How did you come to collect and appreciate UG?

Dear UG Fans,
Hodinkee was giving the bounce to a very nice film Compax up for auction. The writer (I paraphrase) ) said that UG is mainly known for their chronographs and designs from the 40’s and 50’s and that few are talking about them these days. Fighting words, especially coming from the Dink who relentlessly pumped the brand back in the day, …so let’s talk about how we came to appreciate the brand.

My story is a tale of three watches and begins on a lovely September afternoon in 2015, in the Paris 7th winding down after a week of business. Post lunch and a bottle of wine, a colleague took me to his brother’s vintage shop where in his window were two 40’s TriCompax. I immediately asked to see them. I was enthralled by their complexity and style. To this point I had not paid much attention to Vintage save Rolex and Speedmaster. I immediately inquired about purchasing one and he flatly refused to sell them to me. “You cannot get them serviced in the States” said he. After hanging round the shop I managed to pry my 2998-6 from him with a friends and family discount. My first vintage…but UG had set its hooks.

Upon returning home I made the acquaintance of a local on line dealer who had this Outdoorsman for sale.

The Tri Compax still haunted me however and this came up on one of the vintage watch blogs for sale at Crown and Caliber. Furthermore it had an OF pedigree and a non issued military provenance (Royal Artillery). I was able to make a decent deal and it became mine. (of course when I posted it, someone called it a redial and was quickly corrected to my relief.)
Since then I’ve bought the Sala book, now with a taped spine, added a few more Tri’s, Compur, Compax, Uni Compax, Aero Compax and Polerouters. I’m fortunate to live in a place with decent watch makers so, yes, I can have them serviced in the states. I’ve missed the Nina/Clapton train and am not adding to my collection but I still enjoy them. Whats your story?

Early Hodinkee. My first one was a 18k Tankish model. Second was this Compur, a few weeks before joining OF.

OF has the big dogs of UG collecting in my opinion. Since joining OF I know that if I ever buy another, it will be from one of this Forum’s collectors.

Anything else seems too risky. My Compur is serviced and runs well, but man does it put the UG in UGly! I had four at one point. Sold three of them. Now I have the Compur and the Sala book.

Indeed, I would be remiss in not thanking OF members who helped me steer clear of the rocks and sirens.

My local watch shop guy knew I liked/obsessed over speedmasters. He called me up one day and said I have a watch for you. Do you want it? It was a rose gold UG that they bought from the family. I asked if I could come in the next day and look at it. I was going to say no, but he called and I wanted to keep that door open.

Next day, he shows me the watch and I say, shoot, I didn't want to buy another watch, here's my check. I spent about 30 minutes parked in the car staring at my wrist. It was just so beautiful.

I actually wore it quite often but ultimately sold it as I go through stages of trying to weed down the numbers. (I would have a pretty nice collection if i had kept everything I weeded out.🤦)

Here's a pic from the FS ad I had on OF. It sold to a local forum member (who got a good deal.)



I don't qualify as a UG collector since I don't have any now. But, I have come to believe that UG and Gallet are the nicest vintage brands. They have a clean and beautiful design that seems to have come at the height of the best of vintage watch making. Like Steve, I seem to see the best UG (and Gallet) in the collections of forum members. It's probably best that way, as I'm currently trying to weed down the numbers.😗

1 year ago, I went to the g2g and blacktalon had a Ferro strata MK2.with him. I instantly fell in love with the dial and design and total aesthetic. I saw that vujen knew where to get them and he landed me a set of mk1 and MK2 from the same original owner. I looked around at the line and really liked the white shadow, so I found one of those and have it on today. 😀

tri-compax-22543-circa-1945.56119


I essentially stopped the UG search after this one.....My haired turned Snow White and I developed a tick in my research and search.😁

UG broke me. Sala broke me. 😲😲

Love it, wear it🥰

Great idea Larry!
My first UG was a 18k compax which I bought in approx 2015-2016 from an online dealer. Looking back on it now, the watch was less than optimal from a condition standpoint, However it had an original dial but with a fair amount of wear. The teardrop lug case had been polished a bit, it’s got a funky crown, but the whole timepiece had a fairly consistent overall charm and patina. It was pleasant to look at- and important to me it ran nicely. My adult middle son loved the watch and its overall appearance, so I gave it to him at Christmas of 2017. He still wears it. His message to me tonight is “it’s running like a top” and sent this photo.


I joined OF late in 2017, and quickly found my way to the UG threads. A nice early “Fab Suisse” market Compur 30 had made its way around the hands of several members of the forum, and then turned up in the FS listings. It has a lovely rose gold 18k? case, which is my favorite tone for gold watches. I proceeded to buy it. I wear it periodically, perhaps every other month. It is still a very appealing, early chronograph to my eye.


I then began researching tri-compax watches. But the mistake I made was that I got impatient. I ended up rushing to to buy one. And the one I selected has some cosmetic issues with the case, and questions on the handset vs. the dial indices. The good part is that all functions work well, it keeps good time and is still appealing to me. The dealer I bought it from indicated it had been serviced prior to my purchase. And based upon how it has run and continues to run, I’d have to agree. But settling for the less than optimal aesthetics became a powerful lesson for me.


I got Sala’s book when it was released and continued to learn more about UG. However I have slowed my pursuit of adding more UG’s to my stash. At least for the moment.

“Not alone” is an understatement. Plenty of UG collections out there. That DeLux Polerouter!!!!🥰