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Vintage Tudor Wristwatches
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The Tudor name was trademarked in Geneva, Switzerland, by watch maker and dealer Veuve de Philippe Hüther in 1926. However, the Hüther company quickly licensed its copyright to Hans Wildorf, founder of Rolex, with exclusive rights for its...
The Tudor name was trademarked in Geneva, Switzerland, by watch maker and dealer Veuve de Philippe Hüther in 1926. However, the Hüther company quickly licensed its copyright to Hans Wildorf, founder of Rolex, with exclusive rights for its usage.
Tudor brand wristwatches were first sold in 1932, beginning with beveled, rectangular-shaped dials for men and women made for the Australian market. A few of these original styles included the Rolex name on the dial, while others featured the name of “Catanach’s,” an Australian jeweler. As Wilsdorf said at the time, "For some years now I have been considering the idea of making a watch that our agents could sell at a more modest price than our Rolex watches, and yet one that could attain the standards of dependability for which Rolex is famous. I decided to form a separate company, with the object of making and marketing this new watch."
One distinction between the two brands is that Tudor’s vintage wristwatches were built with movements manufactured by Ebauches SA rather than Rolex, however, many of its styles were still modeled after Rolex designs. In 1936, Wildorf legally acquired the brand from Veuve de Philippe Hüther, while adding the rose-and-shield symbol to its Gothic-looking logo.
Tudor became formally independent of Rolex in 1946, with the establishment of Montres Tudor S.A. During the 1950s, the shield portion of the logo was removed; later, the rose symbol would be further simplified.
The company’s famous Oyster Prince model launched in 1952, borrowing its case design and self-winding mechanism from the Rolex Oyster. The Oyster Prince “Tuxedo” style, with a black-and-white dial surrounded by a brass guilloché ring punctuated with hour marks, debuted in 1955. Two years after, Tudor introduced its thinnest model ever—the Oysterthin—with a 6mm-thick case, excluding the crystal.
Tudor also launched its first dive watches in the 1950s, beginning with the Oyster Prince Submariner in 1954. During the 1960s, the French Navy started procuring Tudor Submariners for its divers, and they were soon followed by the American Navy.
In 1969, the company switched to a more minimalist shield logo (without the flower) on its wristwatches. That same year, Tudor created its first Oyster Prince Date+Day watches and changed the movements used for its Submariners to a self-winding design made by ETA, which were used until 1999, the last year Tudor made Submariners. The Submariner watch face was also updated in the late ‘60s to include blocky square and rectangular hour markings along with a so-called “snowflake” hour hand, allowing the time to be seen more easily underwater.
Tudor’s first chronograph, the manually wound Oysterdate, was manufactured in 1970. The design stood out for its orange-painted elements and pentagonal hour markers, later nicknamed “home plate” markers because of their shape. In 1971, the company created the Montecarlo style, including a variant with a blue dial and bezel, and finally, in 1976, the self-winding Big Block chronographs debuted.
During the late 1990s, Tiger Woods was the face of advertising campaigns for Tudor, and though the company halted all American Tudor sales from 2004 to 2013, new Tudor watches are again sold in the U.S. today.
Continue readingThe Tudor name was trademarked in Geneva, Switzerland, by watch maker and dealer Veuve de Philippe Hüther in 1926. However, the Hüther company quickly licensed its copyright to Hans Wildorf, founder of Rolex, with exclusive rights for its usage.
Tudor brand wristwatches were first sold in 1932, beginning with beveled, rectangular-shaped dials for men and women made for the Australian market. A few of these original styles included the Rolex name on the dial, while others featured the name of “Catanach’s,” an Australian jeweler. As Wilsdorf said at the time, "For some years now I have been considering the idea of making a watch that our agents could sell at a more modest price than our Rolex watches, and yet one that could attain the standards of dependability for which Rolex is famous. I decided to form a separate company, with the object of making and marketing this new watch."
