Universal Genève Compax 1950

Why We Love it Close your eyes and picture yourself in East Central France, Burgundy to be precise, sipping on a glass of  a delicious “Pinot Noir” in the middle of one of their famous vineyards. Picturing it? Good. That’s what this Universal Genève 1950 Panda chronograph makes us feel with its burgundy colored chronograph counters and strap. It’s almost as if we just took the Concorde back to France for a tipple of the good stuff. With its sharp twisted lugs and tachymeter bezel, the Compax 1950 is a nice wink not only to its predecessors on the UG side, but also to the Omega Speedmaster. As with the 1960s models, Universal Genève also experimented with a kaleidoscope of exotic dial colors. This one, a Reference 884.47) features a burgundy bezel and subsidiary registers, making it one of the most playful takes on the panda dial language of its forebears. Since exotic-dial Compaxes from the 1960s command a hefty premium in today's market, this reissue gives collectors a chance to wear a colorful chrono with the same feel and wearability as its vintage counterparts and still houses a quality mechanical movements. Inside the case, Universal Genève beats the manually-wound Lemania Calibre 1873, which at its core architecture is essentially an Omega Calibre .861. In light of the Compax's undiminished popularity in recent years, the Compax 1950 feels regal and self-aware, proudly crowned in its sterling bloodline, and offers a tremendous value proposition!   The Story Universal Genéve 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 "Nina Rindt" Compax and the "Eric Clapton" 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.