UG Shadow informations?

Hi,

I like the White Shadow really much, so I wanted to answer you with what I have found out so far. The "Shadow" line was introduced at BaselWorld 1966 and featured the Golden Shadow (solid gold), Gilt Shadow (gold plated) and the White Shadow (stainless steel). As to why the White Shadow wasn't called "Silver Shadow", my theory is that there was this little luxury vehicle that was introduced the year before, the Silver Shadow by Rolls Royce, so that name was already occupied in the world of luxury. Still, it is a nice coincidence and maybe says something about the target audience of the Universal Geneve Shadow line.

The Shadows featured the ultra-thin 66 movement (later models the 1-66 and 2-66), and there was also a version with a date that was called 67. More info here:
http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&&2uswk&Universal_66_0

One of the better posts that I have found about the UG White Shadow was this one:
https://www.thewristorian.com/post/shining-a-light-on-the-universal-genève-shadow-series

I know where the confusion with the Patek Ellipse is coming from - the original case shape of the Shadow series was a Gerald Genta design, but later on, UG also offered Shadows in different case shapes. One of these was very close in form to the Patek Philippe Ellipse, and featured an integrated bracelet. It's a nice way to get an Ellipse-style watch with a good movement, without paying Patek money for it ... and the somewhat rarer versions with a blue dial are really nice to look at, provided you can find one in good condition.

If you want to go hunting for a Shadow, take a look at Japanese auctions. There are quite a few on offer there, if you are patient - and I got mine there, too.

Hey Mazoue,

I have been searching high and low for a way to date Universal Geneve watches after 1967, and didn't have any luck so far. Even tried contacting the company of today. Do you have access to this data?

There's two serials that I'd be VERY interested in finding a date for - one is my White Shadow (as shown in my post above) with a serial of 3,286,***. The other is a manual wind (cal. 1-42) with a much later serial of 3,387,***.

If you can tell me approximate dates of production, I'd very much appreciate it. Thank you.

Thomas

That's awesome information to me. I wasn't aware someone had done the research and updated the information from the Sala table, which was all I could find on the net.

Many thanks for looking this up! This is great in several ways, not only do I know more now, I did also find out that I already possess a watch that I can call a "birth year watch". I had been casually looking for something like that, but didn't put much effort into it ... as evidenced by the fact that I have watches from 1974 and from 1976, but never one from 1975... Turns out that this box is already ticked 👍

Hello @Mazoue

I only just know realized that one of the numbers I gave you was wrong - it was 3'296'xxx instead of 3'286'xxx. A difference of 10'000 watches ... I hope this is still a 1975 serial number, and would be very glad if you could take another look in the book, whenever it is convenient. I guess it is 1976, though, as you posted above that a 3'300'000 serial number is from 1976...

Thanks a lot for your time!

Thanks again! Yea, I thought so. The curious case of not having a 1975 watch (but quite a few from 1974 and 1976) continues ... but THAT is a problem that will definitely not bother me overly. Still, it's great to know, and not do guesswork. So, once again, I very much appreciate the info.

So far I have not seen a White Shadow with an applied logo. It's either the "Fat U" like on mine, or the "thin U" that was used before, and I think up until the mid-1970s. I'm not aware of the exact moment when the "U" changed, but in 1972, it was still the thin one. And in 1976, the "bold" one.

Here's a picture of an earlier White Shadow from a recent auction (not mine, just to show the thin "U"):



And a picture from a 1972 catalogue: