Tri-Compax 22543 circa 1945

TexOmega · Apr 10, 2017

B.Frost
So beautiful! All that's that's left is for you to tell us that you found it a barn somewhere for a song! 😀

I was going out as you were going in, snooze and loose, sorry!

😁

TexOmega · Apr 10, 2017

Mlafra
Definetively a very nice example and I agree with zr4484 that the dial, though very much original and in very good conditions indeed, is later, probably 50s, perhaps very very late 40s.
You can tell this from a few things, in no particular order:
- The absence of the telephone marks at 3, 6, 9
- The font of the subials, that is "taller/more elongated" than 40s dials and in the running seconds at 9 it only has numbers at 15, 30, 45 and 60 instead of every 10 seconds.
- The 6s and 9s in the subdials are closed instead of open, which would be a red flag at least if the dial was 40s but in this case, with this font they are ok, simply later
- The date compax is not enclosed in a circle

The rest of the watch in instead definitively 40s, including the moonphase disk that has the face. The moonphase disk of watches with those type of fonts always have faceless.

That being said a nice example in good conditions, which is increasingly more and more difficult to find!

I wanted to correct one point, there are lines at 3,6,9.

Thank you for posting and the kind words.

bgrisso · Apr 12, 2017

Yes as previous poster already stated the telephone lines are short dashes on the later version, and longer dashes on the earlier version (in addition obviously to the presence or absence of the 3, 6, 9 numbers with the dashes).

bgrisso · Apr 12, 2017

Interestingly I just came across a UG add where the telephone dashes are missing altogether, lol. But it's a drawing, so maybe the illustrator made a mistake, or took artistic license.
Actually there are three tri dials in sala that are also missing the dashes altogether, not sure if they are redials....

jordn · Apr 12, 2017

gop76
Yes there was but i think we can place this one in the 50's: the short lines in the 3, 6 and 9 in the minutes subdial (in 40's dials these lines were longer as posted in the examples shown above); the closed 6 and 9 in the hour subdial (were open in the 40's) and, despite all variatons, the seconds subdial, in the 40's dials, had always the same configuration.

Mlafra
Definetively a very nice example and I agree with zr4484 that the dial, though very much original and in very good conditions indeed, is later, probably 50s, perhaps very very late 40s.
You can tell this from a few things, in no particular order:
- The absence of the telephone marks at 3, 6, 9
- The font of the subials, that is "taller/more elongated" than 40s dials and in the running seconds at 9 it only has numbers at 15, 30, 45 and 60 instead of every 10 seconds.
- The 6s and 9s in the subdials are closed instead of open, which would be a red flag at least if the dial was 40s but in this case, with this font they are ok, simply later
- The date compax is not enclosed in a circle

The rest of the watch in instead definitively 40s, including the moonphase disk that has the face. The moonphase disk of watches with those type of fonts always have faceless.

That being said a nice example in good conditions, which is increasingly more and more difficult to find!

While I agree this is a 50's dial - I believe all "50's" dials (although I think the transition happened a little earlier as already noted) all had a recessed date register - I have seen no evidence that the minute and sub-second dial markings are necessarily the defining features of a 50's dial. I have observed these art deco-esque fonts on 40's dials albeit in rare occasions.

TexOmega · Apr 13, 2017

OK, great contributions here distinguishing two eras of dials and the transition from one to the other.

Now, gold alpha hands.

Not many shown in Sala's book, and I see them mostly blued. Mostly, my foot....I've only seen one other Tri with gold hands like mine on google images. This one:

I do not know where it came from, I just captured it from google images in 2016.

Have longer term collectors of TriCompax watches seen them in other collectors collections or at in person Auctions? Two ways I haven't because I just became enamored with them in the last 4-5 months.

Could they have been a special order only item? I would think there would be more to be seen if they were issued along side of the blued hands.

Any opinions or comments on this aspect?

I know UG must have liked them, they can be seen on other (previous) models, again, in few numbers compared to the blued.

bgrisso · Apr 13, 2017

I think they look amazing. I was wondering if they were stock, sounds like you feel they are?

Larry S · Apr 13, 2017

You have gold indices and lume dots. These are the correct hands. To be honest I didn't give it a second thought. Stands to reason that these must have been UG issue. - But I'm still learning as well. Special Order? Custom finish?

jordn · Apr 13, 2017

TexOmega
gold alpha hands

sorry to nitpick😉, but these are sword hands. Unfortunately, the Tri-Compax archives section in Sala is fairly limited and does not show lumed dials with gold furnitures, but I have seen these hands used on other such examples. It could very well be a custom job as Larry suggests seeing as how the dial (OP's) doesn't look like it was originally designed to incorporate lume.

Mlafra · Apr 13, 2017

I agree that the OP dial might not have had lume to begin with. Perhaps at the point of the addition (perhaps by UG itself when the watch was being servied) the owner ordered the corresponding lumed sword hands in gold.
Gold hands (sword or otherwise) indeed exist in UG space, and I agree that gold sword hands are rarer than the blue ones, but they are definitively an historical fact.

Larry S · Apr 13, 2017

Repeat 100 times: Sword not Alpha....sword not alpha... sword not alpha.......📖

marco · Apr 21, 2017

TexOmega
Time to run the gauntlet and get y'alls opinion on my Tri-Compax.

My watchmaker had to sort through a few issues related to past botched repairs plus locate a staff. Also, he handmade two of the three pushers, Walmart was backordered😁

It is without an import stamp, so brought into the US at some point.

Absolutely beautiful.

Has a gold-clad cal 287, circa 1945 with a gloriously brilliant, unoxidized moonphase wheel and unspoiled silvered dial with gold applied numerals and markers. Radium lume shows the hour, double plots at 12.

37-38mm of crisp, sharp stainless steel. Spot on accurate, regulator at midpoint.

SWISS below "6" tucked low

I especially like the uniformed font at each sub dial. This thin, delicate font recedes the sub dials, to my eye, and greatly enhances the uncluttered appearance of the dial and makes the applied numerals and markers just that much more legible at a glance.

Words cannot describe the gold alpha hands. Not often seen.

Could be the original brushing at the sides of the case, the back has the same brushing.

I want to thank all who posted information and pictures not only here but other forums as well, and Sala for such a nice reference book, warts and all, because that's how I learned.

And a special shout out to Larry S who heard a lonely cry in the dark and stopped to help.