On the 70th anniversary of the first commercial transpolar flight, Dandy celebrates the role of the Polerouter
We are all taught at some point in our elementary mathematics education that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, so why is it when you look at a plane route on a map or you follow your flight’s progress on a screen when traveling, it always looks as if your pilot is taking an unnecessarily circuitous route to your destination? The flight path appears as an arc rather than a straight line which means it’s longer than it should be, yes?
Actually, no.
The caveat to the lesson about the shortest distance between two points is a straight line is that it is only true on a 2-dimensional plane like a piece of paper or a screen. When the distance occurs in 3-dimensional space, like the kind a globe exists in, the shortest distance between two points becomes what is known as a geodesic or a great circle. When a geodesic is represented on your flat, 2-dimensional iPhone screen, it takes the form of an arc giving the illusion that it is a longer route than if the pilot had flown in a straight line.
This is why the SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) navigation team headed by World War II veteran and transatlantic navigator Einar Sverre Pedersen achieved something extraordinary in the 1950s when they pioneered transpolar navigation.
Sailors, and later aviators, had long known that a transpolar route from Europe to the US or Europe to Asia would be more efficient than traditional routes. Given the treacherous and changeable conditions in the Arctic Circle, a maritime route was not achievable, but Pedersen had been researching the aeronautical possibilities for years. He was sure it could be done. Reducing flight times and costs was a priority for the fledgling airline, so the idea appealed, but navigating the polar region presented some unique challenges.
Since the advent of satellite technology, navigating a flight over the poles has become relatively simple, but in the 1950s pilots used astronavigation, determining their position and course by the sun, stars, and moon with tools like the sextant, compass, and traditional maps. The polar region renders these tools useless as the sun is not visible for large portions of the year; the magnetic north pole lies about 1000km south of the geographical north pole, so a traditional compass will either point south or swing around uselessly; and due to the conditions, detailed maps are virtually non-existent. The SAS had to design a new way to navigate the pole.
Pedersen and his team enlisted the help of engineers at the Bendix Aviation Corporation in the US. Together, they invented three new tools that would allow for polar-navigation and inspired a fourth. The first was a high-precision gyro compass which operates by seeking an equilibrium direction under the combined effects of gravity and the daily rotation of the Earth making it immune to magnetic interference. The second was the Greenwich Grid System which allowed the airline to chart the region by laying down a grid that used the Greenwich meridian as a starting point. The third was a solar compass, also called a Pfund Sky Compass, which uses polarized light to see the location of the sun even when it is below the horizon as is often the case in the polar region.
After two years of test flights, SAS finally got clearance to land commercial flights in the US. On November 15, 1954, SAS became the world’s first airline to fly the Copenhagen to Los Angeles polar route in scheduled service.
To commemorate this incredible achievement, a fourth tool was created, the Polarouter anti-magnetic wristwatch by Universal Genève. The first of these watches bore the SAS logo and were given as gifts to the flight crew upon landing at LAX. When they were released to the public for sale, UG’s marketing campaign touted the Polarouter’s reliability as a navigational tool on transpolar flights. The slogan was: All SAS flights are precision-timed by Universal Genève Polarouter.
Later renamed the Polerouter and subsequently fitted with the celebrated calibre 215 microtor movement, the Polarouter/Polerouter would go on to become one of UG’s greatest success stories, spawning a family of watches that included the original Polarouter, the Polerouter Bumper, Polerouter De Luxe, Polerouter - Microtor models, Polerouter Jet, Polerouter Date, Polerouter Geneve, Polerouter Sub, Polerouter NS, and Polerouter Super. While production of the line ceased around 1969, Universal Genève’s relationship with SAS continued well into the 1970s.
Famously designed by watchmaking legend Gérald Genta at the tender age of 23, the Polerouter is a study in grace and balance. Its iconic inner index ring, dauphine hands, and twisted or bombe lugs make the Pola/Polerouter instantly recognizable on the wrist, though variations of other design aspects occurred throughout the line. Versions were offered in various colorways and combinations including steel as well as yellow, rose, and white gold. Dials were typically black, white, or silver with and without crosshairs. A rare, few examples featured broad-arrow hands and a fully luminous inner index ring, or boasted dials textured with striped, crosshatched, or checkerboard patterns.
Positioned as a luxury watch in the 1950s, the original price point for a steel version was on par with the Rolex Explorer. Today, the Polerouter in all its forms is a requisite timepiece for vintage watch cognoscenti and aficionados. Having played a part in the golden age of aviation, the Polerouter remains a glamorous representation of the tremendous aeronautical innovations and achievements of the post-World War II era.
With the 70th anniversary of SAS’s inaugural commercial trans-polar flight upon us, it will be interesting to watch the next chapter of the Universal Genève story unfold. Will the newly resurrected brand honor its role in aviation history and usher in a new golden age for itself? Its first release is dated for 2026, which may appear on paper like a longer route than necessary, but in the 3-dimensional space of luxury watch design, development, manufacturing, and marketing it may very well be the shortest distance between two points.
Snow Geese
By Christen Fisher
Snow Geese are incredibly strong fliers and swimmers. When migrating they fly high and fast, expertly navigating along a single meridian from their northern breeding grounds in Greenland and Siberia to their southern wintering grounds on the North American coast. They also mate for life.
A few years after the first trans-polar commercial flights began, Einar Pedersen served as navigator aboard another historic flight. The plane, a single-engine Cessna 205, was aptly named Snow Goose as the pilot was none other than Pedersen’s wife, Ingrid. Only the 13th woman in Swedish history to obtain a pilot’s license, Ingrid Pederson earned her Commercial, Instrument, and Airline Transportation ratings. In July 1963, she became the first woman to pilot a plane over the North Pole. For her achievement, she was awarded the Amelia Earhart Medal from the Alaska Chapter of the 99's and the Gold Plaque by the Royal Swedish Aero Club.
Ingrid Pedersen went on to have a long and adventurous career as an aviator. She served as a commercial pilot on Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. She ferried aircraft from the US to Europe over the North Atlantic. She even made numerous landings on drift ice in the Arctic Ocean first as a commercial pilot and later as a commissioned pilot for the Norwegian Polar Institute placing meteorological buoys between Spitzbergen, Greenland, and the North Pole. After the Pedersens emigrated to Alaska in 1979, Ingrid worked as a flight instructor in Anchorage, flew sightseeing trips out of Skagwa, and served as the Associate Director of the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum. In 1995, she published a book about her polar flying experiences called Perfume & Motor Oil.
Ingrid and Einar Pederson each made history by flying over the North Pole. While there has yet to be a watch made to honor Ingrid Pedersen’s achievements, her contributions and legacy remain an important part of aviation history.