It was a long time ago that Tudor was just the little sister of Rolex . Today the company, founded in 1946 by Rolex father Hans Wilsdorf himself, cultivates its own style up to and including the development of its own in-house calibres.
In 1926 the watch factory Veuve de Philippe Hüther registered the Tudor brand on behalf of Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf. The first watches had a simple “Tudor” lettering on the dial, with the horizontal line from the T extending to the R. These first watches did not yet bear any resemblance to the models from Rolex, mostly they were rectangular or tonneau-shaped. On March 6, 1946, Wilsdorf founded the company “Montres Tudor SA”. He announced: “For several years I have been thinking about making a wristwatch that can be sold by our specialist dealers at a lower price than our Rolex, but is just as reliable . Now I've decided to set up a company specifically to manufacture and market such a watch rafiqsonsonline.com/product-category/smart-watches/.
This company is called Montres Tudor SA “In 1952 Wilsdorf launched theTudor Oyster Prince with self-winding thanks to the perpetual rotor. It was waterproof to 50 meters. The first diving watch followed two years later: The Tudor Oyster Prince Submariner Reference 7922 was initially water-resistant to 100 meters, later models that withstood 200 meters followed. This model has been further developed for over 45 years. The Tudor diving watches rafiqsonsonline.com/product-category/santa-barbara/ used the cases and straps and even crowns of their Rolex counterparts until the 1990s. From 1969, automatic Eta movements were used.
From 2000 onwards, Tudor increasingly tried to take its own steps and optically break away from its big sister - not least with the brand colors black and red, which are in clear contrast to the green and gold Rolex. After various approaches, the introduction of the Heritage line in 2010 succeeded in giving the brand a recognizable face. The name referred to the retro design of the watches, which was based on historical Tudor models. The Heritage Black Bay in particular was a great success. Tudor has also had its own works in its range since 2015. The top models with calibers 54, 56 and 58 come with an official Swiss chronometer certificate from the COSC, which allows rate deviations between -4 and +6 seconds per day. In addition, Tudor tests the finished 54 and 56 caliber watches again for rate values between –2 and +4 seconds. Tudor has been working with the independent Federal Institute for Metrology (METAS) since 2021. The Black Bay Ceramic is the first Tudor model to be certified by METAS as a Master Chronometer.
The Tudors head office is located in the building complex of the Rolex headquarters in the Geneva district of Les Acacias. The watch production as well as the departments for research and development, design and quality control are located here.
Fact # 1 about Tudor: The sensational advertising campaigns by Hans Wilsdorf
Hans Wilsdorf presented his Tudor watches in the 1950s in a way that was unique for the time. Among other things, he equipped workers with pickaxes and jackhammers with Tudor watches and documented their resilience, reliability and consistently good precision in the advertising motifs.
The participants of a British expedition to North Greenland from 1952 to 1954 also received Tudor watches and in return informed Wilsdorf of the results of their accuracy by comparing the watches with the BBC radio signal.
Fact # 2 about Tudor: Tudor has been building diving watches since 1954
Introduced in 1954, the Tudor Oyster Prince Submariner was Tudor's first diving watch. The original reference 7922 was waterproof up to 100 meters. 1956 saw the first models with 200 meters of compressive strength that were delivered to the French Navy.
From 1958 onwards, Tudor produced such diving watches in large numbers and sold them as reference 7924 until the mid-eighties. Also in 1958, the US Navy Seals became Tudor's customers; further naval forces from countries such as Argentina, Canada, Italy, Israel and South Africa followed.
Fact # 3 about Tudor: The Snowflake pointer has been around since 1969
In 1969 Tudor introduced the second generation of its Oyster Prince Submariner diving watch , with date (reference 7021) and without date (reference 7016). A square on the tip was integrated into the hour and second hands in order to be able to place more luminous material. This pointer shape soon became known as "Snowflake" among collectors.
The snowflake hand is one of the typical features by which Tudor watches can be recognized today.
Fact # 4 about Tudor: Own caliber
In 2003, Tudor took the first step towards manufacturing with the launch of the T8050 automatic caliber , which premiered in the Princess Date Hydronaut women's watch , but ultimately did not meet Tudor's expectations. The history of today's in-house calibers begins in 2015 with the presentation of the first in-house automatic caliber MT5621 for men, which was first used in the North Flag line .
In 2017, Tudor and Breitling announced a new collaboration on calibers: Tudor is now equipping its chronographs - for example the Heritage Black Bay Chrono with MT5813 column-wheel automatic movement - with movements based on Breitling. In return - for the Superocean Héritage II , for example - Breitling gets access to the Tudor caliber MT 5612 . A year later, Tudor presented a smaller version of its automatic movement. The MT5402 has a running time of 70 hours and is equipped with a silicon spiral spring . A COSC chronometer certificate certifies its accuracy. The automatic movement came for the first time in the also new Black Bay Fifty-Eightfor use. This watch is reminiscent of the brand's first diving watches. In 1958, the brand launched the reference 7924, which was waterproof up to 200 meters for the first time. Not only the pressure resistance, but also the case size of a moderate 39 millimeters is reminiscent of the model from the 1950s. The snowflake hands are also typical, but have only shaped the face of Tudor diving watches since 1969. The stainless steel watch with a unidirectional diving bezel made of anodized aluminum is available with a riveted stainless steel strap (3,380 euros), a brown leather strap (3,090 euros) or a black textile strap with a golden stripe (3,090 euros).
Fact # 5 about Tudor: The evolution of the brand logo
The first Tudor watches did not have a real logo, but a simple "Tudor" lettering, with the horizontal line from the T extending to the R. The lettering soon changed, and the Tudor rose appeared for the first time around 1936. In the beginning it was embedded in a coat of arms, but soon it shaped the dial with the brand name alone.