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Strap and buckle sizes for Tri Compax

Carlton-Browne
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CafeRacer CafeRacer
E.g. theres another one on NOS Unisonic here (video): https://pictame2.com/media/B_lPJt-H3Fc/
But I cannot make out if there is an imperial/metric strap size on it.

Im guessing by "Tiffany & Co" dial print, your example above was US-market also...?

Thank you on a couple of counts; I wasn't being difficult - I just wanted to make sure you weren't referring to the other buckle in my post. I actually own one of those green dial Unisonics (or rather my wife does) so it's useful to have that video for reference.

I'm also guessing that the Tiffany White Shadow is US-market, as you say. Everyday's a schoolday on OF.
 
CafeRacer
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Carlton-Browne Carlton-Browne
Thank you on a couple of counts; I wasn't being difficult - I just wanted to make sure you weren't referring to the other buckle in my post. I actually own one of those green dial Unisonics (or rather my wife does) so it's useful to have that video for reference.
I'm also guessing that the Tiffany White Shadow is US-market, as you say. Everyday's a schoolday on OF.

Im not saying its "fact" - there just seems to be a lot (relatively) of these turning up on US-market 70s UG, so it feels like a bit fo a stretch to put it down to a coincidence.
Maybe others can chime in on where they have found their "wire buckles" (if theres not already a name for them).
 
Woops
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CafeRacer CafeRacer
Im not saying its "fact" - there just seems to be a lot (relatively) of these turning up on US-market 70s UG, so it feels like a bit fo a stretch to put it down to a coincidence.
Maybe others can chime in on where they have found their "wire buckles" (if theres not already a name for them).

I have most commonly heard this style called a ‘tang’ buckle (I’m sure the Italian and French nouns are far more elegant, as they often are). I also have mostly seen them attached to 30s and 40s watches, albeit in solid and plated yellow gold, and shared @Carlton-Browne ’s surprise that they appear to have been shipped with more modern pieces.

4922E8DC-807E-457A-8AF0-3C727D8D0E58.jpeg 44066452-0A68-475F-87B7-877BE584E326.jpeg


I am not doubting that these steel tangs were attached to later watches. However, it just seems bizarre to me (and very UG) that a 70s Unisonic wasn’t offered with the ‘fat U’ packaging across the board. Something more akin to one of these seems more much fitting;

A69B68C1-FFAF-42E1-B790-0481B910EDFF.jpeg 638BA0AE-4EC1-4B51-8C59-914A145D62BD.jpeg


I wonder if simply Universal just emptied all of the supply cupboards as the company struggled to survive the economic hardships of 70s and stay solvent using old stock. It would somehow be almost perfect if some of the last proper watches out of the maison were twinned with some of the oldest buckles lying around the place.
 
bgrisso
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Can anyone identify what this 26mm grey suede strap would have been for? it tapers to a 16mm SS U buckle. I find it interesting that it's held in a fat U logo bag.
 
E784699C-A256-43B1-A4BC-A3757CC9D94E.jpeg 9D58A1E3-C0F7-434A-A3B9-825F3E640ED9.jpeg BD2E88D7-AF94-4A29-8C63-B73997F9B79A.jpeg 49FC9752-0218-49C4-9B42-19CDE36F1338.jpeg
bgrisso
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T Timetosell
Pilot compax ? That’s very wide !

I had the same thought but universalone takes 22mm
 
Carlton-Browne
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bgrisso
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Carlton-Browne
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Read further up the thread - the Unisonics and White Shadow Quartz (i.e. my Tiffany dial one) came with buckles that were arguably even earlier. We have no idea why this is the case.
Edited:
 
Woops
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Carlton-Browne Carlton-Browne
Read further up the thread - the Unisonics and White Shadow Quartz (i.e. my Tiffany dial one) came with buckles that were arguably even earlier. We have no idea why this is the case.

I second this. The theory further up this thread was that maybe UG just emptied all the stock trays of everything as they hit cashflow issues in the 70s. In that case, a 1950s strap and buckle in fat ‘U’ 70s packaging would make sense.

However, what UG timepiece from the the 1950s would need such a massive strap in the first place?!?! It’s twisting my melon. I can’t think of anything, especially with the curved spring bars. It would surely need to be something military, such as the Cairelli bomb timers, for example. Or maybe Universal inexplicably printed up stock samples of every lug size for some strange Swiss reason? Argh. Even the UG straps are a nightmare. :whipped:
 
Carlton-Browne
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872101
872101.png
 
Woops
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Carlton-Browne Carlton-Browne
872101
872101.png

Ah right, I see now. The U logo on the 872101 dial is a better fit for the shield logo on the (presumably original 50s) buckle than the fat U I had in mind.

So just the buckles were recycled. The straps were cut and printed new for this reference. Phew. As you were.
 
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