Having seen a number of people ask "What is a Polarouter?" or "Aren't they called Polerouters?", I've written an article about the identifying features of the Polarouter.
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The Polarouter was introduced in late 1954 following the historic SAS Polar flights but it was most likely renamed as the Polerouter within just a few months. Polarouters are therefore scarce as they were produced for just a short period and in small numbers.

I’ve tried to list and illustrate some of the distinguishing features of Polarouters below.

Serial number

Although the 20217-6 SAS Polarouters are thought to be the first Polarouters, there are examples with earlier serial numbers. Known Polarouter serial numbers range from 1’647’xxx to 1’691,xxx. Polerouter serial numbers don’t start until 1’7xx’xxx.

Case reference number

The Polarouter case reference numbers do not have an S or H prefix; they start with 20214 for the gold-capped cases and 20217 for the stainless steel cases.

There are known to be six variants of the 20214 i.e. 20214-1, 20214-2 etc. Similarly, there are six known variants of the 20217. Advertising suggests more variants might have been produced but I‘m not aware of any examples.

There are a few known examples of watches with Polarouter case references and 1’6xx’xxx serial numbers but Polerouter dials. More are needed to reach a firm conclusion but it does seem feasible that these are transitional models with Polarouter cases and Polerouter dials.

Dial

The dial should of course have “POLAROUTER” printed on the dial. It is typically found in the upper half of the dial printed below “UNIVERSAL GENÈVE”.

The text is oblique and the typeface is relatively plain without serifs or with modest serifs. The colour of the “POLAROUTER” text can be different to the other text printed on the dial. Close study of the text under a loupe reveals that that the “POLAROUTER” text was added after the other text and cross hair.

The letter “A” in “POLAROUTER” is typically pointed unlike the letter “A” in “UNIVERSAL” or “AUTOMATIC”. Seemingly, the only exception to this rule is the SAS Polarouter with case reference 20217-6, which has a flat-topped letter “A” in “POLAROUTER”.


20214-4 dial


Close-up of the same 20214-4 dial


Close-up of a 20214-5 dial


Close-up of a 20217-6 dial - note the flat-topped A in POLAROUTER

Case

Polarouters have screw off case backs with six square notches. The case reference number and serial number are stamped on the outside of the case back, as is the Universal Geneve logo and the word “WATERPROOF”.


20214-3 case back with personal engraving


20217-6 case back

On the inside, the case backs are all stamped with the HF logo of the case maker Huguenin Frères. The gold capped watches have additional text in French describing that the cases are capped in 14 carat gold 250 microns thick and that the case backs are stainless steel.


20214 case back inside


20217 case back inside

The Polarouters with 20214 and 20217 case references actually had slightly different case designs to the later bumper Polerouters; the way in which the crystals are mounted is different and the required crystals are of a slightly different size. The later bumper Polerouters will have S20214 and S20217 case references and polygonal screw off case backs.

Of course, many crystals have been changed however I have seen enough Polarouters with signed crystals with the etched Universal Geneve logo to believe that all Polarouters left the factory with a signed crystal. You can just make out the etched logo on the close-up of the 20214-5 dial above.

Marker ring

There are two styles of marker ring that I believe were unique to Polarouters.

Firstly, there is a ring with narrow hour markers. It has a double hour marker at 12, wide markers at 3, 6 and 9 but narrow markers in between. This style of ring is seen in gold on the 20214 references and in silver on the 20217 references. It is the style of ring used on the 20217-6 SAS Polarouter.


20214-5 dial with narrow hour marker ring type


20217-6 dial with narrow hour marker ring type

There is another style of marker ring seen on 20214 references that I think is unique to Polarouters. It is gold coloured but rather than the usual radial markings between the hour markers, the lines are concentric circles. I’m only aware of this style of ring being used on 20214-1 and 20214-2 case references.


Close-up of a 20214-2 dial showing marker ring with concentric circles and original crown

Although I believe the marker rings described above were unique to Polarouters, there are lots of Polarouter examples with standard marker rings and therefore it seems likely that these are also original and that not all Polarouters left the factory with one of the ring types described above.

Crown

It is very difficult to draw any conclusions regarding crowns because they have very often been changed.

I do think that there is at least one type of crown that was unique to Polarouters. The crown was signed and domed like the crown seen on later bumper models but the grooves on the crown were wider and there were fewer of them. These crowns were produced for both the gold-capped and steel Polarouters. The 20214-2 shown above has a crown of this type, although like many gold crowns, it is fairly worn.

There may have been other crown types that were unique to Polarouters although I personally believe that all Polarouter crowns would have been signed.


These should not be viewed as hard and fast rules. It is not always easy to establish what is factory original, since watches have been repaired or restored over the last 65 years. They are my conclusions based on the small sample set that has survived and that is available to study. As is often the case with Universal Geneve, few records exist leaving us the gift of unexplained inconsistencies to ponder and debate.

