1940s Universal Genève Tri-Compax Ref. 42406

Why This Watch Matters The epitome of Universal Genève's mid-century chronograph dominance. The Full Story The Universal Genève Tri-Compax is one of the brand's most well-respected models. It has a beautiful moon-phase window at 12 o'clock with a red calendar hand for the 31-day indication around the register. Bookending this sub-dial are the day aperture to the left and month aperture to the right. The Tri-Compax model traces back to 1944, when it was shown at Baselworld to celebrate the company's 50th anniversary. Considered tool watches in their day, these models gave the wearer calendar functions along with a chronograph to time anything up to 12 hours long. The movement inside is Universal Genève's column-wheel caliber 287. For ease of setting the calendar, the three corrector buttons are placed on the band of the case. The gold plated, reference 42406 example we have here is an earlier example of the Tri-Compax, a model that Universal kept in the catalog in some form through the