Up for discussion is this Compax, listed as a prototype Ref. 22410, cal 287. Described as "...one of three known to come for sale on the market in the past several years."
Is it shown in any of the UG reference books? Has anyone seen another?

 

close enough to think there is something legit here?

 

Never seen one like this, but it looks spectacular. The dial looks too perfect, but hey you never know!

 

And

 

Damn ... Went to Menta to have a look see. Beautiful .. Just Beautiful . Sold .. Any idea what he was asking?

 

Literally, a Five digit sum

 

https://instagram.com/p/BF7fJybAQrw/

Ben Clymer rocks one of these. Not sure if it's the same watch or not.

 

Most definitely a rare one indeed ! It is basic and beautiful. Only one thing that would raise an eyebrow and that's the start/stop pusher (1940s old style pushers). Initially I though 222101 but on closer inspection 22410 (cal 287) sounds correct. I shall take a punt at value ...

30K?

 

Asking price was over 50k USD, sold in minutes.
Probably worth more in today's market IMHO.
Ben from Hodinkee has one and the other one is in the hand of a collector/dealer in Italy.
These are the 3 examples known.
It is a legit watch, super rare and stunning, they all come in the same Spillman case. It is a chrono from the 40s, not 60s like the ones shown above.

 

What amazes me most, is that Universal Geneve could come up with such Avant Garde designs, pure art so early on, you could frame it like you would a Michelangelo ... I have to state that Heuer or any other House was no-where close to anything like that !

I wonder where Menta managed to find such a rare piece ...

 

I know, lately he has been coming up with some pretty nice and rare stuff and continuously too! He is clearly well introduced with collectors and other dealers most likely, he is doing a good job, I am quite impressed. I also find that generally (with some exceptions) he is pretty reasonably priced (for a dealer).
This particular piece is indeed stunning and ahead of its time! Think: in the 40s it mush have looked like nothing else on the mkt: big case, water proof case, incredibly shiny glossy grey dial, and contrasting compaxes, never seen before!

 

These dials are legit enough, but I'm not so sure about them being born in these Spillmann cases.



The two above are in the same style, but made for the smaller calibers obviously. However, please note that the reference numbers start w/ '1' - meaning that they were encased in gold. The dial font used on these so-called "prototype" dials is period correct to the serial number date found on the Mentawatches example, but these fancier dials were usually paired with fancier cases a la...

(photo cred: @LouS)


Far from hard proof, but the Spillmann cases were used more for watches that were tool-oriented like the Luftwaffe Compur or the Aero-Compax.



Does it matter? Perhaps not. I certainly wouldn't mind owning one as I find these dials to be some of the best UG ever made, but I've also heard that these dials were changing hands privately. If @BenClymer wouldn't mind enlightening us on how he came across his particular example, it would certainly be of huge help to us.

 

This has to be a masterpiece ...

 

Sooooo there are Good Franken and Bad Franken? Bad Franken = E-Bay / Good Franken = worn by WIS celebrities? Clearly as pages 289 and 290 show, these dials were meant for gold cases and square pushers.

 

Could be true... but if you look at the dials on pg. 289/290, like Jordn says, those are likely meant for smaller calibers. I'm only guessing at this point, but look at the spacing between the left subdial and "compax", and the right subdial and "compax" on the pics in Sala - that's a lot smaller vs the example with Mentawatches -- if we think that the words "compax" is the same size, then it means those subdials are closer together, etc.

In short, the dial in the OP's example is meant for a larger caliber which means its designated for a larger case. What kind of case or pushers, I can't say for sure, but it has to be a 38mm case because it just doesn't fit otherwise.

 

Well you have a point there.

 

There are 2 sizes of this "prototype" dials, one is indeed for the larger case, but all of these dials were made for square pushers cases, in my understanding. There are actually 5 of these dials around, 3 seems to have surfaced and fitted with the Spillman cases which is a rare reference itself even without the dial.

Below is a closer look for the larger dial

 

Fantastic dial !!!

 

That's an amazing dial ! Possibly unique ?