What are we looking at?

A Universal Genève Medico-Compax ref. 12445 in 18k yellow gold, with a rare pulsation dial and a particularly pleasing combination of warm gold and blued steel.

The Medico-Compax belongs to a time when a wristwatch could be part of a doctor’s working equipment. Its pulsation scale allowed a physician to start the chronograph, count 15 heartbeats and stop it, then read the corresponding pulse rate directly from the dial. That explains the “Gradué pour 15 pulsations” inscription and the distinctive numbers around the edge. I like that such an elegant watch has a thoroughly practical reason for looking the way it does.

The dial makes this one for me. Gold-tone Arabic numerals and slender main hands sit against a softly aged, light-coloured surface, while the central chronograph hand and both subdial hands add a clear touch of blue. The outer pulsation scale frames the two recessed registers without crowding them.

At 35 mm, it is rather compact on paper, but the long, defined lugs and unusually generous 20 mm lug width give it more presence on the wrist than the measurement suggests. The result is a watch that wears with surprising confidence despite its modest diameter.

What do we need to know?

The dial and hands are beautifully preserved, with light, even patina giving the watch a warm, coherent appearance. Fine surface speckling is visible across the dial, while the lettering, scales and subdial markings remain clearly legible. The blued steel hands provide a lovely contrast to the surrounding gold tones.

The 18k gold case is exceptionally sharp, with well-defined lug edges and an attractive profile. Its hammerhead hallmark, numbered 128, identifies the case maker as Jung & Fils.

The calibre 285 is running strongly. Recorded timegrapher readings show an amplitude of 278°, a rate of approximately +4 seconds per day and a beat error of 0.10 ms. These are readings from the test, rather than a guarantee of daily performance on the wrist.

A particularly attractive Medico-Compax, with its character coming from the details: the fine pulsation scale, the blue hands and a gold case whose proportions work very well together.