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UG tri-compax 222100-1 vs. 222100-2
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Drawrof
·Couple of questions to you seasoned vintage watch collectors:
1. The hour/minute hands show some marks, not sure what that comes from. Would it be an heresy to replace those with a new set, provided that I can source new ones? Where do you recommend I look for replacement hands (apart form ebay)?
2. The SN is barely visible. It's actually not readable to the naked eye, only a good camera was able to reveal it. I'm afraid that it'll completely disappear soon. What should I do? Would a picture of the caseback with SN still visibile be 'sufficient' to preserve its value (in case I need to sell the watch in the future)? Would a re-engraving of the SN be acceptable?
Thanks
1. The hour/minute hands show some marks, not sure what that comes from. Would it be an heresy to replace those with a new set, provided that I can source new ones? Where do you recommend I look for replacement hands (apart form ebay)?
2. The SN is barely visible. It's actually not readable to the naked eye, only a good camera was able to reveal it. I'm afraid that it'll completely disappear soon. What should I do? Would a picture of the caseback with SN still visibile be 'sufficient' to preserve its value (in case I need to sell the watch in the future)? Would a re-engraving of the SN be acceptable?
Thanks
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vujen
·OMG, please don't touch this watch 😆
You don't have to replace hands or re-engrave the caseback (that would be terrible). Aging on hands is part of the watch life (If you don't like watches with a life, I'd recommand a new watch, there's always this possibility!) - don't be a slave of the "condition" game.
About serial number, just put a protective plastic layer on the back.
You don't have to replace hands or re-engrave the caseback (that would be terrible). Aging on hands is part of the watch life (If you don't like watches with a life, I'd recommand a new watch, there's always this possibility!) - don't be a slave of the "condition" game.
About serial number, just put a protective plastic layer on the back.
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Drawrof
·OMG, please don't touch this watch 😆
You don't have to replace hands or re-engrave the caseback (that would be terrible). Aging on hands is part of the watch life (If you don't like watches with a life, I'd recommand a new watch, there's always this possibility!) - don't be a slave of the "condition" game.
About serial number, just put a protective plastic layer on the back.
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korneevy
·I also had been on a search for a decent tri-compax from 1945 to 1950 period in 37mm starting from late 2022, initially setting the budget at $5K, then moving up to $7K, and finally buying one for $9.5K in Oct 2024. After looking at close to 50 examples (both online and in person), anything below $7K was pretty much garbage, with terrible cases and poorly re-done dials, some also had movement issues etc. Going to $10K in mid 2024 started to net much better examples and I think the market has moved by ~ 20% on those prices over 2024 due to the Breitling hype etc. If I were to start this again, I'd just be honest with myself and set my budget at ~ $12K, with ability to go to $14K for a truly decent example and hoping to find an acceptable one in between $10-12K range. This saves a lot of effort and crushed hopes for lower priced options, specially if you are looking to buy from a dealer, nothing really below $10K is worth the punt in the tri-compax play. May be I am wrong but Id buy now if you have the funds and even if you overpay by 10-15%, its only $1-2K extra which is not nothing of course but sort of irrelevant if you are to keep the watch for 10 or so years. I think with Breiling price positioning, truly good examples of complicated UG will go to ~$20K mark really fast as they still be priced below the modern re-incarnations and this is something to be mindful of too as you are searching for a perfect piece.
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Larry S
··Color Commentator for the Hyperbole.OMG, please don't touch this watch 😆
You don't have to replace hands or re-engrave the caseback (that would be terrible). Aging on hands is part of the watch life (If you don't like watches with a life, I'd recommand a new watch, there's always this possibility!) - don't be a slave of the "condition" game.
About serial number, just put a protective plastic layer on the back.
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bgrisso
·OMG, please don't touch this watch 😆
You don't have to replace hands or re-engrave the caseback (that would be terrible). Aging on hands is part of the watch life (If you don't like watches with a life, I'd recommand a new watch, there's always this possibility!) - don't be a slave of the "condition" game.
About serial number, just put a protective plastic layer on the back.
