Incoming vintage Tudor prince - next little project

[Carlton-Browne]

I've had a hankering for something slightly blingy since early summer; during a visit to the Apple Store in Covent Garden I noticed what I could have sworn was the duo from one of the Patek ads. Wealthy middle-aged father with son in his late teens; both looking very smug in a very mittel-European sense. The son was wearing a highly polished Rolex with an oyster case - could have been either a 34mm or even a 31mm case but it looked absolutely fantastic. I'm not likely to have the money for a new Datejust any time soon so I've had a little project at the back of my mind since then and when the right Tudor Oysterdate came up on Ebay I jumped at it. It was a fairly easy sale and it's an honest little watch; definitely worth the modest outlay.

I popped into Rolex St James' and, though they say that the Lost and Found register no longer exists, they will normally agree to put the serial number into their system to see if anything comes up; they've told me in the past that they get some kind of pop-up if the number cross-checks to a stolen watch. It turns out that this watch had been dropped in to them for a service 10 years ago but was refused; probably on account of age.

It's the one on the right



It's the dial that does it for me; a nicely textured linen finish.










Anyway I've decided that I'm going to get myself some polished centre links on the Tudor bracelet and Paul (Gingerboy) is going to do them for me together with a refinish of the case and a light refurb on the Rolex bracelet that I have it on at the minute. I'm hoping that the shimmer on the silver-grey linen dial and the PCLs will achieve precisely what I'm after.

[AndyR]

Very nice indeed. The linen dial is a great detail and good to know decent things can still be found on Ebay.

I'd been thinking about trying to pick up something similar myself, simple yet with class and a little bit of bling. This came up on SC viewtopic.php?f=3&t=193919 and seemed to fit the bill rather well and was a somewhat cheaper than the Tudor equivilent.

Still have a hankering for a Tudor though (when funds allow), although i'll probably end up going for the other style on your wrist but with a blue dial.

Regards,

Andy

[heuerkane]

Like the snow flake very nice!

[carryondentist]

I am liking the Tudor equivalents of the Rolex models more and more. The linen dial looks great.

Here is my 'Big Rose' which has received more wrist time than my manual wind Precision:

[DavidL]

Can't beat these prince dates. Spotted a day date which was a bit different to.
Anyone know if its a date thing between the logos? Older ones seem to have the rose logo the newer ones the shield?

[TikTokTrev]

Here's my Oyster Prince. Non date linen dial.

[EdRonax]

The dial is just lovely, looks pretty good even before you get it spa'd.

[andyclient]

Anyone know if its a date thing between the logos? Older ones seem to have the rose logo the newer ones the shield?

There is a date thing between the logos the early ones had a small rose then later went to a large rose then up to present day is the sheild , can't remeber the time line off hand , i'll see if i can find it
cheers
Andy

[Ben Green]

Anyone know if its a date thing between the logos? Older ones seem to have the rose logo the newer ones the shield?

There is a date thing between the logos the early ones had a small rose then later went to a large rose then up to present day is the sheild , can't remeber the time line off hand , i'll see if i can find it
cheers
Andy

I always thought the rose logo made more sense for a Tudor than a shield, I wonder why they changed it.

[avinci1461]

Very nice dress-watch. Looks great! :thumbright:

[WatchScout]

Two nice watches, though I prefer the vintage one.

But in the first pic is the crown of the watch to the left rubbing against the case of the watch to the right!?? :shock: :shock: :shock:

WTF is wrong with you!!!!!!!!!!!!!













.





:lol:
:wink:

(Honestly, there should be a law)

[marcbe]

love the submariner !

I agree there is absolutely no excuse for watch rubbing, there should definately be laws against that ! Made me wince looking at that first picture.... but then maybe I'm just a sad muppet !

[Carlton-Browne]

Le Tudor Prince et arrive.














I'm rather pleased.

[Henrik Gelardi]

Looks beautiful - I'm not much into the Tudors, but this is quite a stunner...

[Seabadger]

I don't particularly like the bracelet but it's clearly well done and the watch itself is lovely.

[halfscrew]

It is a nice job that has added a little bit of sparkle to the piece. As that was the aim I would call the result a sucess. Hope it is all that you had intended.

[Zero Cool]

Great job on this Tudor. Submariner is magnificent.

[JimH]

Very nice Tudor, great refurb' but I would prefer the bracelet without polished centre links.

[Thewatchbloke]

That Tudor dial is sublime! Are the indicies actually set into the linen dial? It looks gorgeous.

And Pauls work is top notch - as usual.

Congratulations! :thumbup:

[dickbrowne]

Is that a rubbing mark on the right hand side? Come on chap, that should be a banning offence - off to the forum of the banned with you!

Actually, it is very nice, like some others I'm not entirely certain about the polished links, I think the beauty of a watch like this is its subtlety, but that's a personal preference thing and it's been incredibly well executed - any chance of a wristie? (as it were :))

[Seabadger]

Are the indicies actually set into the linen dial? It looks gorgeous.

They're applied to it.

[Thewatchbloke]

Are the indicies actually set into the linen dial? It looks gorgeous.

They're applied to it.

I thought they must be, but on the last dial photo it looks like they are actually frenched into the dial. Optical illusion I suppose - still gorgeous though! :)

[Carlton-Browne]

When embarking on this little project I understood that it wouldn't be to everybody's taste however it was an easy thing to do (and easy also to revert) and something that I wanted. I also have a Rolex oyster bracelet that Gingerboy has also refurbished for me so I can always put the watch on what I suspect is actually the correct bracelet. I've also got ideas about a grey suede strap but that's for another day. Anyway, here's a wrist shot.

[dickbrowne]

Pretty wrist :)

[mborkow]

Classic

[herusix]

Lovely refurbishment that,normally I would agree that the polished centres are not great but on that I think they look just right.
Excellent work by Gingerboy.

[miguel alvarez]

That is a lovely watch and I'm in the minority. I like the centre links. But my tastes are not the best :lol:

[MORRI]

Le Tudor Prince et arrive.

I'm rather pleased.

Le Tudor Prince est arrivé, but let's not split hairs, l'essentiel, c'est qu'il est beau! :wink:

Lovely dial, interesting idea to polish the centre links to give the piece a lift. I like the idea of grey suede too...

[learningtofly]

Genius - what a superb idea!

[JackW]

I'm not sure about the polished links, but the style is certainly well executed. I love those vintage Tudors. Re: the evolution from rose to shield logo on the dial: as I understand it, the shield was gradually introduced between 1967 and 1970. Your oyster case seems to be similar to my 7995 ref, which existed with both shield and rose logo.

Anyway: nice watch! His nephew says hi:

[Optimum]

I would normally shy away from PCLs but I think the watch is so subtle and classy that you've pulled it off. Well done, sir! :thumbright:

[djkennedy67]

I would agree. Polished links are not my thing, but they have added something to that watch>