Vanity Fair UK - 10.2019

Diving Watches

GISHANI RATNAYAKE/SWIMPRUF (ST. MAAR

TEN); ©JOËL BRUN ECP

AD DÉFENSE (DIVERS)

Tudor seemed to have

disappeared. In fact, Rolex was

biding its time and slowly, with

the sort of deliberation one can

only admire and envy, it rolled

out the Tudor brand one country

at a time. Then came the release

that would completely

transform the way the brand

was perceived.

It started in 2012 with

Tudor Heritage Black

Bay, the watch fitted

with the “big crown”, in

a case of 41mm and

without the protective

shoulders of the 7928, but with

the later models’ snowflake

hands. First came the Black Bay

Burgundy, joined in 2014 by the

Black Bay Blue and a year later

by the Black Bay Black; all of

which contained ETA

movements. The reaction on

every level—retailers, press and

customers—was overwhelming.

this pure and direct, Tudor’s

diving watches were not seen

by those in the know as a poor

man’s anything. Instead, they

were so robust and suited to the

task that they found their way

into many of the world’s navies

as standard issue, including

those of Israel, France and

the United States.

For the roots of the model that

powered the current revival, one

needs to turn back to 1958, when

Tudor released the Ref. 7924.

One of its distinguishing

features was its oversized crown,

while other details included all

the hallmarks of the modern

diving watch: rotating bezel to

keep track of elapsed or

remaining time during dives,

superlative legibility, an inverted

triangle at 12 for rapid indication

of the right way up, “Mercedes”-

style hour hand, and water-

resistance to 200 metres.

This model evolved into the

7928, which added protective

shoulders on either side of the

winding crown, while later

references, such as the 7016,

acquired the brand’s signature

“snowflake” hands. For over 50

years, Tudor quietly produced its

own Submariners, better known

to the cognoscenti than the

wider public.

With the explosion in global

interest in mechanical watches

which began in the late 1980s,

Clockwise

from right: Tudor

Black Bay

Burgundy; Tudor

Black Bay Blue;

Tudor Black Bay

P01; diver Jason

Heaton wearing a

Tu d o r H e r i t a g e

Black Bay Blue in

St. Maarten

Above: 1975 Tudor

Oyster Prince

Submariner

Marine Nationale

original Oyster

caseback.

Left: 1986 Marine

Nationale divers

wearing Tudor

9401

VANITY FAIR ON TIME AUTUMN 2019

Tudor swiftly upped the ante

by introducing its own in-house

movement, with all three colours

of Black Bays being fitted with

the calibre MT5602 in 2016.

It was Tudor’s first mechanical

movement developed,

manufactured and assembled

in-house, with a 70-hour

power reserve and COSC

chronometer certification.

Sustaining the Black Bay’s

success has been a steady flow of

models in various sizes, versions

in bronze and in steel and gold,

chronographs, GMTs and, most

recently, the P01, based on a

prototype that never reached

production. Tudor is now a brand

that has waiting lists. One can

only imagine how Hans Wilsdorf

would react had he lived to see

his “economy” brand enjoying

unparalleled elevation in

desirability and undeniable cool,

all thanks to a diving model.

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