TUDOR GENEVE 12700 AUTOMATIC, WARRANTY CARD

Tudor’s history is a testament to audacity, resilience, and the pursuit of watchmaking excellence at a fair price. Conceived by the visionary founder of Rolex as an affordable yet equally robust alternative, the brand has carved out its own legacy, stepping out of its elder sister’s shadow to become one of the world’s most respected and fastest-growing manufactures. For decades, Tudor watches have accompanied polar explorers, combat divers, and military pilots, proving that Swiss reliability and quality can be within reach for all who dare to challenge the conventional.

Origins and Foundation

Tudor’s seed was planted in 1926 by Hans Wilsdorf, the business genius who had already turned Rolex into a symbol of prestige. His vision was clear: to create a new brand that, in his own words, offered “accurate time control and moderate prices,” by sharing Rolex’s technology and quality philosophy at a more accessible price. He registered the name “The Tudor” in 1926, and the brand appeared in the public record on February 17 of that same year. The first Tudor watches were produced in the 1920s, during the economic boom known as the Roaring Twenties, a time marked by optimism and innovation that infused the spirit of the new manufacture.
In 1936, Hans Wilsdorf took full control of the brand, consolidating his idea to establish a high-quality alternative at a lower price. During this time, the Tudor rose appeared on the dial, a symbol of the British Royal House representing the union between Swiss engineering and noble design.

Birth of an Independent Brand and the Tudor Oyster Prince

True operational independence came on March 6, 1946, when Wilsdorf founded the company Montres Tudor S.A., giving the brand its own identity and structure. Shortly after, in 1952, Tudor launched the Oyster Prince, a line that would be fundamental in establishing its reputation. This watch incorporated two of the technical features that had made Rolex famous: the Oyster case, waterproof and dustproof, and the Perpetual self-winding mechanism with rotor. Hans Wilsdorf personally endorsed this new product, stating that these advantages, previously exclusive to Rolex, were now shared by Tudor, underscoring the extent of his faith in the new watch.
To demonstrate the robustness of the Oyster Prince, Tudor organized an innovative advertising campaign showing men working in extreme conditions wearing a Tudor on their wrist. The tests included watches used by a miner for 252 hours of manual excavation, exposed to 30 hours of continuous vibration with a pneumatic hammer, and worn by a motorcycle rider for 1,600 kilometers of racing. The same year of its launch, 26 Tudor Oyster Prince watches accompanied the British Scientific Expedition to Greenland organized by the Royal Navy, proving their reliability in the harsh Arctic conditions.

First Diving Watches and Military Collaboration (1954-1980)

…

TEMPPUS. All rights reserved.