CASES

Logos, Hallmarks and Case Makers

The history of UG can be reconstructed through the many subtle details in their watches, and cases are an excellent way to understand more about the brand. In particular there are 3 interesting topics regarding Universal Genève cases: the UG logo in the case, the material hallmark and the producer hallmark.

Logos

The evolution of the Universal Genève logo stamp is rather simple and intuitive. The logo would be stamped mostly on the inner caseback with the exception of a few models that would have it on the outer caseback. There are 4 main evolutions of the logo:

Round U.W. logo (Early 1930s - 1937)

U Shield logo with wheel (1937 - 1953)

U Shield simplified logo (1953 - 1970+)

Modern U logo (1990s - Today)

Materials

Universal Geneve watches were made in a variety of materials, here is a list of the possible materials and how the were stamped on the caseback:

Gold
18k Stamp: Helvetia Head
18k 0.750 Yellow Gold
18k 0.750 Rose Gold
14k Stamp: Squirrel
14K 0.583 Yellow Gold
14K 0.583 White Gold

Case Makers

The swiss watchmaking industry was one of savoir-faire, with many small companies focusing on the one aspect they were good at. There were dial makers, hand makers, synthetic ruby makers etc. In particular when it came to cases, each case-maker had their own signature look and patents. For example C.R. Spillman (HH 136) was famous for their waterproof pump pusher chronographs. Therefore, understanding the relationship the brand had with individual case-makers can help shed light on the aesthetic significance of their models. 

It is important to note that the hallmarking on the various cases was almost exclusively reserved for precious metals, and is very rare to see a steel or chrome case stamped with the producer mark. The following list contains all the case makers (known today) that have made cases for Universal Genève.

This first part of the list is composed of all the swiss made casemakers outside of Geneva, distinguished by the Hammer head without handle hallmark with a number inside, referring to the case-maker.

The second part features the Geneva case-makers that are stamped with the ‘Geneva Key’ and an identification number. Usually these precious metal watch cases had a minimum thickness of 0.3mm.