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Post your Universal Geneves

EdwardNY
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Larry S Larry S
@EdwardNY ... Unfortunately the first and last are definitely redials. and bad ones. I'm not hopeful, but not completely sold as yet on the Compax 30 being wrong but I also cant find any like it. . Perhaps someone with deeper experience could weigh in. Regardless, it is the most presentable of the three. Do consult the forum in the future before you buy and be wary of dealers.. Sorry we had to be the bearers of tough news.

I'm bringing the gold Tri watch to another NYC UG service place to get another opinion. If they confirm what you are saying I am bringing this up with the dealer. For what I paid there should be no issues certainly on the dial.
 
Larry S
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From Sala... you can see the issues with your watch.

IMG_5206.JPG IMG_5207.JPG
 
rolokr
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EdwardNY EdwardNY
I'm bringing the gold Tri watch to another NYC UG service place to get another opinion. If they confirm what you are saying I am bringing this up with the dealer. For what I paid there should be no issues certainly on the dial.
It's 100 percent redial, I'm not sure on the compax, but they probably are all three redials.
 
Florent
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EdwardNY EdwardNY
I'm bringing the gold Tri watch to another NYC UG service place to get another opinion. If they confirm what you are saying I am bringing this up with the dealer. For what I paid there should be no issues certainly on the dial.

100% redial, sorry 🤔
 
rolokr
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EdwardNY EdwardNY
Now I'm wishing I hadn't posted the watch ☹️ Regardless at what I paid I'm very happy with it. The dealer says it was bought directly from original owner and wasn't touched but you are right about the Tri compax lettering on the dial vs another 12266 I found. Lessons learned I guess, it will affect the resale down the line but not really intending to sell it.
I think it is better to post them, critical analysis and information about the originality of ALL components of vintage watches is what collecting is all about and determines value. I guess if you understand this and want to overpay for a redialed watch, and don't really care about originality, laymen won't lnow the difference ! But you know it's not a gem, and resale value will be more on the parts watch side ! I guess I would rather have one mint original condition watch, than three redialed ones !
 
Florent
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If you want to start a "real" UG collection focused on originality and rarity, I suggest you to get a refund from the seller 😉
 
bgrisso
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No need for a second opinion on the gold tri, definitely go back to the seller.
 
Oku
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May be we should tell him more about the obvious issues of the Tri.
- No Tri-Compax on the dial
- Universal Geneve not below day sub-dial
- No Circle around the day sub-dial
- Sub-dials not centered
- Sub-dial fonts wrong
- Seconds and minute sub-dial should have simple lines, no scale
- Font of Tachy is wrong
Anything else I missed?
 
Oku
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Larry S Larry S
@EdwardNY ...
I'm not hopeful, but not completely sold as yet on the Compax 30 being wrong but I also cant find any like it. . Perhaps someone with deeper experience could weigh in. Regardless, it is the most presentable of the three.

Here are some better pics of the watch:
www.ebay.com/itm/172788039107
 
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Larry S
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Oku Oku
Here are some better pics of the watch:
www.ebay.com/itm/172788039107
The ones that have dials like that in Sala had the tachy snail scale as well. Very early watch ... price reflects fact that selller knows it's a re dial. Reasonably priced repair and it's a nice daily wear.
 
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EdwardNY
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Thanks to everyone for all of the information. I bought the watch just a few weeks back and had it inspected by several local vintage dealers yesterday who concluded the same. Going back to the dealer because this was not disclosed. The differences are pretty obvious now comparing it to other same serial number watches 🙁

The other watches are not investment pieces they were bought at parts prices so totally different.
 
Larry S
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@EdwardNY, Brick and mortar dealers mostly serve folks who are looking for a cool old watch and charge higher prices to cover their overhead. Most are notorious for selling redials and franken without remorse. There are however legitimate dealers who serve both the collector community and the non WIS crowd. The community here is very experienced. Buying and selling here is largely safe as well. Get yourself a copy of Sala and use the search function. Post before you buy and contribute to the knowledge base here. Unfortunately there is no Sala for three hand watches although there are ad pics in Sala and plenty of knowledge here. Ref. and SN refers to case only so you need to period triangulate on dials and hands. UG is basically out of business, parts are dear and they allowed for a lot of customizaion and variation as a going concern. Dealing with and comfort with ambiguity is a skill you need to master with UG. There was however no ambiguity on two of the three you posted.
 
gop76
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EdwardNY EdwardNY
Going back to the dealer because this was not disclosed.

