But, while we know that they were in fact issued, with these watches the provenance is crucial. Over the past few years I’ve had a number of emails from ex-Canadian Navy divers who were issued Tudor Subs and consequently I am now certain that Tudor Submariners were issued by the Canadian Navy. The font of the engravings is very distinguishable and all authentic examples have the same details in the engravings. As I mentioned earlier, they are from a very small serial batch and therefore all have a number of common numerals in the engravings. The engravings on all watches are of a high quality and are reasonably deep, unlike the shallow personal engravings seen on some military watches.
#Tudor serial numbers serial number#
So what is the secret? Well, the common theme of these watches is the serial number that is engraved across the case back. Most of the examples I know of were bought from clearance divers, navy personnel, and even one from a navy watchmaker. What is certain is that all the examples, with one exception, originated in South Africa and more specifically Simon’s Town, which is where the navy is based. My database of Tudor Military watches is now up to approximately 500 pieces, but fewer than 10 of those are South African. I have compiled a database of these watches and the actual number of confirmed pieces is very small. Unlike the French-issued watches, there are no service records or issue logs for the South African pieces. The South African Navy did not issue any blue Tudors, only black, and they were all issued on fabric NATO-style straps to allow them to be strapped over the sleeves of wetsuits. 7016 having successfully completed the first two levels of diver training at the training school in Simon’s Town. I have had extensive contact with one particular diver who was issued a black snowflake Submariner ref. Several ex-South African Navy divers, who confirm they were issued with both Rolex and Tudor Submariners, have supported this theory. I have a personal theory that the South African divers saw and used the MN Tudors and wanted to utilise the snowflake watches themselves.
The French supplied the South African Navy’s first submarine and the French Navy delivered training in Toulon to South African Navy divers in the early 1970s. The second batch was issued later in the 1970s and only two examples are known to still exist from that group, leading us to conclude that there were fewer ordered – there is a strong belief that that these watches were probably sourced through the French Marine Nationale, by the South African Navy. The first batch of South African MilSubs date to 1974 and fall within one of the earliest batches of French MN 7016s – the most coveted black “MN 74”. It is now generally accepted that the MN watches were ordered from Geneva in batches that are identifiable across a number of years.
The only notable exception to this rule is the Canadian issued watches, which we’ll look at later. The French Navy watches have MN engraved on the reverse of the watch, the South African watches the serial number, while other forces had unique stock codes engraved on them. The single identifiable feature of Tudor military watches is the casebacks – usually. None of the Tudor MilSubs that have surfaced so far have discernable markings on the dials, unlike the Rolex British MilSub (which have a ‘T’ within a circle to denote the use of tritium on the dial and hands).
#Tudor serial numbers mod#
Not all forces were as wealthy as the British MOD and so the Tudors were a more cost effective solution. This made Tudor dive watches very durable, reliable and, perhaps most importantly, very good value. Aside from case engravings, the only discernable differences were the dials, hands and movements. This was achievable in part because Tudor Subs were manufactured with many components used in Rolex Subs – cases, crowns, tubes, crystals, sealing gaskets and bezel assemblies. To achieve this prestigious guarantee, Tudor watches had to be built to the same standards as their coroneted cousins.
#Tudor serial numbers full#
Hans Wilsdorf bestowed upon Tudor watches three key elements – the automatic movement (which he had pioneered), the Oyster case and the full Rolex guarantee. “Why Tudors?” is both a good question and one that is impossible to answer definitively. The purpose of this installment of the story is to explore other military forces that opted to issue their troops with Tudor Submariners. The Marine Nationale issued watches are the most well known of Tudor MilSubs but, beyond this, it is also important to consider the significant amount of research, development and consultation that occurred between the French Navy and Montres Tudor SA. In Part I of this epic story we focused on the French National Navy’s pivotal role in the development of the Tudor Submariner.
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