Rolex vs Tudor

[replicator]

I don’t own any Tudor yet but that Blue Pelagos is fine and would be a nice daily watch. I think for most here has nothing to do with affordability.

One of the wealthiest guys I know wears a Casio.


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[James444]

Originally Posted by Stevec14

Lovely watch!


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Tks

[padi56]

Originally Posted by Rashid.bk

This thread is only worth it because you guys got Padi riled up and has decided to drop science.
I have to admit, I just learned a whole mess of stuff.
Thanks Peter, for taking the time to share this with us.

Not riled up but it saddens me today to see how the forum has gone over the past few years no one is interested the history of the RWC in general.Today its mainly if I bought this or that will it go up in value.Instead of buying and owning the watch they want to own and wear now its all about £££££$$$$.Or is it safe to wear doing this or going to another country.Rolex alignment points,getting phone apps then worrying about 1-3 difference seconds out of 86400 plus all of the other many Rolex syndromes with today's Rolex wearer.Lupe madness whooping about the tiniest font change then declaring things like only the MK1 dial is the true AV model today its endless or madness.

[Etschell]

Originally Posted by padi56

Not riled up but it saddens me today to see how the forum has gone over the past few years no one is interested the history of the RWC in general.Today its mainly if I bought this or that will it go up in value.Instead of buying and owning the watch they want to own and wear now its all about £££££$$$$.Or is it safe to wear doing this or going to another country.Rolex alignment points,getting phone apps then worrying about 1-3 difference seconds out of 86400 plus all of the other many Rolex syndromes with today's Rolex wearer.Lupe madness whooping about the tiniest font change then declaring things like only the MK1 dial is the true AV model today its endless or madness.

well some of us still exist

[Chope Man]

I totally agree with what has just been said.

At 58 (soon 59), I'have been lucky to wear Rolex watches (including a Tudor) for now 40 years.

The mentality has changed, indeed. And not for good. Fortunately there are still lovers of beautiful mechanical Swiss timepieces who appreciate those for what they are.

This lets me think that it is time for me to present myself to this community... Will do it during the week-end.

[landroverking]

Tudor is the cool little brother or hot sister to Rolex.
And yes Tudor posts belong here.

[landroverking]

Originally Posted by Bobby T

I'm with you........Tudor should have a separate area to post even if they are a relative of Rolex.

With that logic we should never discuss any Rolex that doesn’t have an in house movement and there are many.

[nick c]

Both, Tudor and Rolex, are so Beautiful.


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[FTX I]

Originally Posted by nick c

Both, Tudor and Rolex, are so Beautiful.


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Yes they are. Beautiful pair my friend.

[nick c]

Originally Posted by FTX I

Yes they are. Beautiful pair my friend.

Spasiba my friend

[Gospodin]

Problem is, many here would look at the fine Tudor on their wrist, and declare it a Turdor because it is not a Rolex. They would furthermore feel like failures for not buying the "real thing".

[Chope Man]

Just like, years ago, buying a Bentley was not buying a Rolls Royce...

There will always be connoisseurs, fortunately. Besides, we cannot educate everyone and have to live our life mostly for ourselves, our family and true friends and ignore those with only trademarks as a reference.

[jaySL350]

Originally Posted by Craigdwh

Tudor = WIS
Rolex = every Tom, Dick and Harry

And this




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A gorgeous piece the blue,,
this also,,



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[AJMarcus]

Seriously...it’s price and value. Always has been.

[tudorbaja27]

Originally Posted by Gospodin

Problem is, many here would look at the fine Tudor on their wrist, and declare it a Turdor because it is not a Rolex. They would furthermore feel like failures for not buying the "real thing".

I very proudly wear my Tudor and do not feel like a failure, quite the contrary. So, without further ado, you have no idea what you're talking about.

[jaySL350]

Originally Posted by tudorbaja27

I very proudly wear my Tudor and do not feel like a failure, quite the contrary. So, without further ado, you have no idea what you're talking about.

Nail on head TB
A very silly thing to state,,

[Rashid.bk]

Originally Posted by padi56

Not riled up but it saddens me today to see how the forum has gone over the past few years no one is interested the history of the RWC in general.Today its mainly if I bought this or that will it go up in value.Instead of buying and owning the watch they want to own and wear now its all about £££££$$$$.Or is it safe to wear doing this or going to another country.Rolex alignment points,getting phone apps then worrying about 1-3 difference seconds out of 86400 plus all of the other many Rolex syndromes with today's Rolex wearer.Lupe madness whooping about the tiniest font change then declaring things like only the MK1 dial is the true AV model today its endless or madness.

