1993 Tudor Prince Oysterdate Submariner 40mm Tritium 79090
Ref: 79090
Specification
Lugs : 20mm
Condition : Pre-Owned
Box & Papers : None
Case Material : Stainless Steel
Warranty : 12-Months NON-Waterproof Warranty
Points of Mention
This watch is sold “Watch Only” and therefore comes without its Tudor box or papers. The watch comes with its original 20mm Tudor Oyster stainless steel bracelet with a signed Tudor folding clasp and will fit up to a 7.2-inch wrist. The watch is from Circa. 1993 and is in worn condition, but very fair condition for its age, as you can see from the photographs. The watch comes with our 12-Months NON-Waterproof Warranty.
For more photos see here - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1pxZbqKX3Ia4QV1m2VpuOS_g4JbUiCQ3l?usp=drive_link
4K YouTube video, skip to 6:19 - https://youtu.be/n7uax6skZLA
The Watch
Here we have a 1993 Tudor Prince Oysterdate Submariner 79090, with a Rolex-made Oyster case with an ETA movement differentiating it from their Rolex model, highlighting the close relationship between Rolex and Tudor at that time, the Tudor Submariner Ref: 7922 ‘Big Crown’ model was used by the French Navy in 1956. A curvy 40mm stainless steel Rolex Oyster case, curved over your wrist with tapered drilled lugs, a lug-to-lug length of 47mm and a case thickness of 12mm ensures a comfortable fit on your wrist. On the right side, a Rolex screw-down crown is protected by crown guards. The unidirectional bezel has deep knurling for grip and a black anodised aluminium dive insert with a Tritium lume pip at 12 o’clock holding a domed hesalite crystal above a black dial. An outer minute track is precisely executed with disc and baton indexes coated in even patinated Tritium marking the hours, at 3 o’clock a date window with a cyclops magnification, iconic Mercedes hands are filled with Tritium complemented by a lollipop counterweighted sweeping second hand. At 12 o’clock we have the Tudor motif with “Prince OysterDate” underneath, at 6 o’clock “200m/600ft Submariner” and on the bottom edge “T - Swiss - T” completes this sporty vintage dive watch. On the reverse, a screw-down coin-edged Rolex case back with “Original Oyster case by Rolex”, inside an automatic ETA Cal. 2824-2, 25 jewels, beating at 28,800 beats per hour, the movement has been in production since 1982 and has a bidirectional rotor, hand winding and hacking seconds for your convenience. The watch comes with an original 20mm Tudor Oyster stainless steel bracelet with a signed Tudor folding clasp and will fit up to a 7.2-inch wrist.
Personal Note
I have been fortunate enough to have sold a few Tudor Submariner 79090 and each time I get one in stock I really do prefer it on the wrist to the equivalent Submariner, I think it may be the fact that this 1993 model features its original tritium dial and hands and yet looks like it could easily be 20 years older than it is whilst having the perfect case and bracelet! I would not hesitate to add this gem to your collection, still arguably underrated and undervalued in the market today!
The Brand
The Tudor trademark was first registered in 1926 by the Swiss watchmaking company “Veuve de Philippe Hüther” on behalf of Hans Wilsdorf, the founder of Rolex watches. Wilsdorf took it over himself in 1936. Just after the Second World War, Hans Wilsdorf, Founder of Rolex knew that the time had come to expand and give the Tudor brand a proper identity of its own. The Tudor Rose started to appear on their dials from this time. Thus, on 6 March 1946, he created the “Montres TUDOR S.A.” company, specialising in models for both men and women. Rolex guarantees the technical, aesthetic and functional characteristics, along with the distribution and after-sales service. In 1948 we saw the first Tudor-specific advertising. A few years later they introduced the TUDOR Oyster Prince in 1952. Hans Wilsdorf allowed Tudor to use their waterproof Oyster case and the original self-winding Perpetual ’rotor’ movement. This was an exclusive arrangement that benefitted both brands. Development soon commenced with the introduction of the TUDOR Oyster Prince Submariner, reference 7922 in 1954. This watch was quickly adopted by the French Navy in 1956. Building on their reputation of robustness in 1961 the Rose was replaced by the shield. Later in 1969, we saw the design changes in Ref. 7016 where for the first time square indexes and angular hands nicknamed “Snowflake” allowed for a greater amount of lume to be applied; this was appreciated by the divers of the French Navy. Today these innovations can be seen in the Black Bay and Pelagos collections. In 1971 Tudor introduced the Oysterdate chronographs nicknamed “Monte-Carlo” due to it resembling a roulette wheel, celebrating their 50th anniversary in 1996. In that same year, Tudor decided to shed Rolex-signed components such as the cases, crowns and bracelets in favour of Tudor-branded ones. Today Tudor uses their in-house movements developed initially in 2015 in collaboration with Breitling.