THE ORIGINS: FROM 1952 TO 1957
1952

TUDOR OYSTER PRINCE

Hans Wilsdorf used this new campaign to link the Rolex and TUDOR brands, sanctioning this new product in which he was investing his credibility:

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.

1952

British North Greenland Expedition

In 1952, 26 TUDOR Oyster Princes would be included in the British scientific expedition to Greenland organised by the Royal Navy. The brand thus proved the strength, reliability and precision of its products.

1953

PROOF OF ROBUSTNESS

In 1953, Rolex launched a campaign based on robustness tests on the TUDOR Oyster Prince and its endurance in particularly difficult conditions:
-watch worn by a coal miner during 252 hours of excavation by hand
-watch subjected to the vibrations of a pneumatic drill for 30 hours
-watch worn by a stonecutter for three months
-watch worn for a month while riveting metal girders in building construction
-watch worn by a motorbike racer over a distance of 1,000 miles.
Emphasis was placed on the great strength of the watches, their precision, their efficient winding and their waterproofness even in extreme conditions.

TUDOR OYSTER PRINCE “TUXEDO” 7950
TUDOR ADVISOR: THE FIRST ALARM WATCHtudor watches placeholder
1957

tudor advisor: the first alarm watch

The TUDOR Advisor alarm watch is one of the brand’s most atypical models, the only one in its history to offer an alarm function. From 1957 to 1977 three different versions of the TUDOR Advisor were produced, two with an Oyster-type case, references 7926 and 1537, and a last one with a new dedicated case, reference 10050. In 2011, this legendary alarm watch was relaunched under reference 79620T, entirely redesigned and with a diameter larger by 8 mm (42 mm as opposed to the previous 34 mm).

1957

TUDOR ADVISOR 7926

A unique and extremely rare model, reference 7926, of which an example with a “Jubilee” bracelet is pictured here, was manufactured from 1957 to 1968. Only a few thousand pieces were produced. The Oyster-type case was modified on TUDOR Advisor reference 7926 to optimise the vibrations of their alarm function. Two crowns, at 2 and 4 o’clock, enabled the operation of the alarm and time functions respectively. Its movement was the famous manually-wound A.S. 1475 (A. Schild).

FIRST EXTRA-THIN WATCH WITH A WATERPROOF CASE