Universal Geneve “Eric Clapton” Serial Number Project

Below is an aggregation all of the Universal Geneve 881101/01 (aka “Eric Clapton”) pieces I have located. If you find others, please contact me with a link and/or images and serial number if available. I am not including the “Evil Clapton” (881101/02) in my research.

Ranges I have seen for the Universal Geneve 881101/01 “Eric Clapton”: 2335xxx – 2556xxx, with one outlier at 226xxxx that I can’t offer an explanation for (that piece also has etching that is not consistent with the standard range pieces). If you believe the Universal Geneve production dates from Universal Watch Geneve by Pietro Sala, the standard range for the Universal Geneve 881101/01 for this serial number database is 1963 – 1967.

For now I am including the reference 222102/1 in this table as well, identical in appearance to 881101/01, only differing in etching on the caseback. I find it curious that the single Clapton I have read of with reference 222102/1 and known serial (2335198) is between two others both with reference 881101/01 (2335140 and 2335249). Curious indeed.

Range above are due to limited visible caseback images, or text, as many pieces are posted online without caseback images or serial number provided (or, at times, they are polished/worn off). I have seen reference to comments that these serials were easily worn off from use, but just as often it appears from images that the caseback has been intentionally polished completely.

The watches represented on each row in the table below are intended to be unique, though given serial numbers are often not shown for images, the same watch may appear multiple times. I do my best to use visual cues to pair the same watch posted at different times. When the serial number can’t be established, I give the timepiece a unique ID (based on any part that is known, plus a related date posted).

If you see any duplicates, errors, have serial numbers to include, or know of other Universal Geneve 881101/01 or 222102/1 to add, please let me know.

Caveats:
Description of pieces are generally based upon public images/video. For some detail, we do not have images and have to rely on text descriptions from the individual posting the timepiece. Some elements are often difficult to determine from pictures, including color of hands, for example if the chrono seconds hand is black or blue, and crown logo, rounded or pointed. If I have a 50-50 guess, I leave the detail as “unknown.”

As with the rest of this Website, the following table, and data contained therein, is subject to Alpha Hands LLC Terms and Conditions

The above table, and data contained therein, is subject to Alpha Hands LLC Terms and Conditions