Having been looking at 1940s UG chronographs lately, I was interested to stumble upon the following Hodinkee write up about the history of UG distribution. But the watch they featured -- (a co-signed Hermes chronograph) looks like a full-on redial! Is it just me? Is it that" Hermes UGs" didn't have the same dials? Or could it be that in those oh so early days (2011) they just didn't know? http://hodinkee.squarespace.com/blo...eneve-chronograph-retailed-by-hermes-and.html Interesting piece nonetheless - although experts here I realize probably know much more.
it's not the double signature I was referring to but the apparently brand new paint and texture on the dial, the flatness of the subdials etc.
The possibility that the watch in question is a redial has been discussed before on this site. There is room for skepticism.
It's not just you. There are multiple problems, to my eye. Ink thickness is a big one. And the dial doesn't compare very well with the advertisement. Not the same layout of wording or style of hour subdial numerals, for starters. And I would expect "FAB SUISSE" for a French market watch, as we see in the ad, not "SWISS."
Can you post a link to the previous discussion? All I'm finding is the link below. Not sure this dead horse was ever properly beaten. https://omegaforums.net/threads/what-the-h-ll-is-this-hermes-chronograph.1909/#post-21014
Thanks gents for your thoughts. Interestingly it seems very hard to find any other pictures of co-signed Hermes examples on line, except perhaps for a very fine black one which was sold by Cars and Watches. One wonders how many of those may have been salvaged in private collections or in people's forgotten drawers.... Best regards and happy holidays, S
I am slightly sceptical, but leaning on the fact that this might be an all original dial. The details so far looks good to me, but just thought that the patina on the lume looks too perfect and I am suspicious in nature. But well, overall, it looks original still. Innocent until proven guilty. ;-)
Last week I was quietly watching a fine Girard-Perregaux Olimpico, when days before the finish the bidding went ape. Now I see it was the featured "Bring a Loupe" watch last week. $10K for that watch is... impressive.
That's why I hate Hodinkee. That watch was mine until that Bring a loupe thing. I had been looking for one for a year.
That's what I thought. It might have been yours, but I would have punished you for it; I thought my snipe was stupid-high, but I was priced out well before the finish. There were a lot of eyes on that one even before it got Hodinkeed, so maybe there was already someone even stupider in line. Considering the rarity, condition, beauty, size of the watch, not to mention papers, I get it. The good news is that my Christmas chrono slush fund could be directed elsewhere...
I don't have the energy to look through the threads right now - but I do remember a discussion about it - perhaps several times.
It was a beauty, wasn't it? Razor sharp. I agree it would have been a battle with or without the Hodink-ification. Though, with that particular watch making Hodinkee, it probably changed from a battle not among vintage chrono collectors, but instead to a battle among biggest-modern-Paneri-I-can-find type guys on a lark. Then, you pay $10K for it because it was on Hodinkee and relatively cheap.