Forums Latest Members

INCOMING: Universal Geneve Tri-compax 222102/2 'Evil Clapton'

  1. Xeer Feb 1, 2020

    Posts
    360
    Likes
    792
    INCOMING x-posted on Instagram @jerxeer. If you've been following my watch collecting journey for long enough, you'll know that I've been hunting for an Evil Clapton (881101/02) for a long time now and missed out on a fantastic example from Japan a couple years ago (@Dre might recall). Fast forward to today, my friend Elias came across this peculiar piece model reference 222102/2 which the previous owner assumed was a 'wrong caseback', and had wanted to polish off the model reference or replace the caseback. Dedicated a fair amount of research with some of the leading UG collectors worldwide (@subregister ; @Diabolik ; @ELV web ; @jordn ) to discover these were the earliest examples of Claptons with serial 2,335,xxx dating to 1963/1964. So far all the examples we've found of the 222102 were in the same range within a thousand meaning probably less than 500 of the these in each dial variation 222102/1 and 222102/2 were made. Again I theorize but a good @subregister guess would be probably less than a 100 of these were ever made before they transitioned the model reference to the more commonly seen 881101. With that said, this is a very special piece and will be staying in the collection for a long time to come.
     
    4B764825-304B-4532-B01F-40B6F50D11AF.jpeg A2F7CAED-350D-47AA-9306-5FA1707E6FC1.jpeg 1A318E62-0080-4C68-8CDB-05EA51D00762.jpeg 5FB7A4D0-EDC8-4388-BB6C-25F60B91F06C.jpeg C68C869A-D56B-49E3-89A4-883B7D22B687.jpeg A299D950-CE98-4BD5-B211-3AC6F74F1B27.jpeg
    Edited Feb 4, 2020
    subregister, DSOTM, B.Frost and 35 others like this.
  2. CJpickup57 Feb 1, 2020

    Posts
    639
    Likes
    1,475
    Wow. Beautiful watch and great find!
     
  3. aap Feb 1, 2020

    Posts
    3,064
    Likes
    23,655
    Congratulations man!
     
  4. jumpingsecond Feb 1, 2020

    Posts
    822
    Likes
    2,139
    Great research and even greater watch:thumbsup:
     
  5. valjoux72 Feb 1, 2020

    Posts
    510
    Likes
    1,892
    110 out of 100! Might be one of the best weekend of your life!!
     
  6. loniscup Feb 1, 2020

    Posts
    334
    Likes
    420
    Stunning piece mate, congratulations!!!
     
  7. CafeRacer Feb 1, 2020

    Posts
    388
    Likes
    878
    condition looks great - i think i can spot the U shield in the plexi too :)
     
    Xeer and ELV web like this.
  8. Larry S Color Commentator for the Hyperbole. Feb 1, 2020

    Posts
    12,469
    Likes
    49,506
    I live vicariously! Well done. It’s magnificent.
     
  9. vujen Feb 1, 2020

    Posts
    857
    Likes
    3,346
    super,
    super,
    super super super,

    congrats!
     
  10. billving Feb 1, 2020

    Posts
    559
    Likes
    324
    Very nice
     
  11. fbf Feb 1, 2020

    Posts
    234
    Likes
    163
    That's beautiful...
     
  12. PrincipeAsturie Feb 1, 2020

    Posts
    37
    Likes
    37
    Amazing.
    Congratulations
     
  13. bgrisso Feb 1, 2020

    Posts
    3,120
    Likes
    6,877
    Beautiful watch, great research, way to start 2020 :thumbsup:
     
  14. Burr Feb 1, 2020

    Posts
    212
    Likes
    288
    Congrats! Nothing like feeling like you’ve found the needle in the haystack ;)
     
  15. filmir Feb 1, 2020

    Posts
    112
    Likes
    210
    :) so Nice!
     
  16. chronoboy64 Feb 1, 2020

    Posts
    1,441
    Likes
    11,944
    great catch, huge congrats and wear in good health :thumbsup:
     
  17. ClipperGMT Feb 1, 2020

    Posts
    34
    Likes
    258
    congrats!
     
  18. Woops Feb 1, 2020

    Posts
    541
    Likes
    2,419
    Love the shout outs, love the patience and, obviously, love the watch. Wear in good health and congratulations on the scoop.
     
  19. Xeer Feb 1, 2020

    Posts
    360
    Likes
    792
    Good eye as usual! Bet you've seen enough of them on Polerouters :p

    I see you can relate to that feeling! Yes indeed maybe 10000 out of 100 to finally have the watch in hand. It came directly from the Philippines (hand delivered!!)

    Cheers @Larry S you have a black hole of treasures in that vault as well. Who knows what you'll pull next..!

    I actually enjoyed the hours and days put into researching this piece before acquisition - all part of that ownership journey!!

    Definitely not for the faint of heart..! I do not recommend this to people who are too lazy to do their own homework!

    Cheers dude! It's all about the community here on OF that has been a big help throughout my UG collecting journey.

    Once again, special thanks to all you amazing folks at OF who make up this community:
     
    filmir likes this.
  20. Xeer Feb 2, 2020

    Posts
    360
    Likes
    792
    Gave the crystal a light polish (polywatch). Removed some minor scuffs! Looks even cleaner now
     
    C57E082E-7000-4377-AC24-67A3C9CF0DC3.jpeg
    fizz, yala, WhereMadnessLies and 10 others like this.