When people think Universal Genève, they usually think of its recent history, its success in the mid-20th century, and of watch models like the the Polerouter or the Tri-Compax. Universal Genève today is certainly not as prominent as it once was, and although most watch nerds can name a few vintage UGs, there are very few that can name a single recent model. So, what happened?
Universal Genève was founded by watchmaking duo Numa Emile Descombes and Ulysse Georges Perret in 1894 under the name ‘Universal Watch’. They were quick to get to business and patented a 24-hour indicator the same year they launched the company. Unfortunately, Descombes died only 3 years later in 1897 and his shares were transferred to Louis-Edouard Berthoud, who continued to collaborate with Perret on the production of pocket watches. During the early 20th century, the company became a pioneer in wristwatches manufacturing, gaining a reputation for the production of excellent wristwatches that included chronographs – and releasing their first wristwatch chronograph in 1917. In 1919, the company moved their headquarters to Geneva, a preamble to their name change in 1934 to ‘Universal Genève’. But before that step could be completed, Perret, one of the original founders, passed away in 1933 and with his stake passing to his son, Raoul. It was during this post-Recession period that Universal Genève saw one of its greatest periods of growth releasing famous models such as the Uni-Compax, Aero-Compax, and Tri-Compax; the last of which was released in 1944. The Aero-Compax One, short for Aviator’s Compact Chronograph, was one of their more interesting pieces, released in 1940. The Uni-Compax was released in 1936.
After the release of the Tri-Compax, we essentially run up to the time period in which the Polerouter was designed by Gerald Genta. As we know, Universal Genève struggled in the second half of the 20th century and was acquired by Stelux Holdings International, a Hong Kong-based company that also owns Cyma, in 1989. What’s next in store for Universal Genève? Only time will tell.