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Globally renowned as the sibling company of Rolex, the journey of Tudor began in 1926. At the time, the Swiss watchmaker and dealer Veuve de Philippe Hüther registered “The Tudor” trademark, and Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf acquired the exclusive usage rights to the name. By 1932, the first Tudor watches made their appearance, but exclusively for the Australian market. Minimal in design, these early Tudor watches were rectangular with bevelled edges. In 1936, Hans Wilsdorf took over “The Tudor”, and around the same time, the iconic rose logo of the brand started appearing on the watch dials. Subsequently, in 1946, Wilsdorf founded Montres TUDOR SA, giving the brand its own identity.
The Tudor Oyster collection was released a year after the official launch of Tudor and featured the exclusive waterproof Oyster case of Rolex. The Oyster Prince, Tudor’s first self-winding model, came out in 1952, accompanied by a unique advertising campaign that endorsed the model’s qualities and strengthened Tudor’s association with Rolex. In 1957, Tudor released its first and only alarm watch, Tudor Advisor, and from 1957 to 1963, the brand created some rare models of the thinnest, waterproof Tudor watches.
The Oyster watches set the stage for the production of tool watches designed for endurance in extreme environments. In 1954, Tudor launched the Oyster Prince Submariner, its first diver’s watch. Over the years, the Submariner line evolved to include various features still incorporated into Tudor’s current diver watches. Beginning from 1969, the brand’s focus was channelled towards creating specialised and robust products, and the rose logo gave way to the shield, symbolising reliability and solidity. In 1970, Tudor launched its first chronograph, the Oysterdate. Three more Tudor chronograph families were launched up to 2000, each watch line introducing numerous technical and aesthetic improvements over their predecessors.
Looking forward, Tudor introduced several new product lines in a significant brand relaunch in 2009. Classic watch collections like the Tudor Grantour Chronograph and Tudor Glamour were followed by the Heritage Chrono of 2010, inspired by the chronographs of the 1970s. The success of the Heritage Chrono vintage models spurred the launch of the Tudor Heritage Advisor alarm watch in 2011. The brand also released the women’s Claire de Rose collection and the Fastrider Chronograph in the same year.
2012 was a landmark year as Tudor launched the Pelagos diver’s watch and the Heritage Black Bay, a rendition of the Submariner of the 1950s. The timepieces went on to win the 2015 “Sports Watch” prize and the “Revival” Prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, respectively. More models were launched in the following years, most of them inspired by the brand’s signature models and milestones. The latest in the lot is 1926, Black Bay Fifty Eight, and the 2021 launch, Black Bay Ceramic, Tudor’s first METAS-certified master chronometer timepiece.
The wonders taking place in the Tudor ateliers make each timepiece an embodiment of precision and aesthetics. Quality materials, meticulous craftsmanship, rigorous quality checks, and an eye for detail and perfection honed over skilful years goes into making every Tudor timepiece. The result is not simply a watch; it is an object of utter precision and art. In 2015, Tudor launched its first in-house “Manufacture Calibre,” a high-performance movement with a 70-hour power reserve. Tudor also produces variants of their in-house calibre for various models. The Manufacture Calibre MT5602-1U announced in mid-2021 is the latest.
Tudor has partnered with David Beckham, Jay Chou, and the New Zealand national rugby union team All Blacks and its player Beauden John Barrett as part of its advertising campaigns. Tudor has also been the official timekeeper of the Rugby World Cups of 2018 and 2019.