A Tudor Journey

[linesiders]

I’ve been on a Tudor Journey for the past decade buying and selling Tudors, Tudor parts, Projects, and luck. One goal I expected that I would never realize was having every prominent style of Crown Guard ever produced on Vintage Tudor Subs.

If you call the No Crown guards a style, then that can be broken up into 7922 / 7923 Small Crowns, and Big Crowns defined shortly thereafter with 7922 Big Crown and then the 7924 series.

The French Navy needed a crown that would not get knocked around or not catch a line when diving so Rolex put the first crown “Guards” on the Subs, the intial version becoming what collectors call the Square Crown Guard. With 200 or so of all Square Crowns, combined Rolex 5512 & Tudor 7928, believed to originally produced - how many are left? For the Tudor version, reportedly most and some believe, all Square Crown Guards were delivered to the French Marine Nationale. It is written by collectors that the divers could not manipulate the watch crown in gloves and as time synchronizing is a critical element during a mission pre-brief for a team, requiring the next batch crown guards being shaved to the Pointed Crown Guard, specifically the Eagle Beak.

The crown guards continued to morph over time to the regular Pointed Crown Guard, then in 1964, the rounded. For a very brief blip in 1968 there is the 7016/0 SEMI Pointed Crown Guard, replaced later in 68*, with a gradual transition to another version of the rounded crown guard in 1968/69/70. This last traditional rounded crown guard would be a staple through the rest of the “Submariner” production of Plexi based subs.

But back to the topic at hand: I was able to get a Square Crown project last year and slowly bring it back to life, recently getting the movement serviced by Prem, and finished the watch yesterday. I will change out the crystal and insert when I find the ones I like. So here to present, a 305k serial, IV.59, Tudor 7928 Square Crown Guard:

So a very deep and sincere thank you for everyone's brain I have picked, written articles and posts I have read, and even the occasional spirited discussion on Vintage Tudor over the past decade.

* “68” is a story in its own right ; )

[theflywrist]

Beautiful watches and amazing post as always J!
Always overwhelmed by your knowledge and willingness to share it. Sincere thanks from another fellow Tudor lover! Looking forward to seeing more photos once the crystal is buffed/replaced. :)

[linesiders]

Thanks A !

Probably going to pull a crystal from another watch and save this one (service but how long was it there??) but i need the other crystal for the other watch ; )

And thanks for letting me learn form you and your amazing pieces - they all add up ; )

[996marty]

Fascinating read and lovely looking watch

[Dan S]

I really appreciate collectors who focus like you do, and accumulate so much detailed expertise. Thanks for taking the time to write this up and share some of your knowledge.

[zapokee]

Beautiful pieces - well done.

It's great that you use your expertise to give back to the community - you're very generous with your time and your knowledge of Tudors. The place wouldn't be the same without you.

[Dan Pierce]

Great historical info. Love this kind of research.
dP

[drockadam]

Great information! I love vintage Tudor Subs

[mineral]

OP is extremely helpful and asset to our forum for sure. He helped me too when I first dig myself into this Tudor vintage :). Thanks J ...


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[Filipão]

This is a balm to my Tudor heart. Thank you

[harry in montreal]

Very nice watch man. There was a square crown guard Tudor sub in Beverly Hills at a high end antique shop back in 2016. He wanted $18k for it at that time. The dial was pretty nice and had orig like. I remember playing around with it and it was indeed hard to unscrew the crown. I wonder who bought it

[linesiders]

Thanks guys ; ) I appreciate the kind words.

Originally Posted by harry in montreal

Very nice watch man. There was a square crown guard Tudor sub in Beverly Hills at a high end antique shop back in 2016. He wanted $18k for it at that time. The dial was pretty nice and had orig like. I remember playing around with it and it was indeed hard to unscrew the crown. I wonder who bought it

I wish I had known - I would have bought it then at 18k in a heartbeat. 8-9 years ago someone paid 15k for a bare case on Ebay.

[hugop]

Really amazing group of Tudors J!

The “58” square guard is a very special piece indeed. I am glad to see that one in your hands.

Congratulations, I can’t wait to see what you do for an encore.

[vintagetudor]

great piece and great info...thank you for sharing

[roh123]

Thanks for sharing!

[mountainjogger]

Great post. And a reminder of what this hobby can be if you are willing to put in the work.

[interestedwatcher]

Awesome to see Linesiders, what a stack that is!

[hugop]

Originally Posted by hugop

Really amazing group of Tudors J!

The “58” square guard is a very special piece indeed. I am glad to see that one in your hands.

Congratulations, I can’t wait to see what you do for an encore.

Correction, “59” square guards case.
( fat fingers, tiny keyboard )

[linesiders]

Thanks all ; )

Originally Posted by hugop

Correction, “59” square guards case.
( fat fingers, tiny keyboard )

Second time in the past few days Fat Fingering that - keep it up and you will become the tYp0 masTER like me, young Padawan - and thank you for your help in getting here

[arguscanis]

thick!

[mmmmp]

Great post and pix. Thanks for sharing!

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[Scaramanga74]

Congrats! Lovely piece :)

[dhknola]

Awesome post!

[linesiders]

Thank you all ~ Major collecting milestone.

[SAAS]

Congrats! Thanks for the share

[bharat]

Beautiful watch !

[Rebel]

Very good read. My 75090 is my daily wear!

[tylerj99]

Fantastic read! Amazing watches!
Cheers,
Tyler