Welcome!
When you say Tudor, it's hard not to say Rolex. The two brands have been locked together since the very inception of Tudor. Hans Wilsdorf imagined the Tudor brand as a "light" version of Rolex. Similar charchteristics, such as the waterproof oyster case, but with cheaper non-rolex movements. And a lower price point.
Many have speculated as to why Tudor was created. Personally, I find it interesting that the Tudor brand was created at the same time as Rolex began to see great success. Perhaps the movement production capacity of Rolex was not infinite at the time, and the marketing genius that was Hans Wilsdorf decided that by running a second line of production, using movements from outside the Rolex factories they could still keep the momentum on the Oyster case sales, and at the same time, not dilute the Rolex brand ?
Tudor is a brand that has always fascinated me. Like most of the readers of this site, I too have been collecting Rolex for years, however, I have always been drawn to the Tudor brand. It's so very much a part of the Rolex DNA, but unlike Rolex and it's history, it's an almost blank page. Even on Tudor's website they tell you very little about themselves and their history. As Rolex's younger sibling, they have always taken second place to Rolex. But once you go into the details of Tudor - you will learn, that Tudor themselves have a very unique DNA, and some models are in some repects even more rare than their Rolex counterparts.
TUDOR Chronograph. Reference 7969. Blue "Monte Carlo" dial. Early 1970's. Rare.
Researching Tudor watches has been very rewarding. I now know, how the first serious Rolex collectors who started in the 1980's felt. So many blanks, so much new information. Please dear reader, understand that this site is not gospel. This is our very best attempt at collecting information from around the world. Most of the Tudor watch references discussed in this book are over 25 years old, and some are even over 50 years old. The information from Rolex/Tudor is sketchy at best, so many of the dial variations and case variations are based on watches seen in real life - and out there somewhere some collector may sit with a piece of the puzzle we were not even looking for.
I hope you enjoy the site as much as I enjoyed creating it!
Sincerely,
Morgan
