Why The Universal Genève Polerouter Is The Best Entry Point To Vintage Watches | A Week On The Wrist

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Gérald Genta designed the Patek Philippe Nautilus. He designed the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak. He's a legend by any stretch of the imagination. But even legends have to start somewhere. And the Universal Genève Polerouter, from 1954, is not only his first masterpiece, but it's also the ideal starting place for any vintage watch collection.
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[@ehtikhet]

Hodinkee: blah blah blah, witty, well informed, beautifully shot video essay on basically anything. Market: adds a zero or two.

[@andreasvanhenten9511]

Thank you for absolutely raising the price on this piece!

[@tyt5216]

It's not an entry piece when you look at the price😂 Tbh there's no way to avoid this from happening, the cheapest watch could be introduced by them and that'd be enough for it to become popular

[@allotment3275]

The best entry is vintage watch is to give yourself a £50 budget and get on ebay and buy something that interests you - the more forgotten the brand the better

[@MrCliteatswood]

What shit advice

[@ianmedium]

@@MrCliteatswood love your well thought out comment! Now, for a more informed and educated comment read the OP’s comment as he is spot on. If your starting in vintage dip your toes in the cheap end first to see if you like it then as your knowledge grows so can your budget. And no name is a great way to start as in many instances the movements and cases can be of identical quality to the named varieties as back in the sixties and even more in the seventies after the quartz revolution there was a great deal of sharing between Swiss brands!

[@Dean-eu2pl]

@@ianmedium I bought a very nice vintage Provita. It's a local German watchmaker. The watch is beautiful gold plated with 28 jewels and a very low rate "ticks" of whatever it's called 😅 Anyway. Bought it for under 50€ and even made some money in the end... 👀

[@louismathgen]

Unfortunately, prices will skyrocket even more after this video. Nevertheless, great video on an absolutely great watch!

[@richardman28]

It's already unaffordable price..

[@iamsheep]

hell yeah

[@maxlyca230]

So true, I was thinking the exact same thing

[@joshuabarbour2873]

I’ve been looking for the right Polerouter for months and literally swore when I saw this video.

[@jeromef2001]

Richard Man depends what you think unaffordable. I was just considering to buy a nice one date black dial and yellow gold for 2000€ in a shop that in know..

[@igorradvic6882]

Not one Leica in sight what a great start to 2021 Hodinkee!

[@pwally2714]

I went to the mall in Miami Florida one day and the swatch worker came up to me and said, "Omg is that a Universal Geneve Polerouter?!" I took it off my wrist showed it to him and he was enamored, giddy, and humble: it's literally the perfect piece. His eyes lit up: "It's so heavy, it is my dream to get one one day." It seems like it's small but in 18k solid yellow gold and with its light reflectively it's so prominent in looks on the wrist. Wearability-wise it's was one of the thinnest in the 60s. You'll forgot it's on wrist. IT'S THAT COMFORTABLE. I have a Rolex DJ41, 18k Vacheron Constantin (worth about $15k) and a few Tudors. It's that good. I'll never sell mine. The Universal Geneve Polerouter Date is one of the best dials in the industry. Buy one now on this little watch price dip and you'll have a good piece for life to pass to your son or daughter.

[@RedwoodAggie]

I am very thankful for people like Adam Hambly for being so into watches, and a particular watch, that they document everything for the greater good. Where would we be without all this great information?

[@Nerdhaunt]

Chrono 24 enters the chat

[@MS-sy8ls]

😂

[@edotedy]

Did u guys stockpile your warehouses w Polerouters before releasing this video? Heard similar stories before

[@davidb9531]

Was looking for one of these at a decent price, bang goes that idea, lovely looking watch, Omegas massively underrated hour vision looks very similar to the black and silver dial for a more modern iteration

[@mehditalib]

I have this watch, passed down from my grandfather ... in silver with date! Gives every time a smile when I wear it and Check the time and get a reminder that my grandfather did the same on the very same watch 55 years ago

[@poikoi8401]

This is what I want to see more on this channel. Nice job!

