The Case for Some Vintage & Modern Tudor Watches - Part 2

This article picks up from where the previous part of the article on collectible Tudor watches picked up. 

Tudor Snowflake - The snowflake hands are pretty much a brand identity of the modern Tudor watch. What started off in the back bay watch and the Tudor pelages has now taken over most sport watches in the brand. However the history of these hands goes back to 1969 when the hands first appeared on the submariner reference 7016 and 7021. These watch were widely adopted by the French navy the "Marine Nationale". The difference really was in the hour hand which replace the traditional "mercedes" hands with a seven sided wide tipped frame that had sufficient real estate to hold loom to aid with visibility. These watches typically carried an ETA movement and the designs of these hands continued to appear in watches through 1975 (ref. 9104 and 9411) and were later seen in some watches unto the 1980s. Certain watches specially those used by the french navy along with discharge papers can set one back a substantial amount as similar to the rolex equivalent military issued watches, these have become significant collectibles. One needs to be careful thought because the physical identification of a navy issues watch was the initials "M.N." for Marine Nationale stamped on the casebook which can be easily replicated. 

A Tudor Marine Nationale, Blue dial which beautifully patina Snowflake hands.

Tudor Monte Carlo - The Tudor Chronographs are truly something unique to the brand. One does not find such a level of variation and variety of dials, movements and designs in the Rolex portfolio. Vintage examples of the Tudor chronographs start with the version dubbed the home plate due to hour indices that almost look like shields on the watch. This watch was introduce in 1970 (ref. 7031 and 7032) and had a two tone (black and grey) two register dial with a date window at 6 o'clock. These watches were followed by the 7100 series called the "Montecarlo". The dial got its name doe to it remotely resembling the roulette tables at the casino of Montecarlo. The watch came in a very summery blue, light grey dial peppered with stunning orange accents that really elevated the watch. Good examples of these watches ca be hand to find. All these watches came in a 40 mm case, a bidirectional 24 hour or tachymeter bezel and came with a manual wind movement. To me these watches are true gems in the vintage chronograph collectibles. Tudor also did modern heritage releases of these pieces in 42mm cases that can be had at a much better price if you are chasing the aesthetics of the watch. 

A vintage Tudor Montecarlo on the left along side the modern heritage re-issue on the right. 

Tudor Big Block - Six years later in 1976, Tudor launched the big block. This was the first chronograph from the Wilsdorf family to have an automatic chronograph movement. The automatic movements required a rotor that added to the thickness of the movement and hence a bigger case termed "big block" was introduced for this purpose. It would be more than a decade from here before the rolex chronograph got a self winding movement. These watches were equipped with a Valjoux 7750 movement with a quick set date and three registers and came in several panda and reverse panda models with SS or black bezels. These watches while not as rare and hard to find as the Motecarlo offer a tremendous value especially because these were the true precursors to the Rolex Daytona. They also carry the aesthetic DNA which would eventually form the design inspiration for a lot of the future Daytona watch designs. 

Tudor Pelagos - I own this watch. The one introduced in 2012 this Pelages in my mind is a definite future collectible. The watch was the first titanium made dive watch in the Rolex family. It is also the first watch to feature a matte dial and a matte ceramic bezel. At 42 mm this watch is also thick because of the helium escape valve and a 500m water resist case. This watch is more of an experiment into what a future sea dweller would look like. The titanium case hardly pics up any scratches and the watch can take a beating. The original version from 2012 does not even say Pelagos on the dial while later variants do. I think this watch wears great on the wrist and makes for a great all around watch for everyday use. The watch comes with and ETA 2428 movement and the next generation had a Tudor in-house movement and also came in a vibrant blue dial variation. 

First generation Tudor Pelagos in a titanium case and matte black dial and bezel.

Tudor North Flag - This is again a watch of firsts. Until this watch all Tudor watches used ETA movements. The north flag was the first watch to have an in-house tudor designed movement. It was also the first watch to have a power reserve indicator, a see through case back and the design was inspired by the Ranger 2 designs from the past which had integrated lugs. The watch itself was originally inspired by the Oyster Prince watch from the north greenland expedition (mentioned in the previous article - Part 1), hence the name North Flag. The unique yellow accents make this watch a unique and rare piece. Unfortunately the watch has not been very popular in todays culture but is truly a watch that must not be ignored. 

Tudor Black Bay line - The Tudor Black Bay was released along side the Pelagos and today is really the flagship brand. This watch really hits all the right points between vintage aesthetics and a modern tool watch. The watch became extremely successful with various bezel options and the snowflake hands. Today the series of the black bay watches have a variety of different options from different size ranges, bezel and dial designs as well as case and materials. Of these there are three prominent watches. The first would be the Black Bay Black 41mm with and ETA movement. This watch was produced for less that six months before being discontinued and replaced with a slightly different designed watch with an in-house movement. The watch has the traditional rose logo and the curved self winding text harking back a more vintage dial design than the modern variants. The next watch is the Black Bay Bronze in a much larger 43mm size. If you are ok with the size this watch just oozes a ton of character not to mention the ever changing bronze case which would age with time and pick up a unique persona. The thirst choice would be the Black Bay 58, a watch inspired by the dial design released in 1958. What really made this watch all the rage is the smaller case of 39mm and the thinner case thickness all combined an in-house Tudor movement made this the perfect vintage watch homage piece. This watch and the immense popularity it drew with just a change in size may set the precedence for future black bay watch models. 

So there it is, a collection of watches from the Tudor family I feel are really unique pieces for collectors out there. Now as I mentioned in an earlier article, monetarily these watch are not guaranteed to appreciate but if you are a collector who appreciates a good story, the Tudor family of watches sure have a lot to offer.