It's the best move. Please come back here and tell us what happened, we like to know who is who in the dealers world😉
 
jumpingsecond
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gop76 gop76
It's the best move. Please come back here and tell us what happened, we like to know who is who in the dealers world😉

The dealer is vesper in nyc. I've had some intetaction with him on a recent trade and I can tell you caveat emptor should be foremost on the mind from my 1 time experience. Luckily for me I've been on here long enough that I knew to seek guidance through a resident expert who helped clarify why the deal should be avoided and it was!

Again this was just my single experience with them and maybe he is great to deal with on other occasions but the general rule applies Imo to any dealer- caveat emptor.
 
gop76
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jumpingsecond jumpingsecond
The dealer is vesper in nyc. I've had some intetaction with him on a recent trade and I can tell you caveat emptor should be foremost on the mind from my 1 time experience. Luckily for me I've been on here long enough that I knew to seek guidance through a resident expert who helped clarify why the deal should be avoided and it was!

Again this was just my single experience with them and maybe he is great to deal with on other occasions but the general rule applies Imo to any dealer- caveat emptor.

Yes, i know the dealer is Vesper but what i wanna know (and i'm not the only one, i believe) is how he behaves in front of an unsatisfied (because more informed) buyer. His behaviour, and how he deals with the situation, will tell a lot more how he faces his business and his clients than a mistake (??) he could have commited
 
EdwardNY
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Still waiting to hear if this can be resolved. Studying the pictures of original dial it's now blatantly obvious that several things are wrong. Missing print, Universal Gevene inside of subdial instead of below it, etc. The dealer has offered to refund if ALL 3 dealers that inspected it would state in writing that the watch has been redialed which of course they won't. Several weeks have passed since the purchase but being a noob I had no reason to be suspicious of a dealer watch. Pretty costly mistake not having it checked out immediately.
 
rolokr
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EdwardNY EdwardNY
Still waiting to hear if this can be resolved. Studying the pictures of original dial it's now blatantly obvious that several things are wrong. Missing print, Universal Gevene inside of subdial instead of below it, etc. The dealer has offered to refund if ALL 3 dealers that inspected it would state in writing that the watch has been redialed which of course they won't. Several weeks have passed since the purchase but being a noob I had no reason to be suspicious of a dealer watch. Pretty costly mistake not having it checked out immediately.
Why don't you have the dealer read this thread ?
 
10H10
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EdwardNY EdwardNY
Still waiting to hear if this can be resolved. Studying the pictures of original dial it's now blatantly obvious that several things are wrong. Missing print, Universal Gevene inside of subdial instead of below it, etc. The dealer has offered to refund if ALL 3 dealers that inspected it would state in writing that the watch has been redialed which of course they won't. Several weeks have passed since the purchase but being a noob I had no reason to be suspicious of a dealer watch. Pretty costly mistake not having it checked out immediately.
Well, at least we know that this seller is either ignorant or more probably dishonest with plenty of bad faith !
 
gop76
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EdwardNY EdwardNY
Still waiting to hear if this can be resolved. Studying the pictures of original dial it's now blatantly obvious that several things are wrong. Missing print, Universal Gevene inside of subdial instead of below it, etc. The dealer has offered to refund if ALL 3 dealers that inspected it would state in writing that the watch has been redialed which of course they won't. Several weeks have passed since the purchase but being a noob I had no reason to be suspicious of a dealer watch. Pretty costly mistake not having it checked out immediately.

That's not what we'd like to ear. So, we have here one more dealer who doesn't respect his business or his clients. That was what i was talking about knowing who is who in the dealers world. Now we know who Vesper is...

Maybe you'll find a good dial along the way (they appear from time to time) but for now enjoy your watch.
 
Larry S
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An argument to name and shame in every case of bad behavior by dealers on this forum. Disgusting. Hang here and power up your product knowledge. I'm sure a dial will come along.
 
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