UG serial and reference numbers (US Market)

M MeridianPrime89

Hi all,

It's likely not news to most on this forum that due to mid-century American tariff policy, many a Swiss watch brand (including UG) chose to either case watches in the US, make special movements or cases for the US market, or otherwise non-conform with their ex-US manufacturing and sales patterns.

One result is that many gold UG watches destined for the US market lack the traditional UG serial number or reference number.

Has anyone been able to decifer the serial numbers on UG gold watches for the US market and match a timeline?

Thanks in advance.

bgrisso

But suppose we assume it was, in the vast majority of all examples I’ve ever seen with a US import code on the mvmt, it’s a completely standard UG case. In fact I can’t think of a single example offhand that was not, except obvious Frankens.

Tohz

I think the OP might refer to the commonly seen gold filled UGs without reference numbers. Often these come in Star Watch Case Company cases.

Here's a 138SS bumper for example:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/155806150572

I'm not aware of any documentation regarding the serial numbers/case numbers of these watches.

Larry S

@bgrisso … Been meaning to post my RG Compax as a case study. Will do so once the Covid fog clears and I trust myself with a case knife.