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TTUUDDOORRThe “Other” The “Other” RRoleolex Brx Brandand

By Julien Schaerer

MMany collectors areunfamiliar with or

know little about the upand coming Tudorbrand. The name “Tu-dor” was first regis-tered in Geneva byIsaac Blumenthal onDecember 13, 1906under registration num-ber 21383. It was thentransferred to PhilippeHuther de Colombierein 1926, and finallysold to Hans Wilsdorfin 1936. No one has

precise records, but the first traces of the Rolex-produced Tudors appear in the mid-forties, afterthe Second World War. Despite the generallyprevailing public opinion, there is actually very lit-tle difference between the design and conceptionof Tudor and Rolex. Apart from Tudor watchmovements generally having fewer jewels, theirconception and construction were virtually iden-tical to those of Rolex. Rolex felt strongly that inproducing a “second line” of watches, the publicperception of Tudor had to be equivalent to that ofRolex. As such, they even extended the Rolex war-ranty to all Tudors at the time. All early Tudors,until the mid-1990's, featured Rolex crowns andcases. Rolex bracelets were used until 1971 whenthe first Tudor signed bracelets appeared onwomen’s watches.

The differences in caliber used in Rolex and Tudorwatches will be addressed in a future article; herewe will focus on some of the more collectiblemodels.

Julien SchaererDirector

Watch Expert

TTUUDDOORR

Ref. 7928

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Ref 7922 and 7924: the “non crown-guard”Submariners. As with Rolex Submariners, thismodel (Ref. 7922), water resistant to 330ft., camewith a small crown and thicker case. Ref. 7924had a larger case and crown to support theincreased water pressure (to 660ft) . Both thesemodels first appeared in 1958 and were fitted withthe famous caliber 390, a 17 jewel movementbased on the Valjoux 722. It is interesting to notethat the Tudor Submariners have always been self-winding, unlike the earlier Rolex Submariners.

Ref 7928: At approximately the same time, the second series of Submariners was launched withcrown-guards, Reference 7928 (SFr 360). ThisSubmariner, water-resistant to 660 ft, was theequivalent of the Rolex Submariner Ref. 5513, soclose that it even used its bezel. This watch stillused the same caliber, 390, and was produceduntil 1966.

Ref 7016 and 7021: in the 1969-1970 Tudor cata-logues two new references appeared. Ref. 7016was considered the successor of 7928 but somesignificant changes were noticeable. Firstly, a newcaliber was introduced, caliber 2461. This 11 1/2'’‘ligne movement now had 25 jewels and was ETA-based. Secondly, the dials changed (available ineither black or blue) and for the first time bore thesquare military-type indexes. The second model,reference 7021, was identical to the first, with theexception of the date with cyclops lens. The move-ment, caliber 2484, was also ETA-based, with 17jewels.

Ref 9411: 1973 saw the launch of the lastSubmariner reference, 9411. It replaced Reference7021 and was identical to it, with the exception ofthe movement, which was replaced by caliber2784, with 25 jewels. There are a few other Tudor Submariner refe-rences, however it is the earlier ones which are ofmost interest to collectors. It is also important to note that Tudor was a majorsupplier of specialized divers’ watches for manyarmed forces, most notably the French MarineNationale (M.N.) and the US Navy. These watcheswere supplied as early as the 1960s, withReference 7928, and continued through the mideighties.

TTudor Prince Submarinerudor Prince Submariner

Ref. 7924

Ref. 7016 Ref. 9411

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Ref. 94300

Ref. 7169

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The Tudor chronographs are probably the mostcollectible Tudors on today’s market. They can bedivided into three distinct generations.Chronographs appeared in the Tudor cataloguesfor the first time in 1971, but strangely the firstgeneration was never illustrated.

First Generation: Ref. 7031 and Ref. 7032. Thesechronographs were only produced for two years, in1970 and 1971. They both featured the manually-wound caliber 7734 and the only differencebetween them is that reference 7031 has a blackplastic bezel and 7032 a fixed metal tachometerbezel. Their most distinctive features are the char-acteristically shaped indexes and the colorfulorange markers of the dial.

