Tudor Ads

Although Tudor may have had its start under Rolex, the brand has successfully evolved beyond its roots and created its own distinct identity in the market. Today, Tudor continues to design all-new models for people who enjoy a watch that’s unique, but still has both Rolex and Tudor DNA. For example, there’s the Pelagos FDX with its “MN” engraved caseback - a direct reminder of Tudor’s storied history with the French Marine Nationale. And the future icon Black Bay 58, which was inspired by numerous important features and attributes found on vintage Tudor Submariners.

Compared to vintage ads for Rolex watches, very-few Tudor advertisements exist between the 1950s and early 2000s, possibly due to the differences in advertising budget and/or the intended market. What has been found, collectively, doesn’t tell the full story of Tudor. Large chapters of its brand history (such as the Tudor “Monte Carlo” chronographs) are not captured in ads, making it difficult to understand Tudor’s life if you just relied on the magazine ads. However, the sporadic ads do convey key qualities of the Tudor brand. The “Armour” campaign and “Toughest. Strongest. Surest.” slogan emphasize the Rolex influence and show Tudor’s confidence in these watches and their performance in tough conditions.

Since the brand seemingly came back to life in 2012 when the 41mm Black Bay was released, Tudor advertisements have likewise been reinvigorated. Whereas older ads tend to randomly select models to feature, modern ads collectively highlight a broader representation from the brand - and in full color.

Unfortunately, I haven’t found any magazine advertisements showing the earliest Tudor Submariners, such as the 7924 and 7928 references. In addition to predominantly being printed in black-and-white, most vintage Tudor ads are smaller, fractional pages. Because of the limited number of Tudor ads created and published, any and all should be appreciated and highly-considered when it comes to collecting or pairing with a watch. To date, I’ve actually only come across six ads showing arguably the most popular Tudor model, the Submariner. I’ve seen a few from the 1980s and some from the 1990s - all featuring the reference 76100 “Lollipop” and reference 94110 “Snowflake” version. As is common with Rolex ads, these earlier models are featured in 1990s ads even though the references 79090 and 79190 with a “Mercedes” hour hand were in production by that time. I’ve never found a Tudor ad showing a Submariner with a “Mercedes” hour hand.

Modern Tudor watches have a fresh design language, yet still feel very-connected to their vintage predecessors, whereas modern Tudor advertisements have a look and feel all their own, especially ads featuring David Beckham and Lady Gaga. I will say, unlike their vintage ads, it’s nice that modern ads cover more models from their entire collection. For example, you can easily find more than one ad showing different dial colors if you want an ad to match your specific reference 79030 Black Bay 58 - or the silver case reference 79010.