Tudor, Prince Oysterdate
Tudor watches have a wonderful and evocative back catalogue and the Tudor Oyster Prince was one of their defining moments when it made its debut in 1952.
Tudor was registered as a brand in 1926 by Hans Wilsdorf, he of Rolex fame, as a sister company ostensibly to provide the same Rolex-like quality of watch but at a more affordable price by using different non-Rolex movements. It was formally launched as Montres Tudor SA in 1946 and has been creating a plethora of different models ever since.
To quote the great man of 20th century watch manufacturing: “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 would attain the standard of dependability for which Rolex is famous. I decided to form a separate company, with the object of making and marketing this new watch. It is called the TUDOR watch company.” H. Wilsdorf.
Tudor of course has become a phenomenon in recent years and its older vintage offerings have become very collectable off the back of it. This is a later model in the evolution - from 1978, utilising the ETA 2784 movement.
Tudor have always made hard wearing and robust watches and In 1953, they launched a campaign based on robustness tests on the Tudor Oyster Prince and its endurance in particularly difficult conditions:
Watch worn by a coal miner during 252 hours of excavation by hand; subjected to the vibrations of a pneumatic drill for 30 hours; watch worn by a stonecutter for three months; and watch worn by a motorbike racer over a distance of 1,000 miles.
This great looking watch has the distinctive oyster case, a Rolex crown and ‘original oyster case’ case back and the self-winding rotor mechanism inspired from Rolex, but actually has the more affordable ETA 2784 movement ticking away inside.
The lugs have drilled holes and attached to them is a new, unworn black leather strap, the logo is the rather fine Tudor shield and the watch keeps great time, though its service history is unknown. There are the inevitable scratches on the case and a few on the acrylic glass and there are some marks/spots on the dial and at the top of the date window which are clearly shown on the images. The smooth stainless steel bezel is however in really good shape for a watch nearly 45 years old and adds to the depth and clarity of the watch itself.
SPECIFICATIONS
Reference. Ref 9050/0
Calibre. ETA 2784, 25 Jewel, automatic movement. Movement beats at 28,800 BPH.
Dial. Tudor shield logo, date, sweep centre seconds
Case back: ‘Original Oyster Case by Rolex.’
Crown original Rolex
Strap* see main ‘featured’ images as now comes with new hand-stitched textured Italian black leather strap. Please note that this new strap has replaced the strap in the video above.
No box or papers. Watch only.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT:
Some dial blemishes (little dots) near centre of watch and date aperture.
The watch is running strongly at about +2 s/d, which is within vintage watch tolerances of +/-30 s/d.
MEASUREMENTS (approximate)
34mm diameter (excluding crown)
40mm length lug to lug
19mm lug width inside for strap.
10.5mm depth case back to centre of crystal
This watch comes with a 3-month warranty and free UK delivery.
If you live outside the UK, it is your responsibility to pay any Import Tax, VAT or Customs Duty if your country requires it. PLEASE be aware of this before placing any order as we can not be held responsible for any fees imposed by your country. We will not pay towards the cost of importing any item and we will always declare the full value of the transaction on any customs form.
WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN 1978 ?
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Japanese explorer Naomi Uemura became the first person to reach the North Pole in a solo expedition.
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A little before midnight on 25 July in Oldham, England, Louise Brown, the world's first IVF baby, was born.
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Worlds Population Estimated at 4.4 billion.