Bought this charming piece on auction the other week



I bought it for two reasons, the first being the fact that it´s a PolArouter = a very early execution of the model. The other reason being that I saw a potential for it to renovate very nicely.

Today I received this picture from my watchmaker



It sure did renovate very well

Furthermore, what´s interesting with it, is that the reference is earlier than the others I have seen, 20217-4, with serial no 1.648.250



In this very readable thread, https://omegaforums.net/threads/1954-sas-universal-polarouter.3806/ one SAS Polarouter is shown, and it´s reference is 20217-6 with serial no 1.648.560. So my specimen is 310 no´s earlier than the one that was handed out to the flight engineer of that virgin SAS flight from Stockholm over the North pole to LA.

Since my specimen is revision 4, I wonder if anyone can show a -1, -2 or -3? Apparently there must be some of those too, even if there cannot be many of them.

Finally; a glimpse at the charming bumper movement, the cal 138SS



A very successful overhaul I must say, thanks to my watchmaker that has a great feeling in taking care of these old gems!

 

Congrats Martin, Thanks for sharing. Dan!

 

Congrats M! Very nice pick up, not a bad price too

And... DIBS!!

 

Fascinating, very lovely and we'll played, Sir! Congrats and thanks for sharing. Beautiful dial, super-crisp caseback engraving and a movement clean enough to eat off of.

This might be an incredibly dumb question, but I notice the chapter ring 12 is now located at the dial's 9 o'clock position. Is this simply a function of a photo taken while work was still-in-progress, or has it been returned to you that way? Thanks again for sharing.

 

Great pick up! As you know, these Polarouters are difficult to find in any condition. Looks like yours cleaned up nicely. Polerouters are a big interest of mine so I spent some time studying the polerouter.de site trying to gain some insight into the UG reference system. Like you, I originally assumed that a 20217-2 reference predates a 20217-4 reference but there are too many examples of outliers. Here is an example using a watch I’m wearing today. This is a 20217-2 but it’s a PolErouter and the serial number is in the 171X range, so clearly later production than your Polarouter but with an earlier reference number.




I now think that these numbers after the 20217 relate to dial variations (i.e. black, white, lume dots, etc.) but clearly not production date. Like everything else UG related, I have no way to be sure.

I do know that a 20217 reference signifies a stainless steel case and a 20214 number is used for gold capped. This advertisement from the era clears up this issue (ad referenced is from the polerouter.de site).



Here is my recent acquisition, a gold-capped PolArouter. I overpaid but it was love at first site.




Note the concentric rings consistent with the gold-capped PolArouters which really makes this stand out in comparison to other Polerouters. It’s heavy too. Mine has a reference of 20214-1 and a serial number of 1647709. Hope I’m not straying off topic but does anyone else have a Polarouter to share? Additional photos of that amazing SAS Polarouter are always appreciated. Can’t get enough of that one…

 

Whoa, nice catch!

 

Such a revelation to see what some proper gunk-removal may achieve! Congratz Martin. It is a truly desirable watch, and thank you for bringing it back to life and to our attention!

 

OMG, you´re right!! The ring is off-centered! Luckily my watchmaker still have it, so I´ll just tell him to adjust. Thanks alot for mentioning it!

 

This is very interesting! Thanks for the handy reference info.

 

Nice! Congratulations!

 

nice turnout! congrats

 

I'm not sure if I'm more jealous of your consistently amazing finds or your ability for your watchmaker to turn things around so quickly.

 

That's an amazing clean up job. Kudos to your watchmaker.

 

That's a proper job, well done.

 

Here is another Polarouter.
There is something about the chapter ring indexes which are thinner than "recent" Polerouter (1,2,4,5,7,8,10,11).

Model is 20217-3
Serial 1 684 044

 

What can you tell us about this watch? Is it yours? What's the story? Thanks in advance - you left us in such suspense!

 

You got my attention!

 

The difference between Polarouter and Polerouter chapter ring :

Large hour index here on a caliber 215 "Patented Rights Pending" :



And on the Polarouter, thin index :

 

Hello Severin,

Sorry to disappoint you but the story is short. I found it few years ago on the bay.
Watch and original box.

 

Guillaume: no disappointment at all - I appreciate you sharing your example with us and offering a very interesting observation re: thinner vs wider chapter ring indices! Also, it's great/inspiring to be reminded that such pieces might appear on places like ebay from time to time. Thanks again and all the best.