Two mythical prototypes from Universal Geneve and Movado just resurfaced.

And one with Hodinkee provenance? Plus, a giveaway for paid subscribers.

In today’s newsletter: A Movado military prototype emerges from the archives, a futuristic Universal Geneve prototype sold in a day—perhaps with a dash of Hodinkee, and a forgotten Minerva that’s more accessible than you might think.

Giveaway for paid subscribers: I’m giving away a trio of retro digital watches + custom UV lights, so stay tuned until the end.

Plus: An $88k Longines 13ZN from Goodwill, and it’s silly season: Rolex conspiracies, Sydney Sweeney, and an article that was taken down.

The Unpolished archive is the best way to find old newsletters, like:

How Hand-Finishing Became the New Complication

The Best of 2025 (So Far)

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The mythical Movado military prototype

In the world of vintage Movado, there’s one mythical watch: A military M90 chronograph, thought to be a never-produced prototype. The vintage Movado M95/M90 chronograph is already a favorite—here’s Rich’s old guide—but this one’s different: Black dial, Arabic numerals, Tasti Tondi pushers, snake hand on the subdial. It’s only seen in the book The Movado History. That is, until a few weeks ago when dealer Kevin O’Dell visited the Movado archives in NY and posted this photo:

Photos: Courtesy Kevin O’Dell and as seen in the Movado book.

He confirmed what Movado History had said: This was a prototype military chronograph that never actually entered production. Today, it’s in the Movado archives, truly new old stock.

An awesome watch—thanks to Kevin for sharing.

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Minerva Pythagore

I was also recently pulled back into the Minerva Pythagore thanks to Greg’s piece at 1916 Company. How about this for a simple, mid-century vibe:

A 34mm ‘90s Minerva Pythagore, courtesy of Logan Baker.

It was one of the first real reissues, bringing back the Minerva cal. 48 from 1943, which was laid out according to the Golden Ratio—every angle is 90 or 45 degrees. Minerva brought back the cal. 48 in the mid-‘90s, just before the brand changed hands from family ownership to some Italian scion to, eventually, Richemont (where it now sits under Montblanc, for some reason).

Minerva became an early forum-favorite for the Pythagore, even if some reviews claimed the unfinished dial-side of the movement suffered from “display-back-disease"—the horror.

The Pythagore was produced in a variety of dials and sizes through the early 2000s. The standard stainless steel version above is the most common (and my favorite), but there are also gold limited editions. Minerva even made a special edition with TimeZone, perhaps the earliest instance of a brand collaborating with a new-fangled internet website.

Nowadays, you’ll usually find that standard steel Pythagore listed for $2.5–$4k on your favorite watch marketplace. Gold and limited editions are more. It’s an awful lot of history and horology for the price.

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This Universal Geneve Compax prototype (with provenance?) just sold.

The UG ‘prototype’—that first one sold earlier this week.

Above: Known sold examples of the Universal Geneve prototype, clockwise: (1) Analog Shift ($52,500, sold August 2025); (2) seen at UG Collector’s Meetup; (3) Menta Watches ($50k, sold 2017); (4) 1944 Basel Fair catalog; (5) Avocado Vintage ($40k, sold 2023); (6) Watchpool (sold March 2024); (7) Chrono24 (€39k, sold Feb. 2025).

Not unlike that Movado military prototype, perhaps one Universal Geneve stands apart from the rest. It’s a prototype dial that’s a cool grey with simple sans serif open 6s and 9s, and not much else. Ahead of its time, full-on retro-futurism.

This week, Analog Shift listed one of these Universal Geneve prototypes for $52,500. It sold in less than a day—and it might come with a bit of low-key provenance.