Rare Vintage Zenith/Universal Genève Compax Chronograph, Ref. 22510, Cal. 156, Tri-Register, Cream Patina Dial from 1940s

To understand what this watch is, you need to understand the relationship between two of Switzerland's greatest watchmaking houses. In the 1930s and 1940s, Universal Genève and Zenith relationship extended to shared model names, with both houses using the Compax and Compur names for their chronographs. Universal Genève not only supplied the ébauches but also designed the cases, and serial numbers from the Universal archives were assigned to models manufactured for Zenith. Crucially, Raoul Perret served as a director of both Universal Genève and Zenith simultaneously in the 1930s, while also chairing the board of Martel — the movement manufacturer whose ébauches powered both lines. There is compelling evidence that watches for both brands emerged from the same factory floor.

The serial and reference numbers on this watch tell the story directly. The case carries Universal Genève serial numbering — placing production at around 1940 — yet the dial reads Zenith and Compax, and the movement is the Zenith Caliber 156.

Place the Zenith Cal. 156 next to a Universal Genève Cal. 285 and the shared origins become impossible to ignore - the architecture is identical, the column-wheel mechanism the same in both. Yet while the Cal. 285 appears with relative frequency on the collector market, the Zenith Cal. 156 is genuinely scarce. It was produced in far smaller numbers, and examples surface rarely. This particular movement is an early iteration - steel wheels, where later versions of the caliber transitioned to gilt finishing.

The reference 22510 sits within the 2250-X family that collectors recognise as shared between both houses, with closely related variants documented in the Universal Genève archives across both brands. 

The case is stainless steel - and that matters enormously. Gold was the far more common casing material for Compax references of this period, and steel examples appear only rarely on the collector market. At 36mm, this was a genuinely oversized watch for its time, when most wristwatches sat well below 35mm.

Examples like this are encountered only infrequently, and for collectors focused on early chronograph development and cross-brand production history, it represents a particularly scarce and desirable variant within the Compax lineage.

CASE

• Reference: 22510

• Material: Stainless steel

• Case size: 36mm

• Lug to lug: 43mm

• Thickness: 12.5mm

• Between lugs: 20mm

DIAL

• Cream radium dial with warm, even patina

• Tri-compax layout with three sub-registers

• Arabic numerals with aged lume
  

• Outer tachymeter scale

MOVEMENT

• Manual-wind chronograph movement

• Zenith Cal. 156