It’s not “for sale” and it doesn’t stand for “fuori serie” or “outside the series,” so often marked on limited edition cars to signify custom built. Italian government administrators enjoy ordering special editions of timepieces for their state employees and military, and in this case the FS stands for Ferrovie dello Stato— The State Railways.



As early as the 1800’s the FS issued pocket watches from brands such as Longines and Zenith. In 1927, the fascist administration granted the Italian company Perseo a monopoly, and Perseo really dominated the pocketwatch scene on the FS up until wristwatches came into popularity.

Towards the end of the 50s, the FS give the choice between pocket watches and wristwatches. They granted access to a few other suppliers at this time. Some brands would be allocated directly, such as Universal and Perseo, but others could comply with specifications and sell to railway workers for replacement. These approved wristwatches could be bought by the ferroviere through withholdings on their paychecks.

The requirements were that the wristwatch measure 35-36 mm in diameter, have a white dial, a sub-seconds dial at 6 o'clock, arabic numerals and a threaded caseback.

These Universal Geneve FS watches were in production from 1960 to 1970. The UG FS were not chronometers like the Railrouter and non-hacking, but the caliber 64 movements were nicely made, hand-wound movement with oversized balance wheels.



As far as I can understand the numbers on the case backs are non-consecutive and unassigned to a particular employee or conductor. The FS engraving is really a treat.



The first Ferrovie dello Stato with this enamel dial came in a slimmer 34mm case with faceted lugs:



The second iteration is a cushion case measuring in at 36mm. The only real difference on the dial is the subdial on the earlier reference has the wide open 6, while the latter looks closed until you look through a loop:



They both have a beautiful die-stamped dial with exceptionally subtle snailing and glossy enamel paint. The dial is quite characterful with the numbers in relief and the open 9. Combine the dial with the high polish case and a nice strap and you have a simple little timepiece with a lot of panache.



The watches are found with slightly different crowns, however almost all of the examples I’ve observed have the simple rounded U mark without the badge outline. The two in my possession have identical crowns.



I’ve really enjoyed my FS, purchased directly from a cheerful Italian seller. So much so that I've found another for my father-in-law, it's a great gateway watch into the world of vintage.

The watch is handsome on a variety of straps and can easily be dressed up or down.




Most of the information has been gathered, synthesized and translated from orologi y passioni and forumamontres so thank you to our brothers and sisters over at those forums. I invite anyone with corrections or additional information to please chime in.

 

Beautiful write-up and illustration - thank you for this good work.

P.S. On a small detail, It's funny to see the seemingly asymptotic/curved number one on the caseback serial, which in my experience is very typical of a certain generation of European penmanship (perhaps it still is).

 

Very interesting detail, thank you.

 

Fantastic article. I'm a sucker for enamel dials. These are beautiful. Thanks for publishing!

 

Learn something new ever day. Very nice write up!

 

Great write-up, @Rman I've been curious about this watch for quite some time now. I even posted a thread here asking for more info, but it seems not a lot are knowledgeable about it. So, it's cool that you did this. Thanks!

Is the first generation version harder to find?

 

Glad you enjoyed the piece, yes, the first generation is more rare, maybe 1 for sale for every 5 of the second generation since I've been watching.

 

Will be on the lookout then! Haha

 

Makes the Forum worthwhile just to read narratives like this.

Thank you!

 

thanks for that share Rman!

 

Very comprehensive except you missed the Incabloc version. I posted this one from a fairly recent ebay listing


To complete the collection how about this

 

Nice cap
Yes I'm not sure where that one fits in with the Unitas 6325 movement, perhaps one of our Italian friends can help.

 

Good post! These are regularly available, and mainly in Italy, of course.

 

The logo in the cap is a lot more recent, I don't know exactly but I'd say mid to late 90s, since I was there when it appeared.

 

Great piece, great information. Thanks

 

Great write up and history. I too just recently added a first generation to my collection, it is really a fun watch and a tremendous about of value. Enjoy yours in good health.

 

Many thanks for posting this - I think this is now the official Universal Geneve FS thread in English.

I have one and the first feature that everybody remarks on are the way the numbers on the dial are punched from behind; a feature that is also present on the Perseo variant. Does anybody know if (and indeed how) these design element might have been stipulated in the spec?

In my opinion there's a good chance that this variant is somebody being a little creative.


I think it's a Perseo where somebody has scrubbed the original logo and over-printed. God only knows where the case comes from.



Does anybody have a link to the, presumably expired, auction?

 

Here is the listing
http://www.ebay.com/itm/wristwatch-Vintage-UNIVERSAL-GENEVE-Cal-6325-F-S-/351971481394?rmvSB=true&nma=true&si=UxFBKchFBT57poU4uXRfNi7jaCI%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557Purchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network
I can't see any info. on the movement except a "U"

 

After reviewing some Perseo with Unitas movements thanks to @Carlton-Browne, and looking at the quality of "FS"caseback engraving on the example you posted, I think we can be certain this is a franken.

 

I looked for a Perseo FS incabloc without a date window and found

Note the distinctive "7" in the 17 JEWELS. Just like the one in the suspect franken posted by me.
In addition, the caseback is identical.

So the franken is a Perseo with a UG logo on the dial.
Why bother?