Nothing in 50 years then all of a sudden they start sprouting ... ? Seems a little strange or am i a little too suspicious !
The original owners would likely have been between 20 and 30 when they purchased them new. Worn for 20 years give or take and then relegated to the top drawer in the dresser or the cigar box in the closet. They sit there for 30+ years when for one reason or another they start seeing the light of day, if the kids and grand kids all think the cell phone is the only way to see what time it is we all have the chance to get it. I'd like to have one of those to hang around my wrist, what size are they?
Menta Watches has one on Ebay full set and on NOS condition. http://www.ebay.com/itm/201724050524?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:ITPurchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network
@erpin9 ..What @Rman that means is you had better read the extensive threads on this watch before you pull the trigger. Debate on this grew very heated and there are significant and un resolved issues with this watch.
I posted the link because for me it doesnt not look right. Sorry i was not aware that this watch was already the subject on another thread. Thanks for the info Larry.
To settle this debate I am willing to send my watch for full evaluation to someone reputable on this forum? although the watch I own is nowhere as clean as the other two in question! I am located in west palm beach, Florida.
Debate ? The one above is at auction. Hands are what we are used to on 2nd generation subs (like yours) . Shows signs of being messed around with as lume is inconsistent (look at six o' clock) and dial is the same as yours and Menta's (which sold for $6200 recently on ebay). You could send yours to someone local (Larry S?) but I would ask what is our objective and what are trying to prove. A good starting point would be publishing the model reference and the six most significant digits of the serial number ... Can you do that ?
Got the watch back and I will take pictures tonight. The stamped information on the case back cover (outer) is stamped with 869109/01 and below the model number is 24058xx and also stamped on the case back outer is stainless steel Swiss. The inner case back is stamped with the universal Genève logo and BREV.DEM 238872. The movement is a caliber 69 stamped PAT. 329805 under the micro rotor.
Well fredmaycoin, I have no idea why your watch has that dial (missing polerouter (fork) sub). The polerouter sub dial was well established by the time that serial number was stamped. The reference also corresponds to the later polerouter sub. Apparently, the case on the third one has a number stamped between lugs which I have never seen on any polerouter sub case (just checked my three). The case back does not have a serial or model number. I am starting to wonder if these dials were printed later (replacement dials) and have somehow found their way to the market. A bit of a mystery but unlikely to be transitional or other ... I am even more skeptical about first gen hands on a second gen case and unknown dial now!
Thank you for your professional analysis. so if I am reading this correctly, you are saying that the watch I purchased is and the 2 others are basically Frankenstein's? the only additional questions I have is with tooling being so expensive why would universal Genève go thru the trouble of creating a hand full of dials (missing polerouter (fork) sub)"? The other question I have is were all sub models fitted with the cal. 69 28 jewel movements? is there a possibility that this dial was supplied with 17 jewel cal. 69 movements? my watch has a 17 jewel cal.69 movement
No, that is not what I said. What I said is that that your watch is an 869xxx reference. By that time, polerouter sub models and script on dials was very well established. The fact that your dial does not have polerouter sub on it means that it is either an earlier dial fitted to a later case (but there is no evidence of that) or a service replacement dial produced by universal geneve or an authorised outfit at a later date (70s-80s). If it is a very early 60s dial, it should be signed "singer" all over the back as redialing would obliterate that ... There is no evidence to substantiate claims that the menta watch was originally produced by Universal Geneve. Till evidence is brought forward (another second generation polerouter sub with the same dial or same hands or both) significant doubts remain (and i have researched that particular one via some very reputable sources). The third one that I found, is likely to be a made up polerouter. Wrong crown (non screw down), wrong case (has features that I have never seen on a polerouter case) and dial has had some work done (just look at the luming at 6 o' clock). One thing is pretty clear, the menta is unique ... And on that note, as we have bashed this one to death, i think it is pretty much time we put it to bed until credible evidence is presented to validate claims.
It has all been said before. No there is not, I think three to date. I believe that the general consensus is that they are a bunch of odd balls. Probably put together or made up from odd parts certainly not prototypes or transitional. That dial unfortunately is not documented anywhere.
Why would a dive watch not have screw down crown and no Polerouter Sub on the dial ? These anomalies don't seem to have the right characteristics of a dive watch to begin with ? Water would go straight through the crown ?