Universal Geneve Polerouter Sub

I have gone back and forth on this one, but for the time being I am offering my Universal Geneve Polerouter Sub for sale.  This is the grail version obviously – rare, large, iconic and just plain cool.  For those unfamiliar with this watch, below is a bit of history (content largely borrowed from www.polerouter .com) and some details regarding the watch.

The Story:

The airline SAS (Scandinavian Airline System) opened new routes over the North Pole in the 1950s to significantly shorten the flight time from California to Europe.  The swiss watch manufacturerer Universal Genève was charged with providing the crews with automatic precision wrist-watches that provided resistance to the magnetic fields over the polar region.  Universal Genève introduced a watch with the name "Polarouter" in fall 1954, which was created and designed by one of the most admired watchmakers of the 20th century, Gerald Genta (he later created the "Royal Oak" for Audemars Piguet and the "Nautilus" for Patek Philippe).  The watch was re-named "Polerouter" soon thereafter and fitted with the famous calibre 215 "Microtor".  Several other Polerouter models followed over the next twelve years, including the Polerouter Sub.  During the 1950s/1960s, Polerouters were considered to be high-quality luxury watches – costing as much as a Rolex Explorer during the late 1950's.

The Movement:

In the early 1050s Universal Genève created (at the same time as the Buren Watch Company), a radically new automatic winding system: the Micorotor with its incorporated rotor mass.  The first movement was introduced in 1955 and was called the Caliber 215.  The rotor wound the mainspring in both directions, enabling more energy to be stored.  The principal characteristics of this movement were as follows: 28.0 mm diameter, 4.1 mm height, 18,000 vibrations per hour, and 28 jewels. The 2-arm monometallic balance was protected by an Incabloc antishock system.  The self-compensating flat Nivarox hairspring was blue colored.  The escape wheel was fitted with a Gyrocap shock-protection.  The power reserve of 60 hours was exceptionally high (and remains so).  The rotor was pink gold-plated, and the movement was decorated with a fine "Fausses cotes de Genève" decoration.

After a few additional iterations of this ground-breaking movement, UG finally released the most advanced of their microrotors – the cal. 69.  The cal 69 is the movement in the example listed for sale.  The movement features a more advanced winding system, and the rotor has been given a new shape.  In addition, the movement was created such that it would not require as much lubrication as other movements.  The cal. 69 is the last and most-advanced example of the classical micorotor UG movement.

Other information specific to my example:

Functions:  Hour, minutes, center seconds, inner rotating bezel.

Dial:  Textured dial is original and genuine in every way (never repainted or touched up).  The soft-iron gives it an amazing look.  Lume is lightly faded and exhibits a fantastic patina. 

Case:  Stainless Steel – again, wonderful condition.  Screwed case back, twin “cross-hatched” crowns.  Upper crown rotates the inner dive bezel, while lower crown winds the watch and sets the time.  And worth noting is that there are no fake U.S. military-issue markings on the back of the watch.  It appears there are plenty of folks who see the UG Polerouter Sub as a perfect military-issue watch … true enough, but it never happened!

Movement:  Microtor cal. 215 with 28 jewels in excellent condition.  Can’t tell from my lousy scans, but the finishing is excellent on these.

Measurements: Approximately 42 mm (without crowns or lugs).

Price: $1,925, plus shipping. 

E-mail me at [Email address suppressed for privacy] with any questions.

As I continue to waiver on selling this watch, I may pull the listing at any time.  We’ll see.  Sorry for the lousy scans, but I’m not much of a photographer.

Darren