It’s game-on for Universal Genève as its first trio of latest and distinctive Polerouter watches premiered at present to mark the seventieth anniversary of the primary SAS transpolar flight the place the Polerouter (Polarouter) initially debuted. The world — effectively, the watch world, anyway — has its eyes firmly set on Common Genève and its largely Breitling-sourced workers since Breitling and its father or mother firm Companions Grouptook over this long-dormant historic watchmaker in late 2023 for a reported sum of $70 million. We go hands-on with the three new items and share what we discovered about the way forward for Common Genève.
Two classic Common Genève watches flanking two of the three Polerouter SAS Tribute watches launched in Copenhagen on November 15, 2024.
To set issues off on a private word, I’m not into classic watches. I can admire them after I see them hands-on for his or her creativity of their design and workmanship, however I’ve all the time stayed away from something and the whole lot classic for a easy cause: lack of belief. I don’t belief a lot of what’s shared on boards and different sources and I discover little pleasure in attempting to untangle a thread of he-said-she-said that occurred 70 years in the past. I additionally don’t belief the watches themselves: What’s so charming in classic watches, the life that they lived and the tales they inform, additionally entail a possible sequence of alterations — careless or malicious — and, once more, I’m no Perezcope to tackle the classic watch detective’s position.
As such, if you’re like me, chances are high that Common Genève has stayed off your radar, too. Not as a result of the model that lived its golden age between the Fifties and Nineteen Seventies was undeserving of our consideration — it had greater than earned it — however as a result of it’s classic and thus had all the time been disqualified for the aforementioned causes. And but, I can sense the stress within the air from fellow watch fans and collectors, as they inch ever nearer to the sting of their seats each time a brand new element is shared which will or could not trace on the future plans that Common Genève CEO Georges Kern and Common Genève Managing Director Gregory Bruttin have for this renaissance.
Given that each section of luxurious watches at present is immensely aggressive, these on the helm of Common Genève understandably attempt to hold their playing cards near their chest, in order that their to-be-competitors can not put together too effectively for the merchandise, function units, and pricing technique that UG will supply with its first “common assortment” come late 2026. What seems like an eternity away is definitely a worryingly quick time period for a model that’s anticipated to develop is product portfolio, its in-house actions, circumstances, dials, fingers, and bracelets, arrange its personal workshop and fill it with its personal staff of engineers, machine operators, motion decorators, and assemblers, create an after-sales service, and so forth….
Given the outstanding funding all this requires, it’s little surprise that Common Genève desires to have its picture (re-)constructed and well-established within the public consciousness when it drops what is going to inevitably be a set of watches priced someplace above Breitling’s bread-and-butter-range of excessive 4 figures. We don’t know this for certain, however we do know that Kern is far smarter than to arrange a model that can cannibalize Breitling.
As a part of this pressure build-up was at present’s occasion constructed across the conveniently spectacular seventieth anniversary of the first-ever transpolar industrial flight that was flown by Scandinavian Airways System (SAS) over the North Pole from Copenhagen to Los Angeles in 1954. There really weren’t one however two flights that took on the challenges of navigating a airplane across the North Pole — however they departed from opposing ends of the globe. The Helge Viking (SK931) departed Copenhagen at 7:18pm, whereas the Leif Viking (SK932) took off from Los Angeles. Cautious planning preceded this endeavor, which included equipping the SAS flights with polar survivor gear, and coaching the crew polar survivor strategies and even just a few phrases in Greenlandic. The primary industrial transpolar flight took 28 hours because the planes — Douglas DC-6Bs — have been a lot slower than they’re at present and likewise required two gasoline stops alongside the way in which. Nonetheless, by flying North and never by way of New York hundreds of kilometers have been saved.
1954: SAS pilots obtain their Common Genève Polarouter watches. Credit score: SAS Scandinavian Airways
The Scandinavian Airways System got down to equip its crew with the whole lot it wanted for this outstanding problem, and that included wristwatches which have been essential navigation instruments and back-ups for the airplane’s onboard programs. Conventional compasses are additionally of no assist when flying across the magnetic North Pole — it’s enjoyable to do this in a flight simulator in case you have one put in — and so pilots needed to depend on different time-based navigation strategies which, in fact, required reliable timekeepers onboard.
