Last Updated on August 17, 2024 by Jason
No introduction to Tudor watches would be complete without mentioning Rolex. The Swiss brand Rolex SA is a Geneva-based luxury watch brand, which was founded in 1905 as Wilsdorf and Davis by German businessman Hans Wilsdorf and his brother-in-law Alfred Davis in London. The company registered Rolex as the brand name of its watches in 1908 and became Rolex Watch Co. Ltd. in 1915. Wilsdorf was an astute businessman and he reserved the Rolex name and brand for his finest and most expensive watches. However, he was aware that there was an opportunity in the market for good quality watches at lower prices. As a result, he registered many other brand names which were used on watches that tackled the mid-range market.
These “mid-range” watches were from suppliers that mass-produced ébauches. Because of their scale of production, these movements were cheaper than those used by the Rolex brand, but could still be supplied in good quality, with Swiss lever escapements and 15 or more jewels.
According to Mikrolisk, the first of Wilsdorf’s other brands were registered in November 1907. The names were Lusitania, Mauretania and The Eastern Watch. Each of these names had an association with the Cunard Line. Unfortunately, the Lusitania was the name of the ship that was infamously sunk by a German U-boat on the 7th of May 1915. Other brands listed on Mikrolisk, of which there were many, include Admiralty, Irex, Omigra, Rolco, Snowite, Viceroy, Zetex, Wintex, Marconi, Unicorn and Tudor. It is worth noting that Wilsdorf saw these as standalone brands, rather than “models” of Rolex. The public impression proved to be different.
Initially, Wilsdorf allowed these “mid-range” brands to be associated with the Rolex name. Trade marks such as the Rolex Watch Company, RWC Ltd. or even Rolex itself, were often used somewhere on these supposedly lesser brands. This was to give people the vague idea that they were effectively getting a Rolex watch but at a cheaper price. However, this backfired, because it affected sales of the higher-priced Rolex watches. The buying public believed they were getting a real Rolex watch just because the name appeared as a secondary logo. As a result, around the end of World War Two. all the other brand names except for Tudor were dropped. Ultimately, Tudor was floated as a separate company.
Veuve de Philippe Huether
The trade mark, “The Tudor” was registered on March 9th, 1926, in Colombier, Neuchâtel, Switzerland by the watchmaking firm, Veuve de Philippe Huether on behalf of Hans Wilsdorf. Specifically, the Tudor name was registered for watches and watch parts. There is no clear reason why Rolex didn’t register the name. However, Veuve de Philippe Hueter must have signed an exclusive license agreement with Rolex. This gave Veuve de Philippe Hueter the exclusive rights to handle Tudor watches on behalf of Rolex. It is believed, that the name “Tudor” was chosen to evoke the spirit of England’s Tudor period, a time known for its exploration and cultural renaissance. The idea behind the brand was to create a more affordable line of watches without compromising on quality.
Phillippe Hüther (1868-1925) established a watch-making company in Colombier in Neuchâtel Switzerland around 1917. Hüther was involved with Rolex, either as a supplier of components or he worked for Wilsdorf in some capacity as a watchmaker. On his death in 1925 his wife, Lina, took over the company renaming it Veuve de Philippe Huether (which translates as “Widow of Philippe Hüther”).
Veuve de Philippe Huether continued to work with Rolex. In 1947 Veuve de Philippe Huether was restructured into a Societé Anonyme, Hüther SA (Huther SA). Around 1950, Huther SA relocated their manufacturing base to Solothurn near Biel, Switzerland. Hüther SA made watches under several different trademarks including Brunela (registered in 1953), Cloquet (registered in 1955), Hermia, (registered in 1956) Mortima, (registered in 1954), Puncto and Puncto-Matic (registered in 1955). Hüther SA seems to have survived the cull of Swiss watch manufacturers in the late 1970s and 1980s and is still registered as a watch manufacturer in Solothurn.
The Tudor brand
It is not clear when the first Tudor watches were made. Although the brand was registered in 1926, there are few, if any examples, dating from the 1920s. Most sources suggest that the main market for Tudor, prior to World War Two, was Australia. The first Tudor watches were imported to Australia in 1932. The Australian distributor was the jewellery firm Willis & Sons, importers, wholesalers and manufacturers of jewellery since 1858. The foray into the Australian market may have been an experiment, but it was successful. On 15 October 1936, the Veuve de Philippe Hüther transferred the brand “The TUDOR” to Hans Wilsdorf. It was around this time that the Tudor shield and rose was adopted as the logo for Tudor.
