Tudor Watches

Origins

The Tudor trademark was registered in 1926 by Swiss watchmaking company Veuve de Philippe Hüther on behalf of Hans Wilsdorf, founder of Rolex watches. In 1936, Wilsdorf took it over and went on to found the company Montres Tudor SA in 1946.

Tudor's purpose was to offer a more affordable watch than Rolex while maintaining Rolex-like quality. Tudor watches were originally equipped with off-the-shelf movements paired with Rolex cases and bracelets, allowing Tudor to provide reliability and quality while achieving its price goals.

Tudor debuted its Oyster collection in the mid-forties, featuring a waterproof Oyster case previously exclusive to Rolex. In 1952, Tudor released its first self-winding model, the Prince, which used a Rolex self-winding mechanism. Twenty-six Tudor Oyster Princes were included in the British North Greenland expedition of 1952–1954.

The adoption of the Oyster case and self-winding rotor facilitated Tudor's move into the production of tool watches. The French Navy was involved in field research for a Tudor diving watch; from the 1960s to the mid-1980s, Tudor tool watches were supplied to the French Navy in bulk without bracelets so military-issued straps could be used instead. Tudor launched its first diving watch in 1954, the Oyster Prince Submariner, waterproof to 100 metres, which increased to 200 metres in 1958.

Over the years the Submariner line adopted various features such as the "big crown" and "snowflake hands" (which have been reintroduced in for Tudor's current catalogue). In 1964, Tudor began producing an Oyster Prince Submariner specifically for the US Navy. 1957 saw the launch of the Tudor Advisor, which incorporated an alarm complication, the first Oyster model to amplify sound. Later in 1969 this was changed to a more ‘traditional’ alarm case with an external case back to increase its volume.

In 1970, Tudor released its first chronograph, the Oysterdate, with a manually wound Valjoux mechanical calibre 7734 and cam chronograph function. The second series, introduced in 1971, was nicknamed "Montecarlo" because its dial resembles a roulette wheel. The third series, Oysterdate "Big Block", debuted in 1976, was the first Tudor chronograph to introduce a self-winding movement. The Tudor Monarch collection launched in 1991 and the Tudor Hydronaut in 1999.

Recent Tudor models

In 2009, Tudor instigated a major brand relaunch with new product lines: first, the Tudor Grantour Chronograph and Tudor Glamour collection of classic watches, followed in 2010 by the Heritage Chrono, inspired by the Tudor “Montecarlo” from the 1970s. The Heritage Chrono was the first of the Tudor Heritage line of watches designed to echo Tudor's best-known vintage models and also the first to come with an additional fabric strap.

2011 saw the release of the Tudor Heritage Advisor alarm watch, the Fastrider Chronograph, and the Clair de Rose collection for women. In 2012, the focus was on diver watches, with the Heritage Black Bay, a reinterpretation of early Tudor Submariner models, and the Pelagos diver watch. The Pelagos has a 42 mm titanium case, the first titanium watch from the Rolex group, and is waterproof to 500 metres. In 2013, the Heritage Black Bay won the Revival prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève and the Pelagos won the “Sports Watch” prize in 2015. In 2014, Tudor expanded the Heritage collection with the Ranger, a military-style watch similar to a 1967 model. The year also saw the launch of the Tudor Style line of men's and women's dress watches.

Tudor-manufactured movements

Some movements used in Tudor classic watches are manufactured by the Swiss companies ETA, Sellita or Valjoux, but in 2015, Tudor launched its first in-house movement for its Pelagos and North Flag watches. In 2017, Tudor entered into a cooperative agreement with Breitling, providing the MT5612 movement from the Tudor Pelagos for Breitling's Superocean Heritage watch, while in return Breitling produces the Tudor Calibre MT5813 movement for use in the new Tudor Heritage Chronograph, based on the Breitling B01.

Tudor produces variants of its 2015 "Manufacture Calibre": the MT 5601 was developed specifically for the Black Bay Bronze model and is slightly larger in diameter and displays hours, minutes and seconds functions, and the MT5602 was developed for the Black Bay and the Black Bay Dark models, and also displays hours, minutes and seconds.

Caliber MT5402 is a smaller and thinner version of the 5602, developed for the Black Bay 58 line. As of its release in 2018, it is only available without date display and carries the same specs of movement speed, material use, structure and power reserve as the 5602. As of 2021, it also exists as MT5400, a slightly modified size version for the Black Bay 58 models with open case back to fit the sapphire case-back size.

On May 25, 2021, Tudor announced their Manufacture Calibre MT5602-1U alongside their new Black Bay Ceramic timepiece. The movement is almost entirely black, with a black tungsten rotor, a 70-hour power reserve, and a silicon hairspring. It is the company's first METAS Master Chronometer timepiece, able to function within a tolerance range of 0/+5 seconds per day.