Universal Genève White Shadow

The White Shadow is elegant and comfortable, comes from one of the best brands and watch designers, and was one for the record books. Need we even go on?

Universal Genève has becoming a darling of the watch collecting community, and their Compax and Tri-Compax models seem to be on every shopper’s shortlist. We’d like to remind all of you that there’s so much more to the brand than just those models, and for anyone in the market for a dress watch, the White Shadow just might be the perfect UG for you.

Thanks to its record-breaking slim automatic movement, the White Shadow is a supremely comfortable watch. The cushion shaped case is impressively thin, but it’s also wide enough to feel substantial. UG produced this model is a few different case materials and dial combinations, and this example, with a bright white dial, black Roman numerals and steel case, is one of the most popular.

There are lot’s of great affordable dress watches out there, but few can match the White Shadow’s pedigree. It’s elegant, innovative and unusual. That’s quite the combination.

About the UG White Shadow:

Back in the day, Universal Genève was the real McCoy. Instead of assembling watches from parts produced by various manufactures like many brands of the mid 20^th century, the Swiss brand was developed and produced their own innovative designs. The White Shadow was not just powered by any old movement, but an in-house, micro-rotor automatic movement. But wait, this wasn’t the run-of-the-mill in-house micro-rotor automatic movement, it was the world’s thinnest automatic movement for over a decade after its introduction in the mid-60s. As far as we’re concerned, that an impressive bit of horological history, and we’re just thankful that such an important movement is housed in such a good looking watch.

Speaking of the White Shadow’s looks, this is one of the first major watches designed by the late, great Gerald Genta, the prodigy of watch design who was responsible for the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and Patek Philippe Nautilus. Genta designed the White Shadow prior to those pieces while still working for Universal Genève, where he was also the brains behind the Polerouter (see one, HERE). With its remarkably thin movement and Genta’s artistic touch, the White Shadow deserves as much recognition as any other UG, whether it’s a Tri-Compax or Nina Rindt chronograph.