1998 Tudor Prince Date 'Pre-Tiger' 40mm Black 79280

Here we have a rare classic 1998 Tudor Prince Date 'Pre-Tiger' Black 79280 released in 1995 as their fourth-generation chronograph. Tiger Woods, the famous golfer, signed a sponsorship deal with Tudor around 1998. Featuring a curvaceous 