Hello all!

I am new in this forum and whould really need a piece of advice. Found this recently and seems to be Fab. Suisse model with very nice sector dial.
As far as I know it is caliber 285 from 1935. Very attractive 35mm stainless steel case. Telemetre and tachymeter scales.
I roughly know where prices are with goldfilled Compur but this is IMO abit more rare. Does anyone come across with similar? All opinions are highly appriciated!

Thank you!

 

@bgrisso @Diabolik @Larry S @Mazoue @LouS- I pointed a new user in this direction for some collective expertise. Don't let me down!

 

Wow ..This is akin to going to the animal shelter and trying to assemble the desired breed from multiple mutts. I'm leaning redial / refinished here. Some familiar elements but some things just don't seem right: Subdials, missing tachy scale? Telmetre scale seems squished, print quality....That said logo configuration/model is OK. I eagerly look fwd to more opinions....

 

Re: logo/configuration, I was admittedly a little surprised to see the "Universal Compur Geneve" signature, as opposed to "Universal Geneve" and then "Compur" below it, but I gather from a quick image search - no Sala handy - that's a known configuration in these very early models. Thanks, and I'm sure the OP will appreciate this and any additional feedback/insight. I'm sure movement/caseback pics might also be helpful, if he has any...

 

Hi and welcome !
Watch looks very nice and original from what can be seen.
Pics from the inside caseback and movement would be nice
Posted an early Compur Fab.Suisse some time ago which is IMHO complete original state.
Please note that the caseback and movement are also signed Fab.Suisse.
Best

 

I’m no expert but I figured redial. As well as the points mentioned some things don’t seem to quite line up, such as the 35 marker and the sector line at 35.

 

Agree with @chronoboy64 on this one- from what is shown I think the dial is legit and seen before in different variations..
More and better pics will be helpful on this- dial, movement, caseback etc.

 

It fails my ‘55 test’.

I look to compare the two 5s in 55 to see if they’re the same. Here, the photo isn’t too good, but this is what I get:


An old redial can already be 50+ years old.

The second example, another poor photo, seems to pass.


And the 6 on the OP watch has an overbite that the second example does not:

 

Interesting discussions. I found another version of this on Ebay going for 5.5k https://www.ebay.com/itm/372494834847Purchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network

 

These discussions always remind me how incredibly difficult these evaluations are for watches of this period. As you say, when a watch is over 80 years old, a redial could easily be 50 years old (it obviously has some age given the damage to the edge in the first quadrant).

To me, the '55' test applied above seems incredibly stringent. The difference between those two 5s seems very minor. Could any apparent difference could be ascribed to either the accuracy of dial printing in 1935, degradation of the dial since or a slight blemish in the crystal?

The dial below is similar and has a 6 more like the second example than the OP's watch (although perhaps it's somewhere in between the two?) but again the differences are very minor.

I'm not an expert on these early watches so will leave this discussion to those that are more familiar. Polerouters are trivial in comparison!

 

Much easier to tell it’s a redial, and a poor one at that:

 

Your posted watch:


Looks original to me.

I take your point. There’s a judgement call in some of these. The 5s don’t have to be perfect matches, but you’d be surprised how often the 55 test has been an easy, reliable way to immediately separate the mediocre and poor from the original or really good redial.

Really really good redials can probably pass all of us, me for sure.

 

And I don’t have a smart answer to this. I can see slight differences between them, but you’re right about the 6s.

Looking forward to hearing from the experts here...(cause I’m still learning too)

 

Isn’t that sector marker supposed to be pointing straight at the 35 ?

 

@rikuparkkinen - aren’t you glad my suggestion to take this to the experts of OF has worked so nicely to clear up any possible doubt and confusion...? You’re welcome.

 

Ooo! Nice catch

 

Here is another one

 

I am very happy that you suggest to take the conversation here @MarktheTime

There is differences and similarities between Compur models from that era. Few strong opinions that is an old redial and couple of visions it could be legit. ALL comments are welcome and needed! Thank you

I will post pictures from movement and caseback as soon as possible. Meanwhile lets keep up the good conversation!

Riku

 

FWIW From Mr. Sala:
this dial is absolutely original. It was made by another dial-maker who worked for UG.
It is very rare but original, I enclose two pictures of 2 watches of mine with dials as this.
Best regards
PG.SALA

 

Thanks @rikuparkkinen, @MarktheTime ... we’ve not had a good dial debate in a while! We might need to conclude the @jumpingsecond position is correct. There was a dial maker that produced this style .... as usual the Compur waters are murky.