A watchmaker founded with the vision to fuse precision craftsmanship with accessibility to create high-quality timepieces at a much more attainable price point than its prestigious parent company, Tudor has been a subsidiary of Rolex for almost 100 years. Over those years, Tudor has developed a unique identity for itself by combining reliable third-party off-the-shelf movements with Rolex’s famously robust watch parts and an aesthetic deeply rooted in history to create some of the best tool watches on the market. Here, we delve into Tudor’s heritage, some of the most significant Tudor watches, the craftsmanship behind its timepieces, the brand’s cultural resonance, and how it compares with its parent company, Rolex, in an all-you-need-to-know deep dive into one of watchmaking’s most influential brands.
Historical Outline
Founded in 1926 by Hans Wilsdorf, Rolex’s co-founder, Tudor was established with the vision of creating a brand that embodied Rolex’s reliability yet at a lower price, making luxury watchmaking accessible to a broader audience who needed quality timepieces but didn’t have the means to spend the money necessary on a Rolex. By the 1950s, Tudor had developed a strong reputation for robustness, precision, and value for money, which led to everyone from various militaries, professional diving organizations, and everyday men who needed a reliable tool watch using Tudor’s watches.
Notable partnerships include Tudor’s association with the French Marine Nationale (with whom they still work to this day), which selected Tudor as its official watch due to its reliability and functionality underwater, among plenty of others like the U.S. Navy. Following the 1950s, Tudor would continue to create more affordable versions of Rolex’s watches, such as the Submariner, the Oyster Prince, Ranger, and so on. By the 1970s, the brand had begun to forge an identity of its own with watches like the Monte Carlo chronograph, the blue Submariner—a defiant choice given Rolex’s strict adherence to black-on-black—and the Ranger II.
Following some successful years continuing in a similar vein as they had in the 1970s, the brand eventually fell by the wayside, and in the 1990s and 2000s, it began to lose popularity as it became thought of as a cheap Rolex alternative. However, in 2010, Tudor decided to usher in a new heritage-inspired design aesthetic built upon modern engineering and offering collectors exceptional value while no longer using Rolex’s name as leverage. After successful releases like the Heritage Chronograph collection in 2010, the Black Bay and Pelagos collections in 2012, the Ranger in 2022, and various successful variants within each of those collections for years, Tudor has consistently expanded upon its catalog with an impressively consistent tone and design aesthetic that has truly resonated with Tudor’s target audience, who appreciate their watches and their efforts to create attainable luxury timepieces.
Tudor Watches: Overview of Important Models and Collections
Several models and collections in Tudor’s history have helped shape the brand’s reputation as a watchmaker. From the Oyster Prince to the Submariner and Black Bay, here’s a quick look at some of them.
- Tudor Oyster Prince: Introduced in the 1950s, the Oyster Prince was Tudor’s answer to Rolex’s Oyster Perpetual. Combining Rolex’s famous Oyster case and bracelet with the off-the-shelf movements that Tudor sourced from third parties, it represented durability, reliability, and value for money. Positioned as the watch for explorers and professionals, it was the foundational offering that all of Tudor’s other sports and tool watches were built on top of.
- Tudor Submariner: Released in 1954, the Submariner embodied Tudor’s spirit of adventure and ruggedness, just like Rolex’s own Submariner. Known for its water resistance, robustness, and utility, it became the watch of choice for the French Navy’s divers in the 1950s, which solidified Tudor’s status among diving professionals as a watchmaker whose products were of an exceptional standard. From its early days in the 1950s to its discontinuation in the 1990s to inspiring the Black Bay, the Submariner has been as important to Tudor as it has been to its parent company, Rolex.
- Tudor Black Bay: One of Tudor’s most successful collections, the Black Bay collection launched in 2012 as a heritage-inspired collection that took the Submariner’s blueprint and used it to build a modern dive watch. Reinvigorating the brand’s appeal with its vintage-inspired design, it features a signature domed crystal, “snowflake” hands, and a faux riveted bracelet—all design aspects that pay homage to the Tudor Submariners from before. Today, the Black Bay collection has expanded to include various sizes, materials, bracelets, and more.
- Tudor Pelagos: A modern, high-performance dive watch, the Pelagos combines innovation with Tudor’s legacy in professional diving. Made from titanium and featuring a helium escape valve along with a ceramic bezel, the Pelagos is Tudor’s heavy-hitting dive watch, akin to Rolex’s Sea-Dweller collection. Capable of withstanding depths of up to 500 meters, it’s powered by Tudor’s in-house movement, the cal. MT5612, offering a 70-hour power reserve and formidable accuracy.
- Tudor Heritage Chrono: Last but not least is the Heritage Chrono, Tudor’s dedicated chronograph collection. Inspired by Tudor’s 1970s chronographs, the Heritage Chrono was introduced in 2010 as a way to represent Tudor’s embrace of vintage-inspired aesthetics while paving a way to expand into new territory as a watchmaker. The model is celebrated for its bold, sporty appearance and has become a collector’s favorite thanks to its vintage-inspired dial designs and color schemes, both of which remain popular among new collectors and Tudor purists alike.
Craftsmanship and Expertise
Tudor’s craftsmanship has always emphasized durability, functionality, and precision. Unlike its early years, the brand has begun to focus on developing its own in-house movements. The introduction of these in-house movements, such as the cal. MT5612 mentioned before, has elevated Tudor’s reputation, aligning it more closely with high-end watchmaking and moving it away from the “poor man’s Rolex” reputation that held the brand back in the 1990s and 2000s.
Today, Tudor’s watches undergo rigorous testing to meet professional standards, particularly for its dive watches. For example, the Pelagos is tested for up to 500 meters of water resistance, while Black Bay models meet the ISO standards for diving. Additionally, Tudor has even begun to submit some watches for METAS certification alongside the COSC certification that the brand has used since they launched their first in-house movement in 2015, ensuring their movements are nothing to be sniffed at by any means.
In fact, Tudor’s movements are so good that they supply other watchmakers such as Chanel, Breitling, Norqain, Fortis, and TAG Heuer through their movement manufacturing arm, Kenissi. That’s quite an impressive feat, given they have only been working on them since 2010. With a parent company like Rolex, they obviously know what they’re doing.
Conclusion
Tudor has established itself as a truly formidable force within the world of watchmaking. From its early days as an affordable alternative to Rolex to its evolution into a brand recognized for its own expertise and craftsmanship, Tudor has managed to forge a unique identity in a world where its identity was once of very little value. Through models like the Black Bay and Pelagos, Tudor pays homage to its history while pushing forward with modern advancements. Its appeal spans diverse audiences, attracting both new and seasoned collectors alike, and those who simply want a high-quality, robust timepiece that they can take with them as a functional tool. Through that fusion of potential wearers, we get an understanding of what Tudor is as a watchmaker and what it values: heritage, craftsmanship, innovation, and accessibility.
