The year was 1954 and the world of diving entered a new era when the renowned brand Tudor presented its first diver’s watch. At a time when underwater exploration was still in its infancy, Tudor redefined the measurement of time underwater with its groundbreaking innovation:
‘A journey into the depths of our oceans began.’
At the end of the 1940s, water-resistant watches began to be widely produced or experimented with. Tudor was always one step ahead of its competitors. The brand designed its watches in such a way that the back could be screwed to the case, thus improving water resistance immensely.
The Tudor Oyster Prince, launched in 1952, was no ordinary product. Rather, it was a robust, reliable and accurate measuring instrument. From then on, it could also be used in extreme conditions.
The watch was water-resistant and had a self-winding mechanism and a rotor engraved with ‘TUDOR SWISS PATENTED AUTO-PRINCE’.
The first real Tudor diver’s watch with the reference 7922 was introduced in 1954. The screw-down back, the screw-down crown and the domed ‘Tropic’ glass guaranteed a water resistance of 100 metres.
This reference is also legendary, as there was no self-winding Tudor diver’s watch before it. It was also the forerunner of many 7900 models. Over the next 45 years, the original concept, a combination of instrument and watch, was continuously developed further. This was done to meet the specific requirements of the various diving profiles of the customers.
Introduced in 1958, the Oyster Prince Submariner reference 7924 became known among collectors as the ‘Big Crown’ because of its imposing 8 mm winding crown. With its improved water resistance, it was now designed for a maximum diving depth of 200 metres.
In the mid-1960s, the demand for military diving watches increased enormously. As there were few watch manufacturers at the time that could withstand these extreme conditions, it was clear to many armies that Tudor would become their official supplier. The watches that were supplied were not custom-made, but watches from the catalogue that ‘only’ had an engraving on the back. These watches with such a back are highly sought after by collectors today.
