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Early Polerouter Sub Discussion

jimmythebuyer
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CafeRacer CafeRacer
A 1970 "service dial" doesn't necessarily mean the dial was made in 1970 - It could have sat in the parts cupboard until required.
IIRC around this time Tiffany & Co. were printing their own name to the dials, not the factories.
(At least apparently for other manufacturers, no idea about UG since there are so few that have surfaced).

Again though, there is no way a service dial and that chapter ring in 1970 would leave the factory with radium in it. Radium was illegal by then. It would be tritium used in the luminous material.
 
CafeRacer
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jimmythebuyer jimmythebuyer
Again though, there is no way a service dial and that chapter ring in 1970 would leave the factory with radium in it. Radium was illegal by then. It would be tritium used in the luminous material.
The Tiffany & Co cupboard, not the UG cupboard.
 
CafeRacer
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Just putting another theory out there...
We see Subs with "full lume" hour markers and "dot lume" hour markers (for want of a better description).
If the US-market pieces were assembled/cased locally (USA), there seems to be a good chance that the lume have been applied in the USA also...
So, could the full lume dials be indicative of a US-market piece?
Need to trawl back through subs to look for other US-market signs, e.g. 17 jewel movements, cases with "stainless steel" printed on them, etc... 😵‍💫
 
Woops
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CafeRacer CafeRacer
Just putting another theory out there...
We see Subs with "full lume" hour markers and "dot lume" hour markers (for want of a better description).
If the US-market pieces were assembled/cased locally (USA), there seems to be a good chance that the lume have been applied in the USA also...
So, could the full lume dials be indicative of a US-market piece?
Need to trawl back through subs to look for other US-market signs, e.g. 17 jewel movements, cases with "stainless steel" printed on them, etc... 😵‍💫

I have also been wondering about this. If your tantalising theory is correct, maybe this could explain why we so often see the distinct split in first generation Subs between “full lume hour markers” paired with no lume inner bezels (potential US market) versus “dot lume hour markers” paired with lumed 0-20 inner bezels (everywhere else)?
 
Wildboar
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My thoughts are that it’s simply the non Polerouter sub marked dials with full lume markers, triangle lumed bezel and two short crowns are the earliest versions. As far as I can see they all have earlier serial numbers as well.
I think the smoking gun on this is the Polerouter sub adverts on cafe racers website which show the earliest versions of the watch with descriptions in French! Now if only I could find an original advert with a date!
 
Mazoue
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Wildboar Wildboar
My thoughts are that it’s simply the non Polerouter sub marked dials with full lume markers, triangle lumed bezel and two short crowns are the earliest versions. As far as I can see they all have earlier serial numbers as well.
I think the smoking gun on this is the Polerouter sub adverts on cafe racers website which show the earliest versions of the watch with descriptions in French! Now if only I could find an original advert with a date!

It would be great to have some analysis recording the characteristics of the examples we’ve seen, which should help us identify patterns.

Anyone fancy the challenge?
 
Mazoue
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T Timetosell
Looks like a second execution which are poor case and dial quality !

Just one of the 'Australian' fakes.

Lots about them in the thread above.
 
loniscup
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I think this belongs here right? I remembered this thread as soon as I saw it.
It was auctioned yesterday on Antiquorum

2.png
 
Mazoue
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Did it sell?

I e-mailed them as soon as I saw the catalogue but didn't receive a response.
 
loniscup
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Yes I think it was sold at 4800 CHF. Probably without the fees
 
aap
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LaurentBxl LaurentBxl
the website says sold for 5625 swiss francs.

Sad that it sold at all, more so for the much!
 
southtexas
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aap aap
Sad that it sold at all, more so for the much!

Is it a straight up fake? I don’t know much about this model.
 
mbex
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Hello,
I would like to thank everyone in this thread for their contributions. I recently purchased a Polerouter Sub SC from an online estate auction. As a UG rookie, I did not do my research in advance of bidding. I was too excited about finding this in the wild so to speak. When the watch arrived and I started to do my post purchase research, I noticed that the watch had some different characteristics than what I was finding. This thread helped me keep my sanity. Here are a few pics of my acquisition. Please pardon my poor photography. The model # is 20369\1TA.
The serial is 22303XX. The case back is stamped stainless steel and it has beveled lugs.
tempImageCVJfzM.png tempImageW6tvqc.png tempImageIREUGv.png
 
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