants in both steel and yellow gold appear to show domed crowns; https://universalgenevepolerouter.com/photo-galleries/referencegallery/ Good luck - I can’t wait to see the finished article!
Thanks guys. The watch is in Vancouver while my friend there finds the most cost-effective way to send it to my watchmaker here in NZ. The vendor {in Canada) doesn't do any international mailing except to the US. He wasn't taking any chances of accidental damage, the package was 23X17X16cm/ 9”X6”X6” and opened revealed It's only the watch, no strap or band. So now it can be repackaged to a much smaller size.