Tudor Aeronaut GMT hand swap

[mr dw]

I am looking to purchase a GMT watch. I am deciding between the polar explorer II 42mm and the Tudor Aeronaut GMT. I like the tudor more, except for the hands. I would like to swap them out for the rolex hands. Do you know if this is possible? The tudor has an ETA 2892 movement with GMT add on module.

[RonSwanson]

Eta hands are not compatible with Rolex hands. Rolex hands are unique to Rolex. An independent might be able to broach the hands to fit, but that's become uncommon.

[vukotab]

I had an Explorer II and Tudor Hydronaut II (same case as Aeronaut, broad lugs etc...)
First - yeah, hands are not interchangeable, so there is no way to do such mod in a proper, non-prohibited way.
Second - why even consider doing such a thing? If you like Aeronaut - than why changing anything about it?
For me, personally, five digit Explorer would be a way to go. The built quality is at the same level (Tudor is also as bulletproof as Rolex), but Explorer II wins by high margin in the terms of functionality (GMT hand is simply adjusted via crown, not by pushers, which leads us to MUCH cleaner and more balanced case design and definitely more user-friendliness all around.)
Also is worth mentioning that, while Explorer II's 40mm wears on the larger side (and newer 42mm Explorer II IS pretty large watch), Tudor Aeronaut is very large 41mm, with broad lugs that makes it wear even larger. Not a problem for larger wrists, but could be for smaller ones.
In the end - do what you want to do, both watches are simply wonderful and there is no wrong choice between these two. Just skip the modifications and enjoy any watch you purchase!

[NKflyer]

There are a TON of aftermarket hands offered for eta movements. If you want to have a watchmaker install some mercedes hands and a big orange arrow gmt hand in the Tudor to mimic the Exp2, that is definitely an easily accomplished modification.

Although I will second the above poster that the Exp2 has superior gmt functionality. Being able to leave the gmt hand set to my home time and quickly adjusting the hour hand to local time without even stopping the second hand is a huge plus if you travel alot.

[mr dw]

thanks for the input guys. I decided to go with the Aeronaut GMT. I will keep the OE hands at least for a while. I think by swapping hands, I run the risk of making the look "worse" instead of "better" The original watch designer probably has more design experience than I do. =)

[toxicavenger]

They sell aftermarket Rolex style hands for ETA movements.

[bdex75]

As stated Rolex hands will not fit on the eta movement. But there are any number of high quality hand sets available for the eta movements. What's he worst thing that happens, you change them and don't like it, so you change it back?? Or you can always find a set of old Tudor sub hands.



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