The Universal Genève Compax had been a gift to Nina from her husband, Formula One champion Jochen Rindt. To help her keep time more precisely during races, legend says that he even had the chronograph seconds hand changed from black to red for greater visibility. But the watch's bracelet felt too masculine—Nina wanted something that matched her own sense of style. On a trip to Paris, she spotted a wide leather cuff in a shop window. Known as a bund strap, the style was once used by pilots to guard against cockpit heat. Its form echoed the martial cuffs of ancient Greece and Rome—an ironically masculine choice. Yet Nina saw something else. She slipped her Compax into the leather cuff, and suddenly the watch was hers: bold, unconventional, and strikingly modern. The image of her wearing that watch trackside became iconic. Photographs of Nina, chic and aloof with her Compax, circulated widely. What might have been a purely functional racing instrument was redefined as a fashion statement. In time, the version she wore would go on to be immortalized by collectors under her name. More than half a century later, Nina Rindt—now in her eighties—joined Universal Genève to revisit that story. For the brand, preparing its long-awaited return in 2026, this was a chance to show what “Le Couturier de la Montre,” the watch couturier, means in the 21st century: bridging watchmaking with artisanal craft, history with reinvention. Now, Universal Genève brings “the Nina” back for the first time ever in 18k white and red gold, offered as an ultra-exclusive release of two sets of three Tribute to Compax watches. While the 1960s model used the Valjoux 72, these models are powered by Universal Genève's caliber “Universal 281”—the only “Ninas” to use this historic movement. “For us, the Tribute to Compax is a statement of where we're going: refined luxury shaped with the same meticulous handwork that has always defined UG,” says managing director, Gregory Bruttin. “These six individually crafted watches reflect the direction we set for the brand when we acquired it in 2023,” says CEO Georges Kern. “Nina Rindt's chronograph is one of Universal Genève's defining stories. Revisiting it was never a question; it was always part of our vision for the brand's return.”

The new Tribute to Compax collection is built around handcrafted bund straps created by the celebrated Japanese leather artisan Satoru Hosoi—his first collaboration with a watch brand. Hosoi, who trained in both Japan and Italy before mastering his craft at Hermès and Moynat, earned the title of Meilleur Ouvrier de France in 2015 and today works from his Paris atelier. For Universal Genève, he imagined a bund strap truer to couture than to its martial origins. Constructed from three interlocked pieces of calfskin and sewn in a way that makes them inseparable—unlike the typical bund with detachable pieces—these interpretations echo what Nina brought to her watch: elevating the utilitarian to the sublime. “I set out to create something that's unprecedented, and at the same time highly technical and unique,” says Hosoi about his venture into watchmaking. Each strap was hot-stamped with both the Universal Genève and HOSOÏ-PARIS signatures. The color palette is fashion-driven yet timeless: brown or black paired with 18K white gold watches; taupe or olive paired with those in 18K red gold. Fittingly, the Tribute to Compax straps were created in Paris, the very city where Nina first transformed her watch—and where her story now comes full circle. From the strap, attention turns to the dial where Universal Genève chose grand feu enamel, one of the most revered decorative crafts in watchmaking. The technique demands minerals enriched with metallic oxides, fired at over 800°C and reapplied up to ten times until the surface gleams with a depth and permanence impossible to replicate by machine. Executed by master enamellers, the collection's six dials range from classic opaque white and black to translucent blue and brown. The chronograph's red seconds hand, recalling Nina's modified Compax, slices across the enamel with graphic clarity. Grand feu is unforgiving: a single imperfection can crack or warp the enamel during firing. Yet its endurance is unmatched. Properly executed, a grand feu dial will never fade. Like Nina's enduring influence, these six extraordinary pieces are destined for history. Inside beats another piece of history. Universal Genève restored archival Caliber 281 movements from the Compax's era: manual-winding, column-wheel chronographs of 28.5 mm in diameter and 7.10 mm thick. These movements were once the technical backbone of Universal Genève's reputation. Reintroducing them today connects the Tribute to Compax in its original era while hinting at the brand's upcoming return to movement making, guided by the same precision, resilience, and longevity that defined its 1960s chronographs. Like the white-gold Polerouter bracelet created in 2024 by Laurent Jolliet, one of Switzerland's last master chain-makers, the Compax's grand feu dial and bund strap continues a philosophy that Universal Genève has embraced for its revival: treating watchmaking as a métier d'art. Just as artistic craftsmanship draws on the world's most skilled ateliers, so too do these watches. Leather, enamel, mechanics: each discipline of handwork elevated into works of art. This approach is one of reinterpretation. Nina's improvisations—her red hand, her bund strap, her personal flair—are reimagined today with the highest level of artistry. Only two complete sets of the Tribute to Compax will be made, available exclusively on request. Proceeds will support the Geneva Watchmaking School, the oldest in Switzerland and historically linked to Universal Genève. By funding apprenticeships and preserving rare crafts, the project ensures that the savoir-faire behind watches like these endure well into the next century. The Tribute to Compax is a signpost of where Universal Genève is heading: uncompromising in craft, creative in spirit, and always faithful to its DNA as Le Couturier de la Montre. The full relaunch awaits in 2026, but already these watches herald the revival of a house where past and future, watchmaking and art, meet in perfect harmony.