Universal Geneve Tri Compax 481 "french cased" - who can help ?

MarktheTime · Mar 24, 2018

LouS
Nice find. Maddening that he does not show the entire inside caseback, tho!

An incongruency with the OP's watch has not been discussed I think is that, if the dial is marked Swiss, and this is a watch of French manufacture, it should be also marked "Fab.Suisse" or some variant thereof, according to french import law. Similarly the movement, unless it was of French assembly.

Interestingly, I just looked at the VWS listing again. Originally, it (and the Instagram post that led me to it) said “produced for the French market”, but it no longer seems to have that language...not sure of the significance, if any.

10H10 · Mar 24, 2018

I never said that the body is fake (but who knows !?), just that the case back is fake. Anyway, maybe I am too cautious, but I wouldn't buy it for myself. Again, there are no such ug examples and there are the others issues mentionned above, still unanswered. Anyway, it is not my purchase so it's up to the buyer to decide 😜

rolokr · Mar 24, 2018

LouS
So gold case with 1) official french hallmark for 18K on lugs, body and caseback, exactly as is required by law for french cases; 2) a French casemaker's mark; 3) technically complicated execution (join of lugs to case body specifically); plus 4) all of the apertures necessary for the Tri-Compax corrector perfectly executed, and it is some kind of one-off fake? Someone went to an awful lot of trouble....

I think the original case back was lost, this is probably just a replacement case back ?

10H10 · Mar 26, 2018

rolokr
I think the original case back was lost, this is probably just a replacement case back ?

Or heavily engraved or too dammaged, that's my opinion...

jb1986 · Apr 23, 2018

Hi everyone !
This two links may help us... @10H10 @Larry S @MarktheTime
https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/lot-140-153?browse_all=1&page=1&q=universal+moon+gold
https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/lot-133-284?browse_all=1&page=1&q=universal+moon+gold

rolokr · Apr 23, 2018

My example, ring around date ! I saw an 18k Tricompax on the bay that is french cased as well from JP Time, same french hallmark, no numbers however !
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Universal-...Gold-Chronograph-with-Box-22289/263618768753?

jb1986 · Apr 24, 2018

rolokr
My example, ring around date ! I saw an 18k Tricompax on the bay that is french cased as well from JP Time, same french hallmark, no numbers however !

Thanks for sharing your picture, have you some more by the way ?
And have you the link for the 18k tricompax seen "on the bay" ?
Thanks again.
JB
@rolokr

10H10 · Apr 25, 2018

jb1986
Hi everyone !
This two links may help us... @10H10 @Larry S @MarktheTime
https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/lot-140-153?browse_all=1&page=1&q=universal moon gold
https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/lot-133-284?browse_all=1&page=1&q=universal moon gold

There are no photos from the case back... Just "french market", it doesn't enlight...

rolokr · Apr 25, 2018

10H10
There are no photos from the case back... Just "french market", it doesn't enlight...

French hallmarks on the inside of case.

Florent · May 24, 2018

rolokr
My example, ring around date ! I saw an 18k Tricompax on the bay that is french cased as well from JP Time, same french hallmark, no numbers however !
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Universal-...Gold-Chronograph-with-Box-22289/263618768753?

Can you please post a picture of the hallmarks of your watch ?

jb1986 · May 24, 2018

The hallmarks are classic french 18k with an eagle head
There is another hallmark in the interior of the caseback, which figures a sort of watch (we can see two clock hands and some roman numbers in a diamond shape).

Florent · May 24, 2018

The losange one is very interesting, as it’s the hallmark of the casemaker.

We have the french eagle one, that certified this is an official 18k gold case and the losange one. What’s inside the losange is the signature of the casemaker.

If we succeed to find the same losange hallmark on another UG case, that will mean those cases are produced by the same french manufacturer, making them very likely original as it’s almost impossible to find two franken UG the same hallmark !! 😉

Florent · May 24, 2018

By the way I was asking to @rolokr his hallmarks 😉

Anyone else here own a UG with eagle head and no traditional stamp???

rolokr · May 25, 2018

Florent
By the way I was asking to @rolokr his hallmarks 😉

Anyone else here own a UG with eagle head and no traditional stamp???

I'll try to open the case soon, then we will see what is inside, pretty sure it is a all UG on the inside. We shall see ! My example is 14k, not 18k like the French cased one, and no hallmarks on the outer case or lugs.

Florent · Jun 15, 2018

Those watches are strictly original from Universal Geneve and produced for the French market around the WWII

Movements, dials, hands, pushers, crown, etc ... where produced by the same Swiss manufacturers.
Only the cases were produced in France by the same casemaker.
Then assembled in France to avoid gold importation taxes ...

Those case are differentiated by the french owl stamp meaning 18k gold, and the manufacturer stamp (lozenge) which is the same for all French UG cases.

Mine