Black Gilt Dial 22445 Universal Genève Copmur

Universal Genève’s great early chronographs very rarely went above 36mm. This is a 1940s Compur with a seriously uncommon black gilt dial, and it’s 37mm—far oversized for its time. On top of all that, it has big eyes, or equally oversized subdials. It’s known as a Compur, and it’s in one of the most desirable configurations that you’ll ever see. In 1937 the case design of the Compur changed significantly, this is fairly close to the mid point of evolution. And it’s just about perfect. Universal Genève has a special ability to tug on collector’s heartstrings, this is no exception.

The Compur was what came before the Compax (2 subdials vs 3 originally, later the Compax line absorbed the former). This was one of the earliest watches with two chronograph pushers, achieved through two column wheels initially. The very earliest Compurs have casebacks which read Universal Watch Genève with a circled UW logo, as UG only officially became the name in 1937. The two pusher chronograph proved quite useful, it was one of the most heavily used watches by aviators in WWII. Black gilt dials account for a very small fraction of production, in Compur and Compax alike. This is the style of dial construction that simply isn’t made any longer. Plus, it’s all radium and all ticking on the Geiger counter. This was the golden age of chronographs and UG were at the very front of things. 

The lack of quality examples out there is real. When you as a collector start pressing earlier in time than the storied Nina, Clapton, or Big Eye, things get very spartan very quickly. Add in black gilt dial, and it’s surprisingly a more difficult hunt than a great Paul newman. Not as valuable, but just as special. The same applies to the 13ZN, Cairelli Split, Pre-Extra Forte, or any number of highly collected chronographs from this era. And they are all segmented by condition. Radium burned dials. Cases were polished routinely for decades. And things got replaced purely as a function of usefulness, no mal intent. All of that applies to things like the Clapton. But remember, this Compur was vintage at the time the Clapton debuted. So all these forces have been acting for much longer, making examples like this all the more unlikely to find and all the greater delight to see.

This example looks lovely. The radium is noted as original in listing, you'd obviously want to Geiger and UV to be sure, but it definitely looks the part. The black galvanic layer has no spidering or cracks. Calibre looks not a day over 20. It comes from a Miami retailer, watch only.