Hello everyone,

After an extensive hunt, I found my grail UG, an Evil Clapton that meets my requirements in terms of price an conditions... the watch will arrive next week.

Throughout this search process, I delved into reading and researching about this specific model. Being a very visual person, I began jotting down data in an Excel spreadsheet, which eventually led me to create a timetable which helped me in a visual way to see its production dates and some of its main characteristics.

After this idea and inspired by the book "Universal Genève - Ten" by Crosthwaite and Gavin, as well as by alphahands.com, I decided to extend and focus my table on the most prominent and desired Compax, Tri-Compax, and Uni-Compax models of the 60/70s.

I thought it would be a good idea to share this table with you all. I'm not introducing anything new; I simply sought a way to condense a lot of information onto a single page.

Below, I share the progress of this table. I appreciate any comments or suggestions for improvement. I really enjoy making these tables, and I learn a lot while doing them. I hope to continue finding solid information and free time to work on more models.

*And I apologize in advance for any mistakes, spelling, or typographical errors; I am working on polishing it gradually.

 

You've obviously put a lot if time in this. I also find information easier to digest in a table. The pictures are great too.

A suggestion is to move data that doesn't change yearly to the columns outside the year columns. For example, adding a column for nicknames and placing it near the reference and photos. Similarly, move the captions for dial, movement, serial range, strap to a column just before the first year.

 

Wonderful work!

 

It's a good idea, I'll work on something that is more standardized for each reference! Thank you

 

Thanks for sharing this is gold as a synthetic illustration!

 

Super effort, and I’m sure you’ll continue to add to and improve it! Happy to have a few examples of these incredible references in my own collection…but never enough!

 

Wow what an amazing chart, thank you for sharing your work!

As to Nina dial variants- why is there such a large gap in serials between MkI and MkII dials? During the gap period, were both types used indiscriminately, and would the same hold true for handset combinations? The more I look around, the more questions I find!

 

Beautiful infographic. Wish I was into vintage watches before these skyrocketed in price, as they are drop dead gorgeous.

 

How nice of you to share this with us!!! I'm sure it was quite a bit of work to get this into its' "prenetation mode"
Mush appreciated!! Thanks

 

Hi guys!

This weekend I had a little free time to make some changes and present the table information in a more organized and standardized way. I'm sharing the update, open to comments and any necessary changes.

Greetings and happy Sunday.
**Btw I just open an IG: https://www.instagram.com/watch.mmb/

 

Your chart is great and coming along very nicely with each refinement! In the meantime, if helpful to those with old eyes (like me), perhaps this picture - taken last night in Philadelphia with a friend and fellow collector who I don’t think is active on OF - might provide some easier “visibility” to what these special pieces look like!

 

Wow! What an epic UG gathering! Your photos are pure watch heaven Can’t get enough of those timepieces!

 

It is interesting to note the lag between the estimated production year based on the serial number and the watches shown in the UG catalogues.

- The 885103/01 and 885103/02 are both in the 1969 catalogue but the photos both show the MK1 dial
- From 1973/74 through to 1976/1977 they are shown with the MK2 dial and V3 sub-register hands

- The 885105/02 (Nina with pulsations bezel - not included in your table) is included in the 1973/74 catalogue through to 1976/77 (but missing from the 1975/76)

- The 885107/03 and 885108/04 are included in the 1974/75 catalogue through to 1976/77
- The 885107 seems to have V3 sub-register hands and the 885108 has V2 sub-register hands

 

I agree your conclusion that the Big Eye was never intended to be worn with a bracelet

 

Hello Mazoue,

Thank you for your response; all these comments are very helpful for continuing to update the information. The issue of production time vs sales time is a very interesting topic with these vintage watches. Some time ago, I created a similar table for four-digit Daytonas* (my other passion alongside UG), and it's a very similar situation. Watches were produced for a period of time, but the sales period was much longer, as watches could sit in Rolex stores for years without being sold, they keep pushing the marketing team to sell those stragglers. Despite having more information with Rolex; I would like to think it's a similar situation with UG. These sports models were very innovative for their time and were quite outside the preferences people had back then, leading to poor sales for them.

Regarding the 885105/02 (Nina with pulsations bezel) I mention it as a final comment in the box for the 885105/02, as it shares the same characteristics, only differing in the bezel and reference.

As for the 885107/03 and 885108/04 models, according to documented evidence and photos I've seen, both share the V2 and V3 register hands, as well as the special V4 hands made for these exotic models. Although no one can guarantee that they left the factory with any specific hands and were later changed in service.

By any chance, do you happen to have those catalogs that I could keep in my files?

Thank you again for contributing to the discussion.

Best regards,

*Daytona table as reference: https://attachment.tapatalk-cdn.com/48726/202402/3304457_b9e9d33fb2d58d5c62bcddf7e90b8be5.jpg