The SAS created a set of standards for the watch that they’d deem worthy to accompany the crew specializing in anti-magnetic, shockproof, and waterproof properties, in addition to timing accuracy. I ponder what different manufacturers — if any — have entered the “competitors” established by SAS… However what we do know is that Common Genève was given the inexperienced gentle and turned to a younger watch designer, a sure Gérald Genta with the request to provide you with an ample timepiece. Right now, the Evelyne Genta, the partner and long-term enterprise accomplice of Gérald Genta recollects that the Polerouter was Genta’s first fee with a really particular pitch and job, and so a pioneering challenge in his profession.
70 years later the Polerouter stays a really good-looking watch with bang-on proportions, strong legibility, and a set of stylistic components which can be round at present, albeit on very totally different watches. In keeping with the model, “The standout function of the Polerouter was its three-dimensional impact, achieved by way of a two-part design that includes a pressure ring with hour markers fastened to the glass and a curved dial to safe the motion. The association, patented by Common Genève in 1953, was thought of a technical and visible achievement.” Initially, 170 items have been produced, a lot of which have been gifted to SAS pilots. Classic advertisements counsel that by 1956 the Polerouter was its personal factor, offered with its present identify and now not linked solely with SAS. Enjoyable reality: The Polerouter was initially known as the Polarouter and was renamed to raised swimsuit the American market’s preferences.
2024 sees the launch of three distinctive Common Genève Polerouter SAS Tribute watches in 18k white gold with a blue dial and white gold bracelet, 18k crimson gold with a black dial and a strap, and stainless-steel with a silver dial and a strap. All three watches sport freshly manufactured habillage — i.e. the whole lot that surrounds the motion — whereas the caliber inside is a classic instance in all three items; overhauled, in fact.
Within the late Fifties, the Polerouter was enhanced by the world’s thinnest motion on the time, a “Microtor” computerized caliber, measuring simply 4.1mm thick that nonetheless provided a two-day energy reserve. This thinness was achieved by positioning the rotor between the plate and bridges as an alternative of above the motion as in most self-winding watches. Sadly, the actions can’t be seen as all three variations have a strong caseback — for those who ask me, historic accuracy ought to have been sacrificed right here, however I’m certain there may be a military of blue-blooded Common Genève collectors who would beg to vary with me on that.
The case of every of the three Common Genève Polerouter SAS Tribute watches measures 35mm vast, 9.95mm thick, 45.4mm lug-to-lug, and gives 5 bar (50-meter equal) water resistance. The dial on all three items acquired particular consideration, too: In keeping with the model, the rehauts have been guillochéd with the purpose of a diamond for additional crispness and sheen, whereas the principle dial is satin-finished for optimum distinction in opposition to the 18k gold fingers on each mannequin. The dials function the fashionable in addition to the historic SAS logos above 6 o’clock. They’re lined not by plexiglas however by cambered and double-glareproofed sapphire crystal.
The white gold mannequin has a standout function: A bracelet, impressed by Common Genève’s authentic historic designs, created by Laurent Jolliet, a craftsman who’s the final chaîniste, or chain-maker, in Switzerland. Jolliet is effectively and really a grasp of his craft, rigorously calculating and executing the design and manufacturing of each thread and each hyperlink. The impact is as a lot watch bracelet as it’s medieval armor — and the nearer you look, the extra mind-bending and spectacular his work turns into. The takeaway message right here is that there’s hope for the fashionable Common Genève to proceed with the unique’s strategy to excellent and daring creativity expressed by way of novel and rarified craftsmanship. Whether or not that’s one thing at present’s Common Genève can scale as much as affordable portions whereas sustaining a aggressive worth level we are going to see come 2026.
And how will you get one in all these early Common Genève Polerouter SAS Tribute watches? Effectively, chances are high, that you’ll have to wait till late 2026 earlier than you’ll be able to strap one on. The crimson gold and the stainless-steel Polerouter watches launched in 2024 go to the Common Genève archives, whereas the white gold mannequin will probably be auctioned off in Might 2025. Keep tuned for our podcast dialogue with Gregory Bruttin for extra on Common Genève and the Polerouter. You can learn more at the brand’s website.
Trending Merchandise