One distinction between the two brands is that Tudor’s vintage wristwatches were built with movements manufactured by Ebauches SA rather than Rolex, however, many of its styles were still modeled after Rolex designs. In 1936, Wildorf legally acquired the brand from Veuve de Philippe Hüther, while adding the rose-and-shield symbol to its Gothic-looking logo.
Tudor became formally independent of Rolex in 1946, with the establishment of Montres Tudor S.A. During the 1950s, the shield portion of the logo was removed; later, the rose symbol would be further simplified.
The company’s famous Oyster Prince model launched in 1952, borrowing its case design and self-winding mechanism from the Rolex Oyster. The Oyster Prince “Tuxedo” style, with a black-and-white dial surrounded by a brass guilloché ring punctuated with hour marks, debuted in 1955. Two years after, Tudor introduced its thinnest model ever—the Oysterthin—with a 6mm-thick case, excluding the crystal.
Tudor also launched its first dive watches in the 1950s, beginning with the Oyster Prince Submariner in 1954. During the...
The Tudor name was trademarked in Geneva, Switzerland, by watch maker and dealer Veuve de Philippe Hüther in 1926. However, the Hüther company quickly licensed its copyright to Hans Wildorf, founder of Rolex, with exclusive rights for its usage.
Tudor brand wristwatches were first sold in 1932, beginning with beveled, rectangular-shaped dials for men and women made for the Australian market. A few of these original styles included the Rolex name on the dial, while others featured the name of “Catanach’s,” an Australian jeweler. As Wilsdorf said at the time, "For some years now I have been considering the idea of making a watch that our agents could sell at a more modest price than our Rolex watches, and yet one that could attain the standards of dependability for which Rolex is famous. I decided to form a separate company, with the object of making and marketing this new watch."
One distinction between the two brands is that Tudor’s vintage wristwatches were built with movements manufactured by Ebauches SA rather than Rolex, however, many of its styles were still modeled after Rolex designs. In 1936, Wildorf legally acquired the brand from Veuve de Philippe Hüther, while adding the rose-and-shield symbol to its Gothic-looking logo.
Tudor became formally independent of Rolex in 1946, with the establishment of Montres Tudor S.A. During the 1950s, the shield portion of the logo was removed; later, the rose symbol would be further simplified.
The company’s famous Oyster Prince model launched in 1952, borrowing its case design and self-winding mechanism from the Rolex Oyster. The Oyster Prince “Tuxedo” style, with a black-and-white dial surrounded by a brass guilloché ring punctuated with hour marks, debuted in 1955. Two years after, Tudor introduced its thinnest model ever—the Oysterthin—with a 6mm-thick case, excluding the crystal.
Tudor also launched its first dive watches in the 1950s, beginning with the Oyster Prince Submariner in 1954. During the 1960s, the French Navy started procuring Tudor Submariners for its divers, and they were soon followed by the American Navy.
In 1969, the company switched to a more minimalist shield logo (without the flower) on its wristwatches. That same year, Tudor created its first Oyster Prince Date+Day watches and changed the movements used for its Submariners to a self-winding design made by ETA, which were used until 1999, the last year Tudor made Submariners. The Submariner watch face was also updated in the late ‘60s to include blocky square and rectangular hour markings along with a so-called “snowflake” hour hand, allowing the time to be seen more easily underwater.
Tudor’s first chronograph, the manually wound Oysterdate, was manufactured in 1970. The design stood out for its orange-painted elements and pentagonal hour markers, later nicknamed “home plate” markers because of their shape. In 1971, the company created the Montecarlo style, including a variant with a blue dial and bezel, and finally, in 1976, the self-winding Big Block chronographs debuted.
During the late 1990s, Tiger Woods was the face of advertising campaigns for Tudor, and though the company halted all American Tudor sales from 2004 to 2013, new Tudor watches are again sold in the U.S. today.
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