1930s–1950s: The Chronograph and "Watch Couturier" era
After the pocketwatch started to lose usefulness in favor of the more convenient wristwatch during the first world war, Universal seized the opportunity by creating the Compur in 1933 and the Aero Compax ("Aviator's Compact Chronograph") in 1936,[5] shortly before the start of World War II. In addition to its automatic "smooth sweep" timekeeping, the Compax was also equipped with a built-in stopwatch which made it a suitable device for soldiers during training exercises and full-fledged combat operations. The Compax was produced in many variations including the Moon Phase, Medico, Tri-, Uni-, and Master Vortex.
During the same period, Universal briefly collaborated with Parisian high fashion brand Hermès and designed the Pour Hermès ("For Hermès") chronographs, which featured square button registers, telemeters and tachometers, a movement containing a Breguet balance spring, and an Arabic-numeral dial.[6] Hermès' Paris headquarters would in turn act as a major sales hub for all Universal brand watches in Europe until the 1950s, while the Henri Stern Watch Agency in Manhattan, the U.S. distributorship of Patek Philippe, would be an official Universal Genève dealer in North America.[7]
Universal's popularity with the chronographs caught the attention of high-ranking government officials throughout Europe, including the Dutch royal family, who granted the Swiss brand a royal warrant in 1939 to issue a military watch for the nation's army, with then-Queen Wilhelmina's initials embossed on the dial.[8] The Dutch army utilized this watch up until Nazi Germany bombed Rotterdam in May of the same year and occupied the Netherlands until 1945.
For female civilians during that era, Universal distributed the art deco "Couture Diamond" watch, which featured a mother of pearl dial rimmed with diamonds and manufactured in either gold, stainless steel or platinum metals. The feminine cuff watch, which earned Universal Genève the title of "watch couturier",[9] was sold in affluent boutiques worldwide and was most popular among actresses, socialites and wives of world leaders.
The Martel Watch Company in Les Ponts-de-Martel had supplied movements for many of Universal Genève's chronographic timepieces since 1918, with Universal adapting the complications as Cal 285's. However, the mechanisms would be rechristened as Zenith 146's, 146D's and 146H's when competing Le Locle watchmaker Zenith acquired Martel, and effectively all of its patents, by 1960.[10]