Second Generation: When Tudor first introduceda revolving blue metal bezel (Ref. 7169) in 1971,the chronographs still featured the characteristicmarkers on all three references (Ref. 7149 andRef. 7159). The evolution from the first to secondgeneration was marked by a new chronograph caliber, 234. It is also important to note that whilein their official catalogues this is the only type ofdial offered, in advertisements, the new dials canbe seen. These featured a new type of luminousstraight marker, as well as new dial colors, inclu-ding a blue surround and blue sub-counters.

Third generation: Tudor chronographs becameself-winding. They were introduced in 1976 withnew references, indicating a different bezel fromall previous generations. All three references arefitted with the famous caliber 7750 and now fea-ture two chronograph counters, a subsidiary dialfor constant seconds and the date at 3 o’clock.The 9420 now features a plastic tachometer bezel,the 9421 a revolving black (or blue) bezel and the9430 a fixed metal tachometer bezel. The first ofthese chronographs only bear the inscription“Chrono-Time” while the later models bear thewords “Oysterdate Automatic Chrono-Time”around the counter at 6 o’clock. These chrono-graphs were to evolve over the years (the dialswere offered in various colors and configurations)with different reference numbers up to 94300. Allhad the same characteristics, and in the late1980’s Tudor stopped producing the so-called exot-ic dials.

TTudor Chrudor Chronogronographsaphs

Ref. 9420

Ref. 9421

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This was another interesting development fromTudor/Rolex, a wristwatch with alarm. The Advisorappeared in 1957 and was offered as three differ-ent references until it was discontinued in 1977.

Ref 7926: in a traditional mid-sized Rolex casewith a riveted Rolex bracelet. Equipped with manual winding 17 jewel caliber 1475, it wasoffered with at least three different dial confi-gurations, with either faceted or diamond indexes,or Arabic numerals. Dials were available in eithersilver or black.

Ref 1537: the dressier version of the Advisor witha thinner case and lugs. Both Ref. 7926 and 1537were available until 1968.

Ref 10050: the last and final version of theAdvisor, available from 1969 to 1977. It was instainless steel only (SFr 270), and was fitted with anew movement, caliber 3475.

TTudor Audor Advisordvisor

Ref. 7926

Ref. 7426

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Also one of the most attractive Tudor watches due toits oversized steel case and its resemblance to theRolex Day-Date. A particularly desirable version is theone with an oversized rotating bezel. The Day-Datecame in three distinct models, each with its own dis-tinct bezel. The watch was also available with a variety of dials, in black, gray, silver, or blue. Themodel evolved throughout the years. Here we willfocus on the earlier models which appeared in Tudorcatalogues from 1970 to 1979, at which point thereference was changed to 9450 (9451 and 9461).These references, 7017, 7019/3, and 7020, were

equipped with a non quick-set 13 3/4 linemovement, caliber 1895.

Ref 7017: the classic day-date with afixed bezel, available only in steel witheither a leather strap or a metal bracelet(SFr 398 and 430).

Ref 7019/3: with fluted bezel, avail-able in stainless steel and yellowgold or stainless steel and whitegold (ref. 7019/4) (SFr 498 and520 respectively).

Ref 7020: the most collectible ofall three models, with a rotatingsteel bezel. Truly distinctive, ithas no equivalent in theRolex range (SFr 440 withleather strap).

As Rolex prices constantly increase, the Tudor rangeoffers good entry level watches that may be collectedat reasonable prices, and which, in addition, utilizemany Rolex parts. And remember, when buying avintage Tudor, look for models that reflect their ageand are as original as possible. Spare parts are scarce,so keep this in mind when buying a Tudor thatrequires repair.

TTudor Daudor Day-Datey-Date

Ref. 7020

Ref. 7017

Ref. 9450

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