Since the announcement from Georges Kern that Universal Genève would be resurrected, bought by Breitling late last year, we now have all the details on how this is taking shape!
December 2023 – Breitling’s parent company and private equity firm, Partners Group along with Breitling’s previous owner, equity group CVC announce that they have purchased and are reviving a collector favourite, Universal Genève. It was a big announcement at the time, and one that was met with some mixed sentiment, something not uncommon when it comes to loved brands and avid collectors. But, seeing what Georges Kern has been able to do with Breitling over the last few years or so, and now heading up the Universal Genève brand also, there was hope that this would be the kickstart Universal Genève needed, and deserved. Today, we now have a lot more answers as the Univeral Genève brand is officially re-born!
Rewind To The Past
Before we get into the nitty-gritty of the new brand, let’s take a quick look back at the brand and some of its models that make it a cult classic, a condensed history if you will!
Universal Gevève was founded in 1894 by Numa-Émile Descombes and Ulysse-Georges Perret under the name Universal Watch Co. Even though Descombes died a short three years after the foundation, Ulysse-Georges Perret found a new partner in Louis Edouard Berthoud. Together they created a pocket watch with a 30-minute counter—the Universal Watch Extra—in 1898.
The 1930s was the start of the brand we know today, and under Raoul Perret, Ulysse-Georges Perret’s son, across the decade, brings out two iconic pieces. In 1933, the Universal Ideo came to market, quickly becoming a success. Nicknamed the ‘Cabriolet’ as it was essentially a convertible watch, and following in the footsteps of the highly popular Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso.
1933 – The ‘Cabriolet’ Ideo
Released in 1933, this was one of the first reversible watches on the market, along with the JLC Reverso from 1931. Its hinged design at the top of the case allowed its wearer to turn the case around to protect it, and whilst launched at the Ideo, it was quickly nicknamed the Cabriolet – given it was a convertible watch.
A year after the Cabriolet in 1934, the company was renamed Universal Genève, a reflection of the business and its close ties to Geneva which was, and still is, the city that is the hub of and inextricably linked to Swiss Watchmaking. In 1936, Univeral Genève unveiled its latest offering to the market, the Compax. It was the company’s first hour counter wristwatch, the previous chronographs being 30-minute counters.
1936 – The Compax
The now-famous Compax, a design that has been mimicked and copied time and time over. With the three iconic subdials, don’t get confused and call this a Tri-Compax because of the three dials – Tri refers to the number of complications present in addition to keeping the time. In this example, it is a compax due to it being a chronograph with two elapsed time functions or complications.
Once World War II hit, Swiss Watchmaking came to the fore, and as part of this, watches were in more need than ever before, with many companies supplying military units. Whilst this was happening, Universal Genève launched its very first triple register chronograph or Tri-Compax. The watch featured the running seconds subdial, and in addition, two sub-dials for the minutes and hours (two complications), plus a moonphase and month indicator for the third complication – ok, technically it is four as a date and moonphase are separate, but who am I to be splitting hairs!
1944 – The Tri-Compax
The example here is more than a Tri-Compax, but nonetheless, Universal Genève calls it one. Featuring a red chronograph seconds hand, minutes and hour chronographs subdials at 3 and 6, running seconds at 9 and at 12 o’clock, and a date and moonphase indicator with the day and month on either side – effectively, an annual calendar!
The now-famous Gerald Genta entered the picture for Universal Genéve in 1954, way before he did the Royal Oak for Audemars Piguet. His contribution to the historic brand was the Polerouter – a watch designed to commemorate the SAS (Scandinavian Airlines System) flight over the North Pole and the first-ever air route between Europe and the US. The crew on board this flight were all equipped with the anti-magnetic calibre 138 SS, which would then be used in the Polerouter shortly after.
1954 – The Polerouter
The Polerouter was Gerald Genta’s first major watch design, and at the young age of 23! The watch was lauded for its high resistance to magnetic fields, like that found around the North Pole, and perfect for pilots who at the time were still heavily reliant on mechanical watches. On the 15th of November 1954, the SAS plane named the “Helge Viking” made its first flight from Copenhagen to L.A. And thus, the Polerouter was born!
The 1960s and 1970s were the glory days for many watch brands in the industry, with many icons being born at the time – think the Heuer Carrera, the AP Royal Oak, Patek Philippe Nautilus, Breitling’s Top Time and Chrono-Matic. Amongst these, Universal Genève was refining its pieces such as the Compax collection which are seen on the wrists of the likes of Eric Clapton and Finnish model and socialite Nina Rindt. In 1966, Universal Genève created the world’s thinnest automatic watch calibre capable of absorbing shock at just 2.5mm thick and showcased this at Baselworld that year, and in the ’70s, Universal Genève started to do designer timepieces and adopted the slogan, “Le Couturier de la Montre”, or loosely translated, The Watch Designer working with fashion designer, Roberta Di Camerino.
