Universal People Universal Dreams is a large-format book that explores, in great detail, a collection of 111 Universal Genève chronographs, and only chronographs. The 384-page book is also a record of the collecting journey of its author, Luca Mignini, who reflects on the lessons learnt and people encountered in his pursuit of watches across the world.

A longtime watch collector who is now a professor at Milan’s Bocconi University, Mr Mignini had a long career in the consumer goods industry, culminating in a spell as chief operating officer at Campbell’s, the American food giant famous for its canned soups, after which he retired in 2019.

The globe-crossing nature of his career took him from his homeland of Italy to Shanghai and New Jersey, giving him the opportunity to collect internationally, a phenomenon that professionals who travel extensively for work will find familiar.

Having been interested in watches since he was a teenager, Mr Mignini made his way through the usual suspects like Rolex and Patek Philippe, before landing on Universal Genève during a trip to Tokyo in 2010. In the time since, he has accumulated the impressive collection of Universal Genève detailed in this book.

I met Mr Mignini last year in Geneva and he is clearly obsessed with Universal Genève. His tremendous passion for the brand  makes it almost a given Universal People Universal Dreams will be laser focused on Universal chronographs yet exceptionally wide in scope within the narrow subject.

Even though the book is solely about Universal Genève, it includes details and reflections that will be interesting to watch collectors in general.

Those insights come at a high, but fair, price: €490 or US$577. That might seem pricey but it is in line with the going rate for such high quality books. Producing such books, especially on a relatively small scale, is an expensive undertaking.

Universal People Universal Dreams is partly a catalogue of those watches. Amongst the standouts are a 1937 Compax with a black gilt dial signed “Hermès” and the Compur “Bigfoot” lives up to its nickname with a disc-like 55 mm case. Another is a personal favourite of mine, the oversized “A. Cairelli” split-seconds made for the Italian air force in the 1950s.

Each of the watches is captured in great detail, accompanied by high resolution images of key elements that are important to collectors. Such details include stamped serial numbers, the font of printed typography, and radium luminous filling. Even though the book only features Universal Genève watches, the close-up images are educational in illustrating how certain elements in well-preserved vintage watches should look.

Though the photos and specs of each individual watch are comprehensive, broader information regarding each model, for instance number produced and span of production years, are not part of the data, presumably because the information is not available from either scholarship or Universal Genève itself.

But the book is more than a catalogue. It documents Mr Mignini’s watches, but also how his collecting was shaped by his life, career, and key individuals. In one chapter, he writes of how the Covid-19 pandemic made watch collecting easier, simply because he had more time — something many watch enthusiasts will find familiar.

He includes short profiles of people who have shaped his collection, including some whom I know and respect, like vintage watch specialist Max Bernadini, who helped publish this book, and well-known collector Auro Montanari, better known as John Goldberger.

Mr Mignini helpfully includes many of the lessons he has learnt from each of these individuals, making the booking more than just a catalogue of chronographs. Among them are Mr Montanari’s five rules of collecting, which includes “Collect what you like; don’t follow trends”.

In some ways the book is a throwback to an earlier era of collecting, when vintage watches were all the rage and many of the world’s key collectors and dealers were located in Italy and Japan rather than on Instagram. Even though the book’s focus feels like a different era of collecting, Mr Mignini ends with tips that are very relevant for current collectors.

Historically, Universal Genève was one of the big names in chronograph collecting, though current tastes in collecting are centred on modern watches, most notably independent watchmaking. But still, the book’s publication is timely, with the revival of Universal Genève now underway under the aegis of Georges Kern and Gregory Bruttin; the brand is part of the three-marque House of Brands group alongside Breitling and Gallet.

Some of the vintage watches featured in the book are familiar as they have already been remade by today’s Universal Genève, while others, like the oversized split-seconds, are in the pipeline. At the same time, the diversity and beauty of the watches illustrated in the book also underline the relatively narrow focus of the reborn Universal Genève line-up.

Universal People Universal Dreams is available directly from the publisher at Universalpeopleuniversaldreams.com.

Back to top.