Of the myriad tasteful chronographs created by Universal Genève during its 20th-century heyday, the 22410 family is certainly amongst the most beautiful. Housed in a 38mm stainless steel case produced by C.R. Spillman, it came in several dial configurations and boasted a triple-register design powered by the hand-wound Universal Genève cal. 285 movement. In the 1940s, these oversized tool watches were well ahead of their time, with case architecture and dial configurations that arguably wouldn’t be matched in sophistication by most other brands until the 1960s.
The “Grey Ghost” Dial
Rare as these fine watches are in good condition, one in particular has managed to capture the imagination of the collector world. This particular Ref. 22410 is fitted with what is thought to be a prototype dial in the manner of those seen on earlier gold-cased, square-pusher Universal Genève from the 1940s. In excellent condition, the dial — with its outer minute track in black printing against white; signature typography with “open” 6s and 9s; triple-register readout with snailed 30-minute, 12-hour, and running seconds registers; and slim, blued steel ‘feuille’ handset — is a thing of stark beauty. The dial is signed with the maker’s name as well as “Compax,” indicating it is a three-register chronograph belonging to a model family introduced in the mid-1930s. (More on this later.)
The Spillman Case
But the detail that truly sets this watch apart isn’t necessarily the dial, but its pairing with a 38mm Spillman case — a combination that was never offered in a serially-produced watch and which only exists in three known examples. C.R. Spillman, founded in Switzerland in 1884, produced its famous waterproof cases for numerous makers, among which were Rolex, Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet, Piaget, Doxa, Zenith, and Universal Genève. (Rolex would later purchase the company in 1988, bringing its capabilities in-house.) Perhaps best known among its designs is the company’s chronograph case: Featuring characteristically angled lugs, this 38mm housing features a two-piece design with a screw-down caseback, a stepped bezel, dual pump pushers, and a large, notched crown. Inside the caseback is the marque’s Poinçons de Maître (maker’s mark) No. 136.
The Spillman case's screw-down caseback
Succeeding earlier square pusher-variety cases, this round-pusher design, with its 38mm diameter and screw-down caseback, was both oversized as well as advanced for the 1940s. While most contemporary men’s watches from the era of the Second World War were sized in rectangular, precious-metal dress watch cases or round stainless steel or steel-plated cases measuring roughly 31-36mm in diameter, the Spillman chronograph case was an entirely different beast. Then comes the dial: Parsing through Universal Genève literature does reveal smaller-diameter watches with a similar grey and white dial, but these are gold dress chronographs with fancy lugs square pushers, not steel Spillman-cased chronographs. They were also made for calibres smaller than the cal. 285 that powers most of the the Spillman references, giving further credence to the notion that the watch we have here is, in fact, a prototype.
The Compax Series
An early first-generation Compur with black sector dial from the 1930s - (Image by Universal Genève)
As mentioned above, this special prototype 22410 is a Compax — one of several beloved chronograph models produced by Universal Genève from the early-to-mid 20th century. The short history goes something like this: In 1934, U.G. launched the Compur dual-register chronograph model at Basel. Two years later in 1936, it debuted two new models: The dual-register Uni-Compax with 45-minute and running seconds registers (which replaced the Compur), and the triple-register Compax with 30-minute, 12-hour, and running seconds registers. Said to be the first wristwatch model equipped with an hour counter, the Compax was placed in all manner of case types, among which were earlier executions with rectangular pushers and later versions with round pushers. The oversized Spillman case, which debuted in the 1940s, was considered quite large for the time — in retrospect, however, it occupies a perfect middle ground between the smaller models of the ‘30s and the 40+mm chronographs of the early 2000s.
The Movement
Universal Genève Calibre 386 - (Image by LeMuse)
Unlike nearly every other Spillman-cased Ref. 22410, the ‘Grey Ghost’ is powered not by the Calibre 285, but by the similar Calibre 386. Or, at least that’s how the movement is signed: In reality, the 386 is based upon the 285 and is functionally the same calibre: Both measure 14 lignes (31.7mm) in diameter and 6.85mm thick in their Compax form, and both beat at 18,000 vph. Universal Geneve, in contrast to many other firms operating in the mid-20th century, developed and produced its own movements — a fact that helped raise the brand’s profile in the enthusiast sphere as blogs and watch magazines began waxing poetic about Compaxes and Tri-Compaxes in the early 2000s. Though the hand-wound calibres 285 and 386 are far from the brand’s most complicated or compelling engines, they remain robust, well-architected movements that, if well maintained, continue to function beautifully to this day.
Collectability
With Breitling’s still-recent purchase of Universal Gèneve fresh in folks’ minds and its first batch of new watches still a year or so away, collectors are scrambling to gobble up excellent examples of vintage U.G. pieces. But the ‘Grey Ghost’ is more than just a simple vintage chronograph — rather, it’s an ultra-rare and highly compelling window into the world of a storied manufacture whose wares were, in some cases, years ahead of their time. And that’s something that’s difficult to put a price on.
