Universal Geneve was famed for making elegant and complicated wristwatches back in their heyday- becoming known a more accessible alternative to Patek Philippe. It’s not hard to see why, with famed models such as the Tri-Compax and their Compax line in general.
There are two distinct generations of collectible Universal Geneve. You have the early period, which featured more delicate dress cases in the 30’s - 50’s, and the second generation, which this example belongs to, between the ’60s to ’80s where UG produced watches that were sportier and more in tune with contemporary trends.
The term Compax was Universal’s way of denoting the complications of the watch. With the Compax you see here today, it is named without a prefix because it only has one complication- the chronograph.
The Compax 22705-1 is one of the most desirable configurations of Universal, due to both its rarity and wearability. Housed in a 36mm stainless steel case with defined twisted lugs that are characteristic of the era, this Compax remains as attractive and relevant today as it did in the ’60s. With an inner tachymeter scale, a sunburst silver dial with blue accents, a workhorse Valjoux 72 movement, and just overall beautiful proportions, it is hard to not love this.
