Are those hands original? The seller is not sure and neither am I.

 

I've been hunting for a Railrouter for quite some time. This is the only Universal Geneve that has some connections to Canada and it made sense to me that I had to get one. Sometime last year I sent out an e-mail to a local posting on Craigslist but I was told the watch was sold. Three months ago the posting came back and I bombarded the seller with e-mails but never got a response. I figured it was a scam and told many friends to let it go because it was fishy. Wednesday evening I get a message in my inbox apologizing for the delay and asking if I was still interested. I didn't waste any time as I knew that the window of opportunity was going to be short and I was worried the seller would be scared away again. I told him I would meet him in a public place of his choice and that I would pay his price and that day was today.

He told me that his grandfather had been given the watch as payment for furniture restoration and that he had inherited it along with a Rolex Air King. He didn't want to sell it but he needed to raise fund to restore the Rolex.

This is the RAILROUTER 1205 which was used by Canadian Pacific workers. The case ref is 865100 and serial number is 2901XXX

If you see me selling some watches, this is why.

 

Congrats my friend, and welcome to the family! A truly amazing example in the right hands given I know how long you have longed for one.

 

Congrats, beautiful piece

 

Congratulations man! Been on the hunt for one myself. Happy for you. Enjoy!!!

 

Are they very similar to Ball Standard Railroad, or is it just me ?

 

Fantastic story! Enjoy your grail @Jonatan and thanks for sharing it here.

 

I have some Canadian Ball Standard as well !

 

Nice article on Canadian and US rail watches that includes UG RR as well:
https://thespringbar.com/blogs/guides/railrouter-universal-geneve

 

This chronomètre dial has been on eBay for some time now. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Universal-...309961?hash=item3b2d6eda09:g:YtAAAOSwIABcR8aZPurchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network

Not a lot of information about them out there and the first time that I actually see a dial.

 

EDIT: a dial was shown in the Springbar article shared above by Frederchicco.

 

Congrats Jonatan! Wonderful to have that detailed history to go with it.

 

Thanks, Adrian. It's great to see you here. I suspect we will be seeing more of you as your appetite for Universal Geneve seems to be increasing.

 

A recent purchase - so recent it's not arrived yet

 

Well done - I was following that one. I'm looking forward to the debrief.

 

Aha! A dual timezone variety. Can you confirm that the Black and Red hour hand/s is a single item. Some years ago someone was selling a lot of them on ebay, I've got a pic. but it's on a dead computer.

 

I believe the black/red hand is one piece as it looks identical to those seen on Bulova watches such as this Accutron:



I'm not sure whether that's a sign of a non-original service replacement or not - Bulova took ownership of UG in 1967 and the serial of this watch suggests production in that year so there could have been a common supply for some parts. I'm looking forward to seeing it in the metal. After hankering for a Railrouter for years, I now have two! The other is being serviced by Mitka while the (awful, previously refinished) dial is being reprinted with artwork I knocked up - we'll see how close they get to it!

 

Wow, I hadn't seen that one yet. Nice find. I answered your PM.

 

Just beautiful!

 

Resurrected the dead....here is the pic