1946 marked the year Tudor became a brand in its own right. On March 6th, 1946 the company Montres Tudor SA was formed. This meant that legally, Tudor SA was a separate entity, but retained the reassuring backing of Rolex’s technical and design knowledge, along with an established distribution network and after-sales service. This connection allowed Tudor to offer a new collection of watches appealing to a different market segment, but with the reassurance of the Rolex name. Tudor was able to pair Rolex cases with third-party movements. These watches were often assembled using the same facilities as those used by Rolex.
The Tudor Oyster was launched in 1947. Interestingly, the ‘Oyster’ name was first seen on Rolex models in the late 1920s, alluding to the water resistance of the watches. The practice of sharing brand names between the two companies would also see Tudor ‘Submariner’ models released in due course. In 1948, the first advertisements dedicated to Tudor were launched. These included a clear reference to the brand’s association with Rolex. In 1952, Tudor introduced their first automatic model, the Oyster Prince, which combined water resistance with a self-winding mechanism.
In 1954, the Tudor Oyster Prince Submariner was launched. It was a sturdy, reliable and waterproof watch that could reach a depth of 100 meters due to its Oyster case and screw-down crown. The Rolex Submariner model had only gone into production the year before, 1953 and was showcased at the Basel Watch Fair in 1954. The Tudor version was almost identical, but less expensive than the Rolex version, but just as waterproof. As a result, many of the world’s navies began ordering Tudors for their divers. Most significantly, the U.S. Navy and the Marine Nationale (the French Navy) found the Tudor Submariner to be ideal for their underwater manoeuvres.
In 1957, Tudor, introduced its first alarm watch. The model was called the Advisor, it would remain in production for the next 30 years, providing a subtle reminder of important times to its wearer. Also in 1957, Tudor introduced the Oysterthin, an unassuming model with a manual wind calibre that just happened to be squeezed into the thinnest Oyster case ever produced.
In the late 1960s, Tudor introduced the now iconic snowflake hands. Originally appearing on the Submariner models designed for the French Navy, the origin of the ‘Snowflake’ hands weren’t merely an aesthetic choice. Functionality was at the core of the design. The distinctive square shapes on the hour hand and the hour markers provided enhanced legibility under the challenging low-light conditions experienced by deep sea divers. Over time, these unique hands became a defining visual hallmark for the brand.
In 1970, Tudor released its first chronograph, the Oysterdate, with a manually wound Valjoux mechanical calibre 7734 and a chronograph complication. The second series, introduced in 1971, was nicknamed “Montecarlo” because its dial resembled a roulette wheel. Tudor as a brand continued to trade, but drifted from the public eye. It was somewhat overshadowed by its larger sibling Rolex and remained an outlier for the general watch buyer.
The neglect continued for almost two decades starting in the 1990s. Tudor was forgotten and largely ignored by the watch-buying public. For most of that period, Tudor did not have a presence in the USA. In 2009, Tudor instigated a major brand relaunch with new product lines based on some of their heritage models from the 1970s. These included the Tudor Grantour Chronograph and the Heritage Chrono, inspired by the Tudor “Montecarlo” from the 1970s. 2011 saw further releases, notably the Tudor Heritage Advisor alarm watch, the Fastrider Chronograph, and the Clair de Rose collection for women. In 2012, the focus was on diver watches, with the Heritage Black Bay, a reinterpretation of early Tudor Submariner models, and the Pelagos diver watch. As a result of these efforts, Tudor is firmly re-established in the global luxury watch market.
The history of the Tudor logo
The first Tudor watches, which were manufactured in the 1930s, featured the trade mark “Tudor” on the watch dial. These Tudor watches had a simple TUDOR signature on the dial, with the horizontal bar of the T being longer than the other letters. The Rolex name also appears on rare Tudor pieces from this period.
According to most sources, Rolex formally took over ownership of the Tudor brand in 1936. During the same period, the iconic Tudor rose logo was introduced along with Gothic font for the actual text. The logo consisted of the Tudor shield and rose, representing strength and grace. This design was to be prominent on the Tudor watch dial for the next decade.
In 1947, one year after the official launch of Tudor Montres SA, the shield was removed and the rose appeared alone along with the brand name. The logo changed again in 1969 when only the shield was used. The shield logo remains on all Tudor watches to this day, while the Tudor rose is now used on the winding crowns.
Related content
Veuve de Philippe Huether at Watch-Wiki. (Translated)
Mikrolisk, The horological trade mark index.