The house of Tudor
The house
Tudor
- Founded
- 1926
- Country
- Switzerland
- Based in
- Geneva
Hans Wilsdorf registered the Tudor name in 1926 and relaunched it properly in 1946 with a simple idea: a watch with the Rolex case, crown and bracelet, built around a reliable bought-in movement, sold for less. It was never meant to be a lesser Rolex so much as an honest one.
That proposition found its market in the services. Tudor Submariners were issued to the French Marine Nationale and bought by the US Navy, and the hard use they took is most of why those references are now collected so seriously.
The modern Tudor is a different company. It has made its own movements since 2015 — chronometer-certified, with long power reserves — and the Black Bay has become the reference point for what a mechanical dive watch should cost.
Known for
Black Bay Fifty-EightM79030N-0001
The 39mm Black Bay, sized like the 1958 original.
Black Bay 41M79230N-0009
The full-size version, with the in-house chronometer movement.
Before you buy one
Vintage Tudor is where the market has moved fastest, and with it the fakes and the "upgraded" watches. Snowflake hands and Marine Nationale provenance both carry large premiums and both are easily invented — buy the documentation, not the story.
On modern Tudor, check whether the watch has the in-house MT calibre or the earlier ETA. Both are good; only one is priced as in-house.
Luxigate doesn’t authenticate pieces. For anything you’re serious about, have it checked independently before you pay. How buying works
Last revised 22 Oct 2026.
On the floor
