Back in the mid fifties Universal Genève provided Scandinavian Airline crews with precision wristwatches incorporating strong antimagnetic capabilities when the airline opened their new European to California routes that cut 1,000 kilometers off the Journey. These routes were the first that actually crossed over the North pole hence the antimagnetic properties of the watches. The first commercial flight was made on 15th November 1954 and this was a huge event for Scandinavia at the time. On board the flight were the Prime Ministers of Denmark, Sweden and Norway as well as a group of prominent journalists, and there were reported crowds of over 10,000 people to witness the planes departure. Universal Genève introduced the Polerouter (or Polarouter as the model was then called) to mark this auspicious occasion. It was actually created and designed by Gerald Genta, and started life with the calibre 138 automatic movment with a centrally pivoted “bumper” rotor assembly. However, this was soon superceded by the calibre 215 automatic with its famous patented “microtor” movement. It was at this time the models name was changed to Polerouter. The example featured is a Polerouter Sub which is powered by the calibre 1-69 movement (with date) and was introduced in 1962, the calibre 69 was identical apart from having no date complication. This particular example was a non runner and the hands were locked in position, turning the crown to try and adjust them had no effect.

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