Vintage Watch | Universal Genève 542137 [Original Buckle]

Universal Genève 542137: 1970s Tonneau Dress Watch with Original Buckle

This Universal Genève 542137 is a 1970s hand-wound dress watch: a slim gold-plated tonneau, a champagne sunburst dial, and time only, with no seconds hand. It is keeping great time. It comes with the original UG buckle. The case is in good condition.

What Universal Genève was in the 1960s and 1970s

Universal Genève started in 1894. By the 1950s and 1960s it sat in the upper-middle of Swiss watchmaking: not Patek or Vacheron, but known for the Polerouter, the Compax chronographs, and clean dress watches. The brand used solid gold on the top pieces and gold-plated cases on the volume lines. A plated UG in good condition is still the practical Swiss dress watch of that period.

The Universal Genève 542137 shape

In the late 1960s and 1970s, rounded rectangular and tonneau cases were the dress-watch look. Cartier’s Baignoire is the shape this one most often calls to mind, but the 542137 is a little more present on the wrist, and still very thin. It measures 29 mm across, 39.5 mm lug-to-lug, and 18 mm at the lugs, and it is about 6.9 mm thick. It sits under a cuff without disappearing.

This Universal Genève 542137, as it is

The dial is the original champagne sunburst, with applied black baton markers, slim black hands, and the U logo over UNIVERSAL GENEVE. SWISS is at 6. There is an inside line mark on the original crystal, which is why the crystal has been kept. A few light marks are visible on the dial, as you would expect on a watch from the 1970s; the printing and markers are still clean. The gold-plated case is in good condition. The stainless steel caseback is stamped 542137, serial 3488183. It is shown on a black leather strap with the original signed UG buckle.

Universal Genève 542137 specification

Maker: Universal Genève
Model: 542137
Era: 1970s
Case: Gold-plated, stainless steel back, tonneau, 29 mm, 39.5 mm lug-to-lug, 18 mm lugs, about 6.9 mm thick. Good condition.
Dial: Original champagne sunburst; applied black baton markers; time only, no seconds. SWISS at 6.
Crystal: Original, kept, with an inside line mark.
Movement: Manual-wind Caliber 1-42, 17 jewels, keeping great time.
Buckle: Original Universal Genève, on a black leather strap.

A 1970s Universal Genève 542137 with the original buckle is the thin tonneau dress watch that has more presence than its size suggests, and still slides under a cuff.