[@ChevyBM]

The Polerouter is a wonderful watch with such a interesting history and also the Genta factor. The only bad thing I can think of is that some parts is really hard to find to these...

[@bmt65]

the intro is incredible - takes me back to 2004

[@SwissWatchGang]

Awesome video about a watch that deserves more attention and a nice jacket also Cole! :)

[@carminesarno3614]

just bought one - thanks Hodinkee!

[@pamisavejr]

Love the video! One of the best watches to have in any collection!

[@djordjesugaris9533]

So, I once missed buying a Polerouter at a flea market for $70...

[@justdaniel7995]

The saddest story i heard this year so far..

[@youraveragepasser-by7367]

Jesus dude

[@nilsweers1887]

Great video, love my Polerouter!

[@OrryYoung]

Awesome piece, Cole. Great storytelling

[@watchwithme91]

Good video, nice to see something filmed again.

[@ausaleve6002]

Some UG spare parts are already difficult to source. Not a very smart idea to buy these if you don't have a watchmaker with a good network to find parts.

[@willdeanauthor]

Excellent video (and great choice of watch). Love the idea of A Week on The Wrist: Vintage Edition.

[@rodsalvador3608]

Almost purchased a Polerouter and saw that the watch had an incorrect dial, misaligned printing and incorrect logo after researching the polerouter database. Someone else bought the watch at the Buy It Now. Or maybe I was completely wrong and it's just an undiscovered reference. In any event. that database is amazing resource!

[@aaronkeyes8943]

Amazing video! I think I need to purchase one. Haha

[@arun6864]

so underrated, love the polerouter!

[@PK-mx7nf]

I really should've bought one of these before the prices quadrupled

[@Theo-ul8qm]

I think the Polerouter is a great example of brand prestige being a driver of vintage model prices. If Rolex or Omega had made this it would be double the price at least. It’s a more beautiful design than what those brands were doing at the time in my opinion, plus it has a microrotor movement. If Patek had made it, it’d be 6-10 times the price. And that’s with high polerouter prices.

[@giovannidivici]

Glad I got my Polerouter Date a few weeks ago!

[@SP-pn7xx]

Thank you Hodinkee for bringing this watch to my attention way back in 2012 at the start of my collecting journey. Universalgenevepolerouter.com was such a great resource of info when I was on the hunt in 2014. It was a joy to own for a time... this video has got me all nostalgic now...

[@SP-pn7xx]

@@philwongnz It was a pleasure to be conned then ;)

[@jeromef2001]

Phillip Wong and why not ?,

[@SoCalWatchReviews]

Great video !!!

[@imthefattest]

Stunning video. Which strap is that btw? Thanks for helping

[@STPjib]

Another great video...your design work has improved since the first videos. I think that it would be a cleaner look for you guys to just keep the H logo at the bottom and drop the “subscribe” from below it. Just a thought!

[@wuaw2011]

More please preferably of some model that I bought at pre-video prices

[@andrew811ful]

Glad I own a polerouter!

[@johanneshotz4159]

Just WOW!!

[@randomperson010]

Anna from T&H

[@samsan3095]

I'm not sure a $1500 budget is widely considered an entry point.

[@lucioledizerot196]

I think it is. It's not affordable but it is definitely entrey level luxury where you start to get really horologically valuable things that are still very affordable in the context of watches (ex: Nomos).

[@natfingerboard]

@@lucioledizerot196 completely different market, completely different reasoning. Entry level LUXURY vs entry level VINTAGE. Luxury can only start so low, vintage doesn't have to be like that, you can get a cool vintage watch from 50 bucks and upwards, 1500 is already way down the road.

[@ianmedium]

Whenever I see HODINKEE say entry point I just assume now they are talking to wealthy middle class people, not the rest of us! To be fair, most of the online watch sites are the same. All I can think is that they must be either run by a bunch of trust fund kids or watch journalism pays very well indeed!