 

Thanks for this!

 

Fantastic work, huge thanks for sharing your knowledge to others

 

My pleasure, it's been something that I've been wanting to get off my chest for a while.

Credit is also due to @CafeRacer for his work cataloguing all of the Polerouter variants and particularly his records of serial numbers that I've relied upon.

 

Nice read. Thank you for the post.

 

Fascinating. We are in your debt.

I’d love to read about the movements in these watches. Their microrotors intrigue me.

 

The microtors come later. The Polarouters have the bumper Cal 138ss movement.

I'm sure there's more that could be written about the microtors but there's a very good summary here
http://polerouter.de/frameset-movements.htm

 

Thanks Andrew, its a great compilation that hopefully we can build on as we learn more!
The low volumes of these really make it difficult, but enjoyable when we discover something new

A summary of information on Polarouter and Polerouter movements here:
https://universalgenevepolerouter.com/movements/
N.B. we are currently getting to the bottom of the "high frequency" (or not!) 215-9 / 215-97 / 218-9 movements...

Scans from the UG Technical Manual
https://universalgenevepolerouter.com/caliber-215-x-218-x-138-x/
https://universalgenevepolerouter.com/cal-68-69/

 

Once again, thank you for all the hard work!

 

Very usefull infos here. Thanks for that.

 

Excellent post, however, I am almost certain that some Polarouters came with unsigned crowns, such as the one shown in the second black-dialed example in this article: https://thespringbar.com/blogs/guides/universal-geneve-polarouter. I have seen quite a few of them and own two, int Polarouter examples that do not appear to have been tampered with (for what that's worth!). I will post photos as soon as I get home.

 

The evidence I have seen overwhelmingly supports that all Polarouters and Polerouters came with signed crowns.
Earlier produced UGs came with signed crowns, I've seen many Polarouters which look untampered and have signed crowns, and there are even signed crowns featured on all Polarouters in the vintage advertising material:
https://universalgenevepolerouter.com/vintage-advertising/#PBump

So i see no logical reason or evidence why only some of them would come with unsigned crowns. This doesnt make any sense from an economic or manufacturing perspective. It is much more likely they have either been worn or polished away, or replaced (lets not forget, this is one of the most commonly replaced components, and the watches are now 65 years old).
Which crown types exactly came with which references, is more up for debate, in my opinion.
The 18k 10234-x references however could have been unsigned, i see no evidence to support that one either way, and examples are pretty thin on the ground.

I wouldn't rely too heavily on the examples from the springbar page - it was written some time ago so you need to assess them with all the other evidence we have since documented for them. The are even a few examples on that page that are clear redials. The page was a great construction, but we are finding more and more about them almost daily at the moment.

 

This is a treat Mazoue! We're grateful to you.

In learning about these watches I had not pick up on the early spelling variant. Your good photographs are an aid for us all.

I gained the impression that the Microroter models were more "desireable' than the bumpers. Is there any truth to that though?

 

Disregarding any special models, double signatures, etc, condition, originality, and black dials seem to be the top 3 that makes a polerouter most sought after at the moment, regardless of whether its a bumper or microtor movement.

 

With all due respect, your research is not conclusive. Your opinion that it would not make sense from an economic or manufacturing perspective does not constitute evidence that no Polarouters ever came with unsigned crowns. Watches #3 and #4 in this collection appear to have unsigned crowns: http://polerouter.de/frameset-sammlung.htm. You can say those are not original, but you do not know for sure. One of the realities of vintage watch collecting is that there is a lot we do not know, and a lot we may never know because definitive evidence is lacking. I have seen several Polarouters with unsigned crowns, and they are always the same type of crown with the same profile, and not a very common one at that (they all look like Watch #4 in the polerouter.de link above). At least admit that it is possible. These posts have a lot of influence. It would be a shame if someone were to buy an all original Polarouter with an original unsigned crown, but because of this post went out and replaced it with a signed crown not original to the watch.

 

I agree that would be a shame.

As I said in my original article, it was only personal opinion and my conclusions should not be viewed as hard and fast rules. Without wishing to put words into the mouth of @CafeRacer , he didn't seem to be speaking in absolute terms either - he did say it was 'much more likely'.

I happen to agree with him but that doesn't mean that we are definitely right.

 

Signed crowns were present in other manufacturers at the time, were not a Polarouter or UG novelty.

Why would a prestigious brand like UG let his biggest release, at least since the 40's chronos, leave the factory without signed crowns that were already present in other, more modest, models and brands?

 

I tend to agree.

It also strikes me as being consistent with the use of signed crystals. From previous discussions on that topic, I understand the Polarouter was most likely the first model to have a signed crystal. Why would UG not also use signed crowns which were already in existence and used for other models?

 

Excellent informative post

 

Received a Polarouter today. 20217-3
Crown is not signed.
Chapter ring with bold markers.