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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