A Guide To
Tudor Watches

A Brief History of The Staple Pieces

Following the launch of the Tudor Oyster (c the 1940s), which featured Rolex's hard-wearing Oyster case, ranges such as the 1952 Tudor Prince attracted attention with its self-winding rotor.
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With so much quality at a lower price point, it wasn't long before Tudor watches were viewed as a tool for scientists, explorers and the military. In 1952, for example, 26 Tudor Oyster Princes featured in a UK expedition to Greenland.
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Just two years later, by working in partnership with the French Navy, Tudor launched its first diving watch. Waterproof to depths of 100m, the team behind the Tudor Oyster Prince Submariner continued developing the timepiece. Four years later, in 1958, they impressively achieved a diving watch, waterproof for depths of 200 metres.
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The Submariner range, which was issued to both US and French navies, introduced iconic features such as the 'big crown' and 'snowflake hands', which you can see in Tudor's current line of diving watches.
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A little over a decade later, in 1970, Tudor launched its Chronograph: Oysterdate. The line included a manually-wound movement, produced by Swiss manufacturer Valjoux. It was soon followed by a model affectionally referred to as the Monte Carlo, because of its resemblance to a roulette wheel. The third series, Big Block, introduced the first men's Tudor watches with a self-winding movement.