Why We Love It

We've been saying it for years - gold watches are cool! 

Even cooler is midcentury chronograph from horological titan Universal Geneve in solid 18k gold. If that isn't enough - it cost less than most entry level steel sport watches you might have heard of!

At 35mm, the 18k Yellow Gold case is understated and elegant. The silver-toned dial adds appropriate contrast to the gold case. Powered by a UG Cal. 125 manually winding movement, this chronograph from 1962 is a true gem from the past.

Many say that had history gone a little differently and Universal Genève hadn't succumbed to the quartz crisis, we would be speaking of them in the same terms as that of Patek Philippe. 

Holding watches like this piece... it's certainly not a stretch to imagine.  

The Story

Universal Genève has become synonymous with chronographs. In the last decade, the demand for their vintage models has risen sharply, with some examples making world record appearances on the auction circuits. Surely, Universal Genève is a staple of vintage collecting.

The 1940s to the 1960s were in many ways the golden years of chronograph production for Universal Genève. The timepieces produced during this period (in particular the "" Compax and the "" Tri-Compax) have attracted the attention and admiration of collectors. So in the 1990s, when Universal Genève wanted to commemorate its centennial, a chronograph espousing similar design language seemed a natural choice.

Already a stunning sports watch, the original Panda Dial Compax of the 1960s was catapulted into the collector's periphery after it became closely associated with famous model Nina Rindt, née Lincoln, who married the legendary Formula One driver Jochen Rindt in 1967. We're certain that this version of the Compax would have become a classic with or without Nina Rindt, due to its brilliant design and similarities to the Omega Speedmaster, Roled Daytona, and Heuer Carrera, but when the ever-stylish Nina Rindt put her white-and-black Compax on a leather Bundeswehr strap and wore it to one of Jochen's races, she unknowingly created a juggernaut that still has collectors hungry for more.