When I first saw the Universal Geneve Uni-Compax 884100, I had no love for it. The asymmetric register design was simply too much for my brain (which spends the rest of the day on nice neat Excel tables). Over time, I’ve grown to appreciate it far more.
The Universal Geneve 884100, otherwise known as the “Big Eye” in reference to the larger chronograph minute register, was produced from approximately 1964-1965 (judging by the Universal Geneve production tables available). With overall low production (some claim under 100, but I have never seen anything directly from Universal Geneve to support this figure), these pieces retained the same dial design (in white and black), case, movement and hands throughout their production period. This research focuses on the white-dial Universal Geneve 884100/02, for no reason other than I like the look more than the black dial. Maybe I’ll add the black-dial (Universal Geneve 884100/01) in one day…so many watches, so little free time.
The Universal Geneve 884100 features a 36.5mm steel case, registers at 3 and 9 o’clock for running seconds and 45-minute counter, respectively, with surrounding tachymeter scale (base 1000). Specific to the white dial 884100/02 features red crosshair both on the white dial and sunken black running seconds register, and red lines from the center of the sunken black minute counter to the numerals 15 and 30, with the area from 0 (marked 45) to 8 minutes shaded in grey. A manually wound Universal Geneve Caliber 125 (modified Valjoux 23) powers the reference.
One last note – if you or anyone else can convince the current Universal Geneve owners to sell me the company I would appreciate it (look for my kickstarter campaign if so). It is a total shame to have the brand languish like this.