[@lucioledizerot196]

@@ianmedium I mean owning luxury watches isn't a very working class concept is it, I'm not sure what you're expecting out of this. Not everything revolves around 200$ watches and the entry-level point in this hobby is objectively quite high when you see what some of the more expensive stuff goes for.

[@pwally2714]

At the @4:41 mark, what year is that black / gold one

[@Janet_Airlines802]

My 8 inch wrist isn't made for small vintage watches , I wish because I love them.

[@cauchyschwarz9759]

A great watch and good video. Although I believe that a watch enthusiast should have at least one seiko 5 (the previous version) in their collection. They are so basic and really so perfect for an early enthusiast. It’s simple, does the job, vintage and modern at the same time, and costs so less.

[@bigbird7838]

I was just looking at one on eBay lol

[@Robert.Dickson]

A great video. I guess this guy is ready for his website to crash 😂😂

[@FernandoPCasas]

Tomorrow the polerouter up and up

[@skipstalforce]

Anyone ever herd of a 139 movement? Thats what is in mine, it also has no SS#.

[@adamw.7169]

Vintage Omega is the best entry point.

[@kongmw]

Note to self: get a polerouter in 5-10 years after the hype dies down a bit.

[@jaskey]

I think the initial hype for the polerouter started 5-10 years ago...

[@neil4701]

Not surprised that the American Hodinkee guy prnounces it "Pole-rowter", but surprised that the British guy does too. "Pole-rooter", surely?

[@Meowmeowsweet2]

except it's super hard to find a nice dial without repaint ..........

[@MirzaAdrian]

You spell King Seiko wrong

[@christhorne7565]

It was 5-10yrs ago, now they’re overpriced

[@koengoedhart9849]

What would you get as a beginner as of today?

[@christhorne7565]

@@koengoedhart9849 vintage Longines probably... or a dirty dozen if you want something sportier and the budget stretches. I’d argue that a DD has more historical significance than a PR but I guess that’s a matter of perspective.

[@jeromef2001]

Koen Goedhart vintage Omega dressed watches ? There are dozen of models... longine...

[@davidtatelo]

Used to be, untill youtubers started to hype it. Now are stupidly expensive, like many other vintage stuff. Best entry point is probably some Longines now.

[@justbob7828]

Let me guess, you guys have been stocking them up for a while and now its time to employ some more marketing to it and in so doing causing the prices to all of a sudden sky rocket even more. This video is 15 years too late, the Polerouter is far from affordable now. Edit: 30 seconds into the video and dozens of Polerouters are shown LMAO

[@joshn.5625]

Cole always sounds as if he’s trying to convince one of the watches to sleep with him.

[@yousif5191]

I enjoyed the video, at the end just realised that i clicked dislike instead 😂 Don’t worry Cole its now a BiG like from me. Please Please Hodinkee make a video on JLC reverso.

[@ashleyslingers2814]

Damn.......hahaha and just like that , it became unattainable.

[@OG_YoManYo]

Not any more...

[@peleti027]

Picking a pole super as main example for the video…. Does not makes much sense tbh

[@chumleyk]

You have ruined any chance for the Polerouter to go up in price appropriate to their heritage. Forever known as 'entry point'.

[@markkirkland561]

Difficult if not impossible to repair. For all intensive purposes company is defunct

[@paulmobbs2131]

I have a 20214-2 and a 20217-5, both watches have been overhauled by my local watchmaker (Thomas's timepieces Newcastle NSW) with no problems.

[@franckaffolaby1429]

Pooowalè

[@FRonTLinES10064]

Barely any mention of a week on the wrist...lol

[@wans-prod6662]

i have ref 204610-4

[@TLR28]

NO G M T easy pass.

[@blandotv4392]

first

[@codergt7205]

Ugly and meaning less watch.Period .

[@panulli4]

Gerald Genta is not actually a respected industrial designer (outside the watch bubble) and the Polerouter is ugly. Sorry, but sometimes the truth hurts.

[@justdaniel7995]

Or maybe you have a bad taste?