Hi, I'm a new member here. Nice to have found a forum for Universal Geneve. As a way of introducing myself I'd like to show you my Polerouters. Best regards, Bjorn Since I discovered the Universal Geneve Polerouter I've become addicted to this watch. There is a variety of Polerouter designs. My kind is the original one designed by Gerald Genta, the one with the bombe lugs. The only problem is that there are so many models even of this one. Steel, gold capped and solid gold. Different dial colours. Different movements. All gorgeous. Small by today's standard, the diameter is 35mm. Perfect size for a dress watch. They are also thin, because the famous micro rotor movements are thin. Very elegant watches. High quality too. In fact they are so called manufacture watches, which means that everything is produced in-house. It started with one. That just fed the hunger. Five months later I found another I couldn't resist. Seven months after that I bought three in one month. So now there are five in my watch box. I'd like to show them to you, but not in order of acquisition. We start with a stainless steel one. It has the 215-07 movement. The watch seems to be completely original, and the dial has some dirt and patina. It is somewhat smaller than the others, but the lugs viewed from the side are chunkier. The second one is fitted with the 138ss bumper movement. The bumper, or hammer, makes a delightful tinkly sound - no, not that sound, the small bell variety. The black and steel dial is nice. It seems to be original, as you can see some patina under magnification. The case is more substantial to accomodate the thicker bumper movement. The microtor's, which is how Universal Geneve named the movements with a micro rotor, are very thin movements. It dates from 1955 - 1956. Next out is gold capped, also called gold on steel. This is a process were a layer of gold is melted onto the steel. On Polerouter's this cap is 300 microns thick, or 0,3mm. This thickness, compared to normally 30 - 40 microns with gold plating, makes it much less likely that the gold will be rubbed off in spots. The dial is white, and has probably been redone since there is a line through the logo. The crystal however, is original. It has the Universal Geneve logo at the centre. An inscription on the back indicated that it was made in 1966. The movement is the 218-9. This watch demontrated the quality of these movements when it ran for 30 days and was out a total of + 3 seconds for that period. Number four is my only Polerouter Date, so far. This is also gold capped. The serial number is almost gone, but if I'm right, and I could be wrong, it dates from 1965 - 1966. Here is the 218-2 movement. The -2 is the date version of the 218. It has since the picture was taken been given a full service. Here is the quartet together. And then number five. It is a Polerouter de luxe. Rose gold case, dial, hands and even logo, 18kt. Dates from 1960 - 1961. Almost flawless. Original crystal with logo. The movement is a beautiful 215-9. And some gratuitous shots for good measure. It came on a high quality genuine crocodile strap which complements it perfectly. Finally, a group shot of the quintet.
My newest acquisition says hello: Along with it's brothers: Outstanding Polerouter collection, Bjorn. gatorcpa