Universal Genève was one of the great mid-tier Swiss manufactures of the twentieth century — a Geneva house that consistently produced movements and cases of considerable quality across the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, and one whose square-cased dress watches of the Art Deco period represent some of the most considered design work the era produced. This Carrée Tank from the 1940s is a direct expression of that period at its most resolved: a 25mm square stainless steel case, a two-tone silver dial of exceptional original quality, and a set of flared lugs that widen as they extend outward from the case — an architectural decision that gives the watch a wrist presence that the stated dimensions alone do not predict.

The lug design is the detail that defines this piece in hand. Rather than extending parallel to the case, the lugs flare outward as they descend, broadening the watch's footprint across the wrist and producing a silhouette that is simultaneously compact and commanding. At 34mm lug-to-lug on a 25mm case, the proportion is carefully considered — the kind of resolved geometry that the best Swiss dress watch design of the 1940s achieved without apparent effort and which contemporary design rarely replicates with the same conviction.

The two-tone dial is original and entirely unrestored — a silver centre field surrounded by a slightly darker outer chapter ring, with Arabic numerals, a fine minute track, sub-seconds above 6 o'clock, and 'Swiss' signed beneath. The original blued leaf hands are intact and correct for the reference. The caseback carries the 'Acier Inoxydable Garanti' stamp — stainless steel guaranteed — and the upper left lug bears a 'Salazar' hallmark, a Portuguese customs stamp indicating that import duties on this piece were paid during its entry into Portugal, providing a specific and verifiable point of provenance in the watch's history.