The 1970s was most probably the last notable decade for Universal Genève, and with the quartz crisis looming in the mid to late 1970s, Universal Genève jumped on board with the Calibre 74, at the time, the world’s thinnest quartz movements. However, this was short-lived as Japanese brands took over the quartz watch industry, and by the late 80’s, Universal Genève was a shadow of its former self. In 1989, the brand was bought by Stelux, a Hong Kong-based company, and while it still produced watches, they were more vintage-inspired and nods to its past, rather than groundbreaking new models. The rest they say, is history…until today!
A New Start!
Today, Universal Genève is back (well, almost) as the brand is revived and a new website along with social channels are announced. Based on this, we also have an indication of the direction Georges Kern has for the brand, with Universal Genève paying homage to its watchmaking heritage and groundbreaking models. While we won’t see any actual watches for another year or so, with plans to release the first models around Geneva Watch Days 2026, what we will see from today is a slow but sure release of how the brand is being formed, starting with the new website and social media channels:
- Web – www.universalgeneve.com
- IG – instagram.com/universalgeneve
- FB – facebook.com/people/Universalgeneve
One of the fears when it was announced the brand was bought was it would be rushed to market. However, it is quite the opposite. The business is taking its time to create timepieces that will do justice to its past. And from what we are being told, these will not be re-badged Breitlings at all. Under the new Managing Director, Gregory Bruttin, and CEO, Georges Kern, Universal Genève has undergone extensive research and development into both the brand and the new pieces, and has done so in collaboration with an advisory board made up of approximately twenty of Universal Genève’s most prolific collectors, watch-industry veterans, and industry press.
“This is a beloved brand with an active community. Our advisory board is working with us to build the brand in a modern way while remaining true to the considerable heritage of Universal Genève. The new Universal Genève website and social media pages offer an exciting glimpse of what’s to come for Universal Genève”
Gregory Bruttin, Universal Genève Managing Director
For people who are not aware of who Gregory Bruttin is, he is not new to the watch industry by any stretch. He is a trained watchmaker and holds a Master of Advanced Studies in Watch Design from the Haute École Arc in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. In addition, he has held many positions across the past 20 years, starting off working directly with Roger Dubuis himself at the brand, and a variety of key positions, from product marketing, research and development to production and end-customer sales. Bruttin was also head of technical management at the Stern dial and movement manufacture, part of the Richemont Group, where he gained extensive experience in high-end dial and movement manufacturing, including specialization in micro-rotor movements. So it would be safe to assume Kern has chosen Bruttin for a reason, and with such high-end watchmaking experience, we can only surmise that the new Universal Genève will be heading in this direction.
For the launch, Universal Genève has collaborated with artist, Constantin Prozorov, and we get a glimpse into the style that the brand is going for with images like at the top of this article, and below. It’s vintage, whimsical and surreal, and takes you back to the glory days of Universal Genève. Constantin Prozorov is an international artist, residing in Paris and has worked with the who’s who of luxury. From Gucci to Moncler, to Louis Vuitton and the likes of BMW, his work has been featured in Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. So Universal Genève is in good company here.
Our Predictions
Given what we know of Breitling, and the information around the launch and new Managing Director, Gregory Bruttin, here are our predictions for the new Universal Genève brand:
More High-end
It’s basic brand strategy 101 – cover as much of the market as possible with each brand in your portfolio, and if possible, avoid as much cannibalisation as possible. So it stands to reason that Breitling being more a mass luxury brand, with a more relaxed and easygoing vibe, Universal Genève will tackle a different market. Otherwise, why have a second brand? The brand’s heritage lends itself to this, as Universal Genève was never a low-end brand, (it was affordable luxury originally, where Breitling sits today) making it low-end would do it a disservice.
Hand Finishing
This goes hand in hand with the above. If you are making watches that possibly will be at a higher price point, then you need to have the finishing and movements to match. Given we know that these movements will be more or less new movements designed for Universal Genève, then it also stands to reason that they will go the whole way with them. Breilting movements are well done, but if you step up a level, then we hope to see some more hand finishing on these movements.
Complications
We could expect to see several complications for the launch models. Maybe a new Tri-compax with a moonphase to pay tribute to the original? Maybe a standard Compax and a tribute to the Polerouter? After all, this year is the 70th anniversary of the Polerouter, and being one of Genta’s first major watch designs, it could be nice to see this as one of the inaugural models in 2026.
Limited Runs
This is me going out on a limb here a little. While all the above doesn’t mean limited by any stretch, my prediction is to start, we may see some limited editions and limited production runs of the launch models. Scarcity is a great driver of luxury – if everyone could get it, it wouldn’t be luxury would it? Added to this, it would give the brand time to see how the watch community and wider audience react to the new models.
New Flagship Store
It goes without saying that Universal Genève will roll out its own boutiques once the watches are in production, but we would love to see an unveiling of a new flagship store in Geneva – maybe for the launch of the models perhaps? If this coincided with Geneva Watch Days, then this would be a perfect time to launch the boutique and models, with a massive independent watch crowd converging on the city at that time.
Whatever predictions we or anyone has, the only way to see if we’re right is with time, and now that the new look brand has been announced, and a new site is up and running, we’re sure that we will see it all unfold. As always, with any new announcements to come, we will be sure to keep you informed. Welcome back Universal Genève!
