Tudor. A rare stainless steel automatic wristwatch with sweep centre seconds, black gloss underline dial and pointed crown guards

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AFTERNOON SESSION The following 12 lots, 137 - 148, represent an attractive selection of watches made by the celebrated house of Tudor between 1963 and 2010, displaying the technical and design evolution of the various models. We are pleased to announce that the 12 watches will be sold with an example of Tudor Anthology, Alberto Isnardi's notable reference book on the brand, and would like to thank the author for his generous gesture. The history of Tudor "Tudor", quintessence of the "tool watch", was born from Hans Wilsdorf ingenious idea of supplying reliable yet affordable watches alongside his brand "Rolex", hence creating a larger market share for his two companies. Originally registered in 1926 by a Geneva based watchmaking firm "Veuve de Philippe Hüther", the brand name "The Tudor" was taken over by Wilsdorf in 1936. Early watches featured the signature Tudor with the horizontal bar of the T lengthened above the other letters. In 1936, the new symbol representing the union between strength and elegance appeared: the rose of the Tudor dynasty within a shield. In 1946, just after the end of World War II, Hans Wilsdorf felt that the time had come to expand and to give the brand a proper identity. Thus, on 6 March 1946, he founded "Montres TUDOR S.A." specialized in the manufacture of watches for men and women. Rolex would guarantee the technical, artistic and functional characteristics along with distribution and after sales service. The shield of the logo was removed, only the rose remained, until the 1960s when it obtained its final version: the shield only which better represents the concept Tudor wishes to convey for their watches, robustness and reliability. 1952 saw what would become Tudor's most popular line: the birth of the Oyster Prince. Wilsdorf's advertisement campaign emphasized the model's strength and precision in a comprehensive text and through illustrations showing men at work in extreme conditions wearing a Tudor on their wrist: "I have decided that the TUDOR Prince deserves to share with Rolex two advantages I would allow no other watch to use - the famous and unique waterproof Oyster case and the original self-winding Perpetual 'rotor' mechanism. All TUDOR Oyster Princes will have these two exceptional features, previously exclusive to Rolex. This indicates, I think, the measure of our faith in the new watch. I am proud to give my personal endorsement" Hans Wilsdorf. In 1954, another icon was born: Tudor's divers watch, reference 7923, the firm's only hand-wound divers watch ever made. The technical assets of the new model enjoyed immediate success, making Tudor the brand of choice of various Armed Forces and explorers, including the US Armed Forces and the French Marine Nationale, who had used Tudor wristwatches as standard issue timekeepers for its most elite servicemen for more than 25 years. In 1968 appeared what would become synonymous with Tudor design: the "snowflake" hour hand. Introduced with reference 7016/0, the geometrical shape of the hour hand and the diamond-shaped seconds hand combined with the architectural design of the numerals rendered the watches a very avant-gardist look, still today enjoying wide popularity. In 1970 the firm's first chronograph wristwatch was launched, nicknamed "Montecarlo" by collectors, an icon of 1970s design and amongst the firm's most popular models, distinguished by the graphic layout of the multi-coloured dials, resembling a roulette wheel. Even throughout the quartz crisis, Tudor continued the manufacture of mechanical watches, featuring however more conventional style elements. The new Prince Oysterdate launched in 1977 was the firm's first While the cases kept the general lines of their predecessors, they became thicker to accommodate the rotors, earning them the nickname of "Big Block" amongst collectors. With the release of the Heritage Chronograph in 2010, Tudor entered a new era in the firm's long history, combining highest technical standards and the distinctive style elements for which the manufacture has been famous for nearly 60 years now.

Tudor. A rare stainless steel automatic wristwatch with sweep centre seconds, black gloss underline dial and pointed crown guards

SIGNED TUDOR, OYSTER PRINCE SUBMARINER, 200M=660FT, ROTOR SELF-WINDING, REF. 7928, CASE NO. 399'795, CIRCA 1963

Details

Tudor. A rare stainless steel automatic wristwatch with sweep centre seconds, black gloss underline dial and pointed crown guards
Signed Tudor, Oyster Prince Submariner, 200m=660ft, Rotor Self-Winding, ref. 7928, case no. 399'795, circa 1963
Cal. 390 automatic movement, 17 jewels, Tudor Auto-Prince rotor, black "underline" dial with luminous dot, baton and dagger numerals, luminous Mercedes hands, sweep centre seconds, tonneau-shaped water-resistant-type case, bidirectional revolving black bezel calibrated for 60 units, screw back stamped "Original Oyster Case By Rolex Geneva", screw down Rolex crown, case, dial and movement signed
39.5 mmm. diam.

Special notice

This lot is offered without reserve. On lots marked with an + in the catalogue, VAT will be charged at 8% on both the premium as well as the hammer price.

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Lot Essay

Delivered with an example of Tudor Anthology by Alberto Isnardi.

The present reference 7928 is distinguished by its highly unusual dial, featuring a small silvered line underneath the designation "Self-Winding", indicating the absence of radium-based luminous material on indexes and hands. It is one of the last examples of this series with gilt printing on the dial and pointed crown guards to the case, also known as "cornino". It is furthermore preserved in very good, original overall condition.

Ref. 7928, the second series of Tudor's Submariner model, was launched in 1959, the cases now fitted with protective crown guards and water-resistant to 200m/660ft. As its predecessors it used the celebrated "Auto-Prince" calibre 390, a FEF (Fabrique d'Ebauches de Fleurier) based 17 jewel movement. Reference 7928 remained in production until 1967 and was available with different types of crown guards. The dials always featured the Tudor rose symbol followed by "Oyster Prince" to the upper half, the lower half generally the depth rating 200m=660ft, Submariner, Rotor, Self-Winding on four lines.

Reference 7928 is illustrated and described in Alberto Isnardi's Tudor Anthology pp. 40-71.

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