Hi all -- Realize there is limited information out there re: Universal Geneve (UG) logos, but I'm curious the community's understanding of the 1960s Big U logo. I've seen this logo with the brand name / wordmark stacked (e.g. Universal Geneve Golden shadow 18K Yellow Gold Automatic Men's Watch_636963 | eBayPurchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network) as well as horizontal (e.g. 566.101 Ultra Slim Universal Geneve Gilt Shadow Micro Rotor Automatic Men watch | eBayPurchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network). While most watches during this logo generation seem to have the two words in the brand / wordmark stacked under the Big U, I've seen some horizontally written wordmarks that certainly look original. Can anyone confirm that some were originally written horizontally? More broadly, does anyone have tips for differentiating redials versus originals quickly? Especially as many of the more complex dial variants were produced at a time when there was less vertical integration and standardization in the Swiss watch industry (and replacement service dials were common). Thanks in advance!
I'm certainly no expert on the later watches with fat u logo, in fact just the presence of the fat U logo is enough to persuade me to look elsewhere. It seems that the horizontal text format was much more common with the earlier logo with the printed thin U in a box. The stacked text format was much more common with the fat U. However, both of those dials look completely legit to me and there are plenty of other examples of the fat U logo with horizontal text (an online search for Universal Geneve Gilt Shadow will reveal others). More generally, identifying redials is largely common sense (i.e. does it look right? is it the same as others?) but the more dials you've studied, the quicker that process becomes.
Thanks @Mazoue. Is your reticence around the Fat U logo due to the era of manufacture (1960s/1970s), aesthetics, or something else? I have a few 1950s UGs that I love, but have become more and more interested in their 1960s watches for the interesting case shapes. I'm not experienced with the Fat U as the earlier logos, though so I'm trying to learn more.
Good question. Thinking of purely the logo, I certainly think it's the least attractive design but also there are few watches with this logo that have captured my imagination. I associate it mainly with 70s watches but I think it was probably introduced in the late 1960s. From memory, I think there is universal acceptance that the table of logos in the link below taken from Sala is not correct and that the fat U logo was introduced after the printed U in the square. https://omegaforums.net/threads/universal-genève-information.66405/
@Mazoue - thanks again for the perspective. I agree with you on the aesthetics of the logo - that said some of the cases / dials of the late 60s, early 70s have convinced me to give the era a second chance. Thanks for the context on the Sala table. I had thought the table strange too, but had seen / heard others perspectives on it.
For archival/research purposes, I think it would be awesome to have photos in the thread to illustrate what is being discussed. These eBay links won't last long.