First Tudor- 1980s Prince Oysterdate 75100

[Manlodan]

Hello! I recently bought this Tudor Prince Oysterdate, and I’m hoping some members may be able to tell me more about it. Here’s my rundown:

-Ref. 75100
-Serial 105884
~34mm diameter, 19mm lugs, ~10mm thick.
-Box Sapphire Crystal. The chips on the edge of the crystal are consistent with wear on the case and bezel, but I have no idea if it’s original or not. The AR coating is incredible though!
-Champagne dial with white gold bezel
-Possibly made in 1985/86, not sure though.

I don’t have a tool to get inside the case yet, but as I understand, it should be an ETA 2824-2. What I can say is that it is 28800vph auto, hacking and hand-winding, with a semi-quickset date and an instant date change at 11:58pm. The date wheel has a unique texture to it, almost like horizontally brushed linen. The font of the numerals also seems to match the Tudor font, with the long serifs.
It’s currently running about -12secs/day, but I have no service history on it.

Here’s some pictures from the listing, and some I took of the inside of the lugs and on wrist:

https://imgur.com/a/KHBSrPX

My main question is: what is the purity of the gold in the bezel? Some people say 14k, some say 18k, but I haven’t seen any certainty about that, especially in regards to the white gold models.

As or the white gold, it seems to be somewhat rare for this series. Is this true? In scouring the internet, I could only find 5 examples sold in the last few years. All of their references were 751xx and all had unplated bracelets and crowns using 597 endlinks. All but one came from Asia as well: Singapore, China, Japan, and Malaysia (I bought this one in Japan also).This is a huge bonus for me, as I plan to wear mine regularly and I would hate to rub the plating off, but it also seems to be unusual, as every other two-tone reference I have seen had gold center links and crowns. Does anyone know why this might be the case?

Overall, I think the watch is honest and a well worn, but the quality is leagues above anything I’ve handled before. Compared to my Seiko SNKK11, it’s almost like looking at an image in 720p resolution vs 4k ultra: everything is sharper, more detailed, cohesive, vibrant. That’s not to say I’m going to stop wearing the 5 anytime soon ;)

I’m pretty confident in its general authenticity, but I’m certainly no Tudor expert, and any info you can give me about it is much appreciated. A catalogue photo would be incredible

Thanks in advance!

[alwayshere]

Good to hear you got your first Tudor after reading your other thread!

Looking at those pictures though, it looks more like yellow / rose gold bezel. The tudor were generally a step down from the rolex counterparts so 14K is probably more likely. I wouldnt think too much about it - the watch looks good. Wear it well and i'm sure you'll be on your next purchase soon enough.

[Manlodan]

Originally Posted by alwayshere

Good to hear you got your first Tudor after reading your other thread!

Looking at those pictures though, it looks more like yellow / rose gold bezel. The tudor were generally a step down from the rolex counterparts so 14K is probably more likely. I wouldnt think too much about it - the watch looks good. Wear it well and i'm sure you'll be on your next purchase soon enough.

Thanks! I was a little hesitant to post, since I ended up buying a different ref than I was asking about, and I didn’t want you guys to think I was ignoring your advice.. silly, I know. But I tried to keep an open mind to comparable models, and this one really grabbed me when I saw it, and still does.

As for the gold,I would honestly prefer a lower purity for a daily watch, to mitigate the inevitable knocking around it will likely experience.

I think the pictures don’t quite do the color justice. I have a 14k and 18k yellow gold watch, and the gold on this one is waaay whiter than those. I think if you saw it in person, it would be pretty obvious it’s white gold. Perhaps I’ll take a picture of it with my 14k Credor when I get home, so you can more easily see the difference.

I don’t want to hear any talk about next purchases though! I’m getting married this coming year and I don’t need that weighing on me more likely, I’ll save up to get it serviced, maybe lightly polished, then grab a Tudor buckle and try some nice straps. I can’t decide what color/material goes with the gold bezel and champagne dial.. thoughts?

[alwayshere]

Looking at those pics again you are right. It does appear to be white gold.

I wouldn’t worry about going with something different than what others tell you here. Your money, your choice.

Black is always safe. I have see Light gray work as well. There is a chance that bracelet is later than the watch - maybe.

[TuRo]

Nice Mid 80s piece, everything looks correct incl swiss dial, and handset, date wheel, crown, soft edged plexi.

The M1 bracelet clasp is 1988 so perhaps fitted later or a bracelet swap.

Mind you, these sat unsold in dealer for years so could be it was supplied with watch .

Good solid piece.

White 14k solid gold fluted bezel is not that uncommon (although the bi-colour - solid yellow gold bezel and plated bracelet, sold in more volume in 80s as it was a cheap statement piece).

Would have been with full Steel folded link jubilee bracelet (as your is) or on a oyster folded link 7835 Tudor bracelet probably.

[Manlodan]

Originally Posted by alwayshere

Looking at those pics again you are right. It does appear to be white gold.

I wouldn’t worry about going with something different than what others tell you here. Your money, your choice.

Black is always safe. I have see Light gray work as well. There is a chance that bracelet is later than the watch - maybe.

Thank’s for the input! I am also leaning towards gray or tan. I’ll be sure to check out the recommended straps section.

I’m curious about the bracelet myself- it’s definitely well worn, but there is near zero stretch, which I thought is surprising given the wear on the case. I really don’t care about matching dates though, as long as the style isn’t anachronistic and it’s got the correct endlinks.

Side note, I love your profile photo- if I went for the 6694, the blue dial would have been my #1 choice. judging by their prices on Yahoo! Auctions, though, I’m not the only one who feels that way ;)

[Manlodan]

Originally Posted by TuRo

Nice Mid 80s piece, everything looks correct incl swiss dial, and handset, date wheel, crown, soft edged plexi.

The M1 bracelet clasp is 1988 so perhaps fitted later or a bracelet swap.

Mind you, these sat unsold in dealer for years so could be it was supplied with watch .

Good solid piece.

White 14k solid gold fluted bezel is not that uncommon (although the bi-colour - solid yellow gold bezel and plated bracelet, sold in more volume in 80s as it was a cheap statement piece).

Would have been with full Steel folded link jubilee bracelet (as your is) or on a oyster folded link 7835 Tudor bracelet probably.

Thanks! Didn’t realize it was plexi though. I thought it was sapphire because it’s 100% scratch free on the face, with some chips on the edge.. Now that you say it though, i see it must be. If so, someone really went to town with some Polywatch. It’s not visibly wavy, though, so it’s fine by me

You mention that the bracelet could have been added later.. does that mean the watches were only shipped as heads, and then specced by the dealer/customer? Or that someone may have ordered a bracelet to match it?

[TuRo]

Mid 34mm Oysters and mid and full size subs arrived at dealer with a bracelet fitted already. Some customers asked for a change and could be accommodated by dealer that usually had a drawer of various bracelets...they were only about £40-50 back then. I'd not overthink/worry about it, and just enjoy the watch.