It is game-on for Universal Genève as its first trio of new and unique Polerouter watches premiered today to mark the 70th anniversary of the first SAS transpolar flight where the Polerouter (Polarouter) originally debuted. The world — well, the watch world, anyway — has its eyes firmly set on Universal Genève and its largely Breitling-sourced staff since Breitling and its parent company Partners 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 pieces and share what we learned about the future of Universal Genève.

To set things off on a personal note, I am not into vintage watches. I can appreciate them when I see them hands-on for their creativity in their design and workmanship, but I have always stayed away from anything and everything vintage for a simple reason: lack of trust. I don’t trust much of what is shared on forums and other sources and I find little pleasure in trying to untangle a thread of he-said-she-said that happened 70 years ago. I also don’t trust the watches themselves: What is so charming in vintage watches, the life that they lived and the stories they tell, also entail a potential series of alterations — careless or malicious — and, again, I am no Perezcope to take on the vintage watch detective’s role.

As such, if you are like me, chances are that Universal Genève has stayed off your radar, too. Not because the brand that lived its golden age between the 1950s and 1970s was not worthy of our attention — it had more than earned it — but because it is vintage and thus had always been disqualified for the aforementioned reasons. And yet, I can sense the tension in the air from fellow watch enthusiasts and collectors, as they inch ever closer to the edge of their seats every time a new detail is shared that may or may not hint at the future plans that Universal Genève CEO Georges Kern and Universal Genève Managing Director Gregory Bruttin have for this renaissance.

Given that every segment of luxury watches today is immensely competitive, those at the helm of Universal Genève understandably try to keep their cards close to their chest, so that their to-be-competitors cannot prepare too well for the products, feature sets, and pricing strategy that UG will offer with its first “regular collection” come late 2026. What feels like an eternity away is actually a worryingly short period of time for a brand that is expected to develop is product portfolio, its in-house movements, cases, dials, hands, and bracelets, set up its own workshop and fill it with its own team of engineers, machine operators, movement decorators, and assemblers, create an after-sales service, and so on….

Given the remarkable investment all this requires, it is little wonder that Universal Genève wants to have its image (re-)built and well-established in the public consciousness when it drops what will inevitably be a collection of watches priced somewhere above Breitling’s bread-and-butter-range of high four figures. We don’t know this for sure, but we do know that Kern is much smarter than to set up a brand that will cannibalize Breitling.

As part of this tension build-up was today’s event constructed around the conveniently impressive 70th anniversary of the first-ever transpolar commercial flight that was flown by Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) over the North Pole from Copenhagen to Los Angeles in 1954. There actually were not one but two flights that took on the challenges of navigating a plane around the North Pole — but they departed from opposing ends of the globe. The Helge Viking (SK931) departed Copenhagen at 7:18pm, while the Leif Viking (SK932) took off from Los Angeles. Careful planning preceded this undertaking, which included equipping the SAS flights with polar survivor gear, and training the crew polar survivor techniques and even a few words in Greenlandic. The first commercial transpolar flight took 28 hours as the planes — Douglas DC-6Bs — were much slower than they are today and also required two fuel stops along the way. Still, by flying North and not via New York thousands of kilometers were saved.

The Scandinavian Airlines System set out to equip its crew with everything it needed for this remarkable challenge, and that included wristwatches which were important navigation tools and back-ups for the plane’s onboard systems. Traditional compasses are also of no help when flying around the magnetic North Pole — it is fun to try this in a flight simulator if you have one installed — and so pilots had to rely on other time-based navigation techniques which, of course, required dependable timekeepers onboard.

The SAS created a set of criteria for the watch that they would deem worthy to accompany the crew focusing on anti-magnetic, shockproof, and waterproof properties, as well as timing accuracy. I wonder what other brands — if any — have entered the “competition” established by SAS… But what we do know is that Universal Genève was given the green light and turned to a young watch designer, a certain Gérald Genta with the request to come up with an adequate timepiece. Today, the Evelyne Genta, the spouse and long-term business partner of Gérald Genta recalls that the Polerouter was Genta’s first commission with a very specific pitch and task, and so a pioneering project in his career.

70 years later the Polerouter remains a very handsome watch with bang-on proportions, solid legibility, and a set of stylistic elements that are around today, albeit on very different watches. According to the brand, “The standout feature of the Polerouter was its three-dimensional effect, achieved through a two-part design featuring a tension ring with hour markers fixed to the glass and a curved dial to secure the movement. The arrangement, patented by Universal Genève in 1953, was considered a technical and visual achievement.” Initially, 170 pieces were produced, many of which were gifted to SAS pilots. Vintage ads suggest that by 1956 the Polerouter was its own thing, sold with its current name and no longer linked exclusively with SAS. Fun fact: The Polerouter was originally called the Polarouter and was renamed to better suit the American market’s preferences.

2024 sees the launch of three unique Universal Genève Polerouter SAS Tribute watches in 18k white gold with a blue dial and white gold bracelet, 18k red 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. everything that surrounds the movement — while the caliber inside is a vintage example in all three pieces; overhauled, of course.

In the late 1950s, the Polerouter was enhanced by the world’s thinnest movement at the time, a “Microtor” automatic caliber, measuring just 4.1mm thick that nevertheless offered a two-day power reserve. This thinness was achieved by positioning the rotor between the plate and bridges instead of above the movement as in most self-winding watches. Sadly, the movements cannot be seen as all three versions have a solid caseback — if you ask me, historical accuracy should have been sacrificed here, but I am sure there is an army of blue-blooded Universal Genève collectors who would beg to differ with me on that.

The case of each of the three Universal Genève Polerouter SAS Tribute watches measures 35mm wide, 9.95mm thick, 45.4mm lug-to-lug, and offers 5 bar (50-meter equivalent) water resistance. The dial on all three pieces received special attention, too: According to the brand, the rehauts were guillochéd with the point of a diamond for extra crispness and sheen, while the main dial is satin-finished for optimal contrast against the 18k gold hands on every model. The dials feature the modern as well as the historic SAS logos above 6 o’clock. They are covered not by plexiglas but by cambered and double-glareproofed sapphire crystal.

The white gold model has a standout feature: A bracelet, inspired by Universal Genève’s original historical designs, created by Laurent Jolliet, a craftsman who is the last chaîniste, or chain-maker, in Switzerland. Jolliet is well and truly a master of his craft, carefully calculating and executing the design and production of every thread and every link. The effect is as much watch bracelet as it is medieval armor — and the closer you look, the more mind-bending and impressive his work becomes. The takeaway message here is that there is hope for the modern Universal Genève to continue with the original’s approach to outstanding and bold creativity expressed through novel and rarified craftsmanship. Whether that is something today’s Universal Genève can scale up to reasonable quantities while maintaining a competitive price point we will see come 2026.

And how can you get one of these early Universal Genève Polerouter SAS Tribute watches? Well, chances are, that you will have to wait until late 2026 before you can strap one on. The red gold and the stainless steel Polerouter watches launched in 2024 go to the Universal Genève archives, while the white gold model will be auctioned off in May 2025. Stay tuned for our podcast discussion with Gregory Bruttin for more on Universal Genève and the Polerouter. You can learn more at the brand’s website.