I recently acquired my grandfather’s 1950s Tri Compax. The watch is in excellent shape but hasn’t been worn in 30 years and I doubt was ever serviced. Who would you recommend for a full service in the US?

 

Welcome


We all love pictures of cool watches, especially heritage watches


What part of the US, generally? Members can help with a more narrow focus.


Yikes, just saw your username.....so.......nevermind on my last point



and many threads here on Tri Compax watches


tri-compax-22543-circa-1945.56119

 

Searching the forum for previous threads on this topic would be a good start, the question is asked multiple times per week. Personally I'd suggest using google, and limiting the search to the omegaforums.net domain. Something like the following. You can also try different keywords, obviously.

 

Yes, these are complex machines and need TLC before wearing. We would appreciate pictures to help you with valuation (cost/benefit) and your location, but for Tri Compax, I will recommend two.. MJ Watch Service in Glenview IL (the shop services my collection very effectively) and RGM Watch Co in Mt Joy PA. There may be others. Some will not work on these due to parts availability. You need a shop with a good vintage parts network. Range of prices $450 to $1500 depending on the watchmaker.

 

Just uploaded a couple photos. It’s in very good cosmetic shape for a watch he wore every day for 40 years. Looks better than in the photos. The reset on the chrono does not stop at 12, more like 1 or 2. Otherwise seems mostly ok but I haven’t checked the complications

 

Don’t mess with this anymore. Get it serviced. No matter what, never work the little corrector buttons on the left side with the time between 6pm and midnight.

 

Your grandfather had this serviced at some point. 60’s i’d guess. UG issued service moon disk and chrono hand. Looks like the minute counter base might be damaged but functional. Hour and minute hands are also not original but they will suffice. Dial and case look good indeed. I assume the movement is fine as well.

 

Any thoughts on where I could get a vintage moon disk?

 

First you need to find out what caliber this is by having a watchmaker open the case. Then my priority if I owned this watch would be getting the watch serviced, correct H/M hands, the chrono hand. Those will be very difficult as parts are becoming very hard to locate. The reason moon discs were replaced is that they degraded. UG gave up on faces late 40s early 50s. Changing moon and buying an expensive buckle(yes that’s what they sell for) , low priority.

 

Thank you Larry for the advice. Can you send a link to where I could see what the correct hands should look like? The hour and minute hands look black in the picture, but I believe they are gold that turned black.

 

Will send.

 

Hi … as promised :
Gold leaf hands .. chose this picture from Sala because it includes your chrono hand (which I might keep) … there are blued versions out there which would also work.

Or Gold Dauphene hands

 

Thank you Larry. The hands on my watch to me look very much like those in the top photo. The hour and minute hands didn’t come out correctly in the photo and while they are dark and tarnished, they appear to be gold. My model number is 12296, is this a 37.5mm case? Yellow or pink gold? I know you answered before that the band for this watch should be 18mm, but a dealer is telling me this is a jumbo case and should take a 19mm band. Is that correct?

The watch is on its way to Rik Dietel. RGM is backed up 6-8 months. Rik did a fantastic job servicing my 1965 Rolex 5513 gilt dial. Photo below. He has mainsprings for the UG and he can service the UG IF it doesn’t need other parts. Otherwise I’ll just have to send it to RGM and wait my turn.

 

Wow! Will measure my oversized case and advise. My 5513 matt says hi.

 

That’s a beautiful 5513. I see you have the rivet bracelet. Unfortunately mine was replaced with the newer folded link bracelet when I serviced the watch in 1976. Also, unfortunately, my dial was damaged beyond repair and it was redone in 2017 by Rik Dietel. He sends them off to London to a specialist that does amazing work. The folks in RolexForum got all upset thinking I’d sell it as a NOS watch … would never happen as this as my great uncle’s watch. The UG and the 5513 will stay in the family.

 

Larry, any thoughts on the provenance of the band? Is it possible the band is yellow gold and the watch is rose gold? The other 12296s I see out there are rose gold.

Also, Rik Dietel has very high quality superdome replica crystals for 5513s. I’m having one put into mine. He does excellent work on Rolex.

 

I went back to my files and yes on a 37mm case the strap size is 19mm. If this has female spring bars you might want to get a strap that isn't stiff. I got a brand new Hirsch for mine and it was a bear to install. It was 19mm by 16mm.

 

Def yellow gold. Are the any markings on the band?