SAS Polarouter - Black Dial

Mazoue

I agree that judging whether the text is correct is easier said than done. There is very little consistency in the text in early Polarouters/Polerouters as shown by the table in this incredible post by @Severin

https://omegaforums.net/threads/pol...-a-brief-survey-with-some-observations.35888/

Mazoue

Gold text on a black dial will be printed.

By the way, can I see an inkling of gold "Swiss" text just above the chapter ring to the right of the central hour marker? Or, having looked at this dial for so long, am I beginning to see things?

Mazoue

I recently acquired this.

The text looks right in terms of font and quality of printing and it is perfectly aligned with the printed SAS logo, which seems to be of a consistent colour and quality of printing. It has narrow chapter ring markers and a serial number (1684xxx) that is sufficiently early and I think dates it to a time when the Polarouter was changing to the Polerouter. Case reference is 20217-4.

My slight concerns are that I've not seen one with a black dial and the dial is missing the "Polerouter" text.

My instinct is that it is genuine. What do people think? This is the only photo I have currently. I can provide more photos when the watch arrives.

Mazoue

I agree that things "looking right" is important. I suppose it was mainly that instinct that drew me to the watch in the first place.

With regards to your point about the mix of the gilt dial and silver hands and chapter ring, it is worth noting that a 20217-4 Polarouter (which is exactly what I think mine is, just with a different dial) had silver hands and chapter ring but also had gilt or gold text (other than the Polarouter text) and a gold crosshair as illustrated below.

Vitezi

Rather than a Polarouter/Polerouter, could the OP watch simply be a company service watch? Here's an example of a dial UG did for the beer company Anheuser Busch, circa 1952...note text placement in the lower half of the dial.

(thanks)

Dre

I believe that is my watch, and I believe the crosshair was originally white which then turned “tropical” as with the rest of the dial.

Dre

Can you please post a caseback photo that shows the serial and case ref?

Mazoue

Beautiful, thanks.

But the "Universal Geneve" and "Automatic" text was gold from the outset?

Mazoue

Sorry, terrible photo but this along with written confirmation of the numbers was enough with the limited time that I had.

ezlau

Worth noting that your watch has a screwback case and "Waterproof" stamping on it though.

Mazoue

Having now seen and handled the watch, I am much more confident that it is a genuine Universal Geneve SAS dial and not a fabrication. If it were not such a potentially rare watch, I would not have thought twice about the authenticity of the text or the emblem - it looks great to the naked eye and I think also stands up to scrutiny under a 10x loupe. The gold text looks amazing against the deep black dial.

I've taken lots of photographs and added below, those which I think are useful. The macro photos of the dial are difficult to capture because of the badly scratched crystal and the tendency of the camera to focus on the scratches rather than what I am trying to capture. Please bear in mind when reviewing the macro images that we are probably scrutinising the watch to a greater degree than many that are discussed on this forum. I suspect that irregularities could be seen on text from nearly all early 1950s Polarouters/Polerouters.

The numbers on the case back look fine but are a little faint. They are easily read with the naked eye when the light is at the right angle but not easy to capture with a camera. I've not yet removed the caseback but I can feel that it is a bumper movement when moving the watch around.

I would very much welcome your views.