Double-Signed Universal Genève 21319 Monodate
When one goes deep into Universal, peers beyond the Polerouter, and creeps past the Clapton, other beautiful references await as reward. Among them, the debonair, thin, manual-winder that is the Monodate. With its face bearing a striking resemblance to the PP Calatrava, the 21319 is an extremely restrained dress piece. Three-handers are a timeless aesthetic. They don’t come more beautiful than this example, produced by UG and signed by London retailer W Benson.
If a pie-pan Constellation is Mad Men to the core, this is its English equivalent. Its silvered baton indices and uncluttered dial are pure design by restraint. The model has a huge range of dial designs and the model saw a variety of calibers. This early 1950s variant sports a cal. 267G manual wind, something I’d now consider more attractive and fit to purpose for its outright thinness.
This example has a perfect dial. Nothing is perfect, but this dial is. Double signature and all. Its case is unpolished as far as I can tell and is said to be running well. It comes with a UG hang tag and box.
Find this Monodate available here from @byitscover1 by DM for 2000 GBP.