I'm with you. Agree with every point.

[bmrisko]

I definitely felt like a failure when I wore one of my Rolexes into Bucherer to buy the Tudor Bronze blue edition.

[strafer_kid]

Some very interesting stuff on this thread. Must say, if I was only getting into watches today, I would seriously consider Tudor. Well designed, well constructed, great value for money......and no real drama about walking into a store and getting one.....maybe that's what it was like with Rolex way back in the day?

[tudorbaja27]

Originally Posted by bmrisko

I definitely felt like a failure when I wore one of my Rolexes into Bucherer to buy the Tudor Bronze blue edition.

[Gospodin]

Originally Posted by tudorbaja27

I very proudly wear my Tudor and do not feel like a failure, quite the contrary. So, without further ado, you have no idea what you're talking about.

Enjoy your Tudor and wear it proudly, is all I can say.

[tudorbaja27]

Originally Posted by Gospodin

Enjoy your Tudor and wear it proudly, is all I can say.

Thank you for your permission, I feel much better now

[hbombkid]

I would say 10 years ago I would have said yep Tudor can’t afford a real Rolex.

After getting into watches I appreciate Tudor a little more.

If I could find one at MSRP I would definitely buy the Bucherer. It has a great color combo and can only hope they start to sell them in the states.

[SAAS]

The primary difference is that Rolex are overpriced Tudors

#borntofail

[Justinmg]

Originally Posted by watchmavan

Because Rolex ruined their sports models with the Maxi-case. Except for the Explorer. So I have an Explorer but Rolex still can't match the new . They also don't have a movement better than what is in it.



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Agree

[Jakx]

Originally Posted by padi56

Afraid Adam although we do try to educate them some will never listen to facts.During the Rolex/Tudor early period many different types of watches were made, and Rolex did not have complete control over their movement factory, they were only a minority shareholder. The full name of the company tells the story "Aegler, Société Anonyme,Horologies D Excellence Fabrique des Montres Rolex & Gruen Guild A.," this means, in translation, Aegler incorporated, manufacturer of Rolex & Gruen Guild A Watches. At this time ownership of the factory was split between three parties, Herman Aegler (movements), (Hans Wilsdorf of Rolex) and the Gruen brothers, Frederick Gruen and George Gruen.Now Aegler manufactured movements for both companies, who then sold the completed watches in their respective territories; Wilsdorf of Rolex sold Rolex &Tudor throughout Europe, Asia and the British Empire; whilst the Gruen brothers sold in the US only. This arrangement worked well until Rolex acquired the patent for the the Oyster case and twinlock screw down crown; now they had something new and special which they wished to sell all over the world, not just in their limited territory. However the three way partnership prohibited Rolex from selling their products with Aegler movement in the Gruen brothers' territory (and vice-versa). So Hans of Rolex being a very clever and shrewd man, took a sideways move and fitted their new Oyster cases with a movement from FHF (Fontmelon)factory just down the road from Gruen and then tried to find a US distributor. They came across the firm of Abercrombie and Fitch,this was then a store specialising in sportsman's' equipment; whether you wanted to go elephant shooting in Africa, fishing for salmon or trout in Scotland, Abercrombie and Fitch was the place you went for all your equipment.

Everything from fishing rods to double barrelled shotguns could be found under their roof. As the sportsman's store they seemed the ideal place to sell the first oyster watches, which were already building a reputation as the sportsman's watch. It may have seemed the ideal place but it did not work out that way, firstly because Rolex sold the cheaper down-market version of their watches in a high end store, and also because Abercrombie & Fitch did not advertise the watch sufficiently. These Abercrombie & Fitch watches are probably the rarest of all the cushion oysters, in all my life I have only ever seen one; it was signed "Abercrombie and Fitch (Seafarer) on the dial and the case and movement were signed Oyster Watch Company.The case was quite badly pitted because then they were made from a base metal, a chromed zinc material that did not last very long,a bit like the relationship between Rolex and Abercrombie & Fitch.Now later they went on to become the USA distributor for The Swiss Heuer watches, probably more of a sportsman's watch to speak of, being mainly chronograph watches.