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povverslave
·Congrats on the watch, I'm also looking for 222100 and also going back and forth between variant 1 or 2. As you said mostly variant 2 is available online.
I'm looking into this one - seems it is not sold for months, so wondering if something is wrong with it:
https://www.lepetitsuissewatches.com/products/universal-geneve-tricompax-chronograph-ref-222100
P.S. As everyone said, don't touch the hands, to me they actually elevate the piece to another level.
I'm looking into this one - seems it is not sold for months, so wondering if something is wrong with it:
https://www.lepetitsuissewatches.com/products/universal-geneve-tricompax-chronograph-ref-222100
P.S. As everyone said, don't touch the hands, to me they actually elevate the piece to another level.
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bgrisso
·Congrats on the watch, I'm also looking for 222100 and also going back and forth between variant 1 or 2. As you said mostly variant 2 is available online.
I'm looking into this one - seems it is not sold for months, so wondering if something is wrong with it:
https://www.lepetitsuissewatches.com/products/universal-geneve-tricompax-chronograph-ref-222100
P.S. As everyone said, don't touch the hands, to me they actually elevate the piece to another level.
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fizz
·The dial is good and rather attractive. But there are some issues. In addition to what @bgrisso has stated, the crown is also later (service?) and the box and tags seemed to have been cobbled together to make it a set and justify the high price.
Also, the caseback of these are notorious for their reference number and serial rubbing off. This caseback reference no is wrong (from what I've usually seen) and the serial no range seems much later so perhaps its the wrong caseback for this reference that just happened to fit it.
Also, the caseback of these are notorious for their reference number and serial rubbing off. This caseback reference no is wrong (from what I've usually seen) and the serial no range seems much later so perhaps its the wrong caseback for this reference that just happened to fit it.
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bgrisso
·The dial is good and rather attractive. But there are some issues. In addition to what @bgrisso has stated, the crown is also later (service?) and the box and tags seemed to have been cobbled together to make it a set and justify the high price.
Also, the caseback of these are notorious for their reference number and serial rubbing off. This caseback reference no is wrong (from what I've usually seen) and the serial no range seems much later so perhaps its the wrong caseback for this reference that just happened to fit it.
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povverslave
·Thanks for the insights folks!
I didn't notice wrong ref. number, and I'm not familiar with the dimensions/look of the original crown.
It seems there is 881101 ref, but not 881100 as bgrisso said.
I've asked the seller about hands being pontentially non-original and caseback, and they replied everything is original and that probably UG fitted this caseback from the inventory.
Is there some different reason for replacing the caseback other than having engraved ref/serial numbers to inflate the price of the watch?
I didn't notice wrong ref. number, and I'm not familiar with the dimensions/look of the original crown.
It seems there is 881101 ref, but not 881100 as bgrisso said.
I've asked the seller about hands being pontentially non-original and caseback, and they replied everything is original and that probably UG fitted this caseback from the inventory.
Is there some different reason for replacing the caseback other than having engraved ref/serial numbers to inflate the price of the watch?
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bgrisso
·Thanks for the insights folks!
I didn't notice wrong ref. number, and I'm not familiar with the dimensions/look of the original crown.
It seems there is 881101 ref, but not 881100 as bgrisso said.
I've asked the seller about hands being pontentially non-original and caseback, and they replied everything is original and that probably UG fitted this caseback from the inventory.
Is there some different reason for replacing the caseback other than having engraved ref/serial numbers to inflate the price of the watch?
Looking again at the chrono sweep hand, it looks fine.....before I thought the tail was missing but now I just see it's how it's catching the light in that particular photo......
Anyhow, the first question for the seller, or for any interested buyer, can you find another reference 881100 anywhere?
The value between a caseback with numbers visible vs not visible is not especially significant, I can't really see someone swapping or engraving the case back just for the purposes of trying to get a little more $$ for that reason. What is more likely is this caseback is simply swapped from something else because the original caseback was lost. But what's odd in this example, is swapped from what? Again, I am not familiar with reference 881100.
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