Compax

The Compax was born in 1936 as Universal Genève's first three-counter chronograph, with registers for running seconds, 30 minutes and 12 hours: a layout that would become a standard of 20th-century chronograph watchmaking. In the following years the "Compax" name would accompany several variants of the family, from the Aero-Compax designed for aviation to the Tri-Compax with full calendar.

The line's moment of greatest fame came in the 1960s, when the Compax with a white dial and three black counters — later nicknamed "Nina Rindt" by collectors after the wife of Formula 1 driver Jochen Rindt, often photographed wearing it — became one of the most sought-after and imitated vintage chronographs, contributing significantly to the later success of the so-called "panda dial" across sports watchmaking.

In Universal Genève's 2026 relaunch the Compax returns as one of the pillars of the new range, with an in-house micro-rotor, column-wheel calibre (UG-200) — the first micro-rotor chronograph in the brand's history — offered in a 39.5 mm case and in dial variants that explicitly recall the historic "panda" and "reverse panda".