After a couple of years in the desert Rolex decided to give the US market another try. This was after they had been approached by Zell Brothers, a jewellery store chain in the Pacific North West of the USA, headquartered in Seattle. Zell had seen the great success with Tudor & Rolex in Canada, and in Vancouver in particular (Seattle and Vancouver are only about 150km apart). They asked to be made the exclusive importer for Rolex as they already were selling Tudor in the Pacific Northwest, and Rolex was eager to get a USA foot hold accepted their proposal. The strange thing is that, despite the Canadian success either Zell or Rolex decided not to use the famed now "Oyster" name but substituted the name Turtle Timer, (IMHO undoubtedly Zell) Once again these were non-Aegler (non-Rolex) movements, so as not to disturb the three way relationship with Gruen. Zell were much more successful than Abercrombie/Fitch had been, but can hardly be described as having made a major market breakthrough. I have seen around 5 or 6 pictures of these watches and because they were made when Rolex was using real stainless steel the cases looked to have lasted much better than the A&F ones ever did. But Zells had two major problems as far as Rolex were concerned; firstly they were a regional not national chain and their insistence on using their own Turtle Timer name and not Oyster meant that Rolex would never reap the benefit of any of the new oyster case success.Now in these early days of Rolex only about 1 in 5 had the name Rolex on the Dial,the rest were blank dials when they left the factory.But after the arrival of the oyster case most of the oyster cased ones did have the name Rolex on the dial,but still only a few companies were still allowed,to put there names on the dial like Goldsmiths,Asprey, Bucherer plus a few more.Tiffany were the final store retailers name to ever to be seen on a Rolex dial, and now any genuine Tiffany named Rolex can bring very high prices indeed with all the correct providence



Now most of these problems were solved when Rolex gained the right to enter the US market themselves when the Gruen brothers left the board of Aegler in mid 30s selling their shares to the two remaining parties; their place on the board of the company was taken by Emil Borer who really invented the oyster case,and who was Herman Aegler's brother in law, the technical director of Rolex, and much more significantly the man who supposedly invented the Perpetual movement for the company. But it was John Harwood from the Isle of Man UK he invented the first auto wrist watch and Rolex acquired the patent when he went bust.Now this new movement was the first one from Aegler (Rolex), that was not made available to Gruen, and so gave Rolex a unique advantage when they were able to take advantage of their new found ability to enter the US market; which they did just as the US entered WW11, around 1942.

And now the only current company for whom Rolex will "co-brand" a watch is COMEX; an acronym made up of the letters from the company's full name COmpagnie Maritime d'EXpertise. COMEX as everyone now knows are the world's leaders in the provision of diving services to exploration companies all over the globe. It was in November 1967 that A. Zilbach, a Rolex technician who had worked in close collaboration with COMEX received the Swiss patent number 492,246 for a helium escape valve,shared with Doxa to rush it though. This was the result of experiments carried out with early 5513 Submariners which had been fitted with prototypes of this escape valve.These watches were used by COMEX divers for over 2 years without any problems and so the decision was made to produce a standard watch with this feature; it was, of course, the SD. The largest bulk purchaser of these watches was and is COMEX; every diver who works for the company is issued with one and to prevent the watches from being "misplaced" Rolex print the name of the company on the dial of every watch. COMEX themselves also engrave the rear of the watch with their name and a unique serial number. These watches now have become incredibly collectible because they are the ONLY Rolex watch still being produced with another name on the dial.It is somewhat ironic that after almost 90 years of some different retailers' names on some Rolex dials. The only one left is a company who do did not ever sell watches,and that's Comex.

Thank you so much for sharing these insights. Hugely informative!

[tudorbaja27]

Originally Posted by hbombkid

I would say 10 years ago I would have said yep Tudor can’t afford a real Rolex.

After getting into watches I appreciate Tudor a little more.

If I could find one at MSRP I would definitely buy the Bucherer. It has a great color combo and can only hope they start to sell them in the states.

Agreed. Love the Bucherer as well. Point made - any person who is into watches (and not to show off) can appreciate a Tudor. And many other brands.

[nick c]

I really enjoy both, and also other brands as well.


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[Gospodin]

Sadly I am not rich enough to consider a Tudor.

[tudorbaja27]

Originally Posted by Gospodin

Sadly I am not rich enough to consider a Tudor.

Something tells me you'll be gone by tomorrow