Hi All, I have recently begun collecting vintage UG watches and find it a steep (but enjoyable when I don't make a bad mistake) learning curve. I find this forum an invaluable source of information and I am excited to have joined it. Please excuse in advance newbie questions. I have picked up this Steel Uni-Compax which was in poor condition and not working. I was going to get the dial refinished as it looked very bad with parts of the printing missing and uneven patina/dirt, but after some careful cleaning I think now it doesn't look so bad and I quite like the yellowish sub dials where I left the patina. I also got it going and it now works great. Does the dial look original to you experts? Due to its condition, I assumed it was but as I am a little OCD about my watches, if it is not, I might as well get a good quality redial... There is no model; making on the movement. I assume it is a 285? I have two other Uni Compax in the same size (37mm), one has a 287 the other a 285, so a little confused. Is the movement number missing because it is an early model (but I had a Compur with a 285)? The only number on the movement is serial 186681. How can I date this movement? The only dating info I've found seems to correspond to case numbers and points to 1942 for this watch. Is that correct? The hour hand seems not to be original. Where can I source replacement hands (including small chrono hands)? Thanks for your advice and comment!
Welcome...Interesting specimen that you are presenting. This is a Compur reference...Compur and Uni did overlap for a time. Beyond that ...dial feels "familiar" as there were lots of variants including this/ cal 285/ Stamping is correct/ concur on the hour hand though not terrible...now stepping back to let others weigh in.
Not sure if the dial has already been re-dialed- but my feeling is maybe not. And I like the two tone of the dial now as it is. I'd keep it as is and enjoy!
How did you clean the dial, did you do it yourself, please describe and show before and after pics, always interested to see this. In terms of identifying the cal, can you take measurements and figure it out by the size? All the measurements are in Sala, or you can compare to your other cal that you have which are marked. You need to know the cal in terms of sourcing a hand. If it is a 285/287 there was a listing for a set of blue hour/minute hands on ebay from a seller in Argentina. They seem to post a lot of different hand colors and sizes (gold, blue, rose gold). I find it a little confusing, and as someone else pointed out, they do not have any feedback left on any sales related to UG hands, so I don't know what to make of it. But it might be worth reaching out to them. anyhow, I like the look of yours, congrats !
I use Micellar Cleaning Water from Garnier, cotton buds and a lot of patience. This is the before Pic with uneven patina and dirt.
I just noted your rumination on redialing....please don't. If you do anything ...source an hour hand.
Now I see that your two tone is actually old varnish. I'd leave well enough alone. Personally I don't think I'd have attempted to clean it. Did you change the crown?
I changed the crown as the old one was completely worn out and didn’t look original. I didn’t plan to create the two tone effect, it just happened as I went along with the attempt to clean it and is the only reason I have decided to keep the dial like this instead of getting it refinished as initially planned. I just couldn’t live with the way the dial looked before cleaning. I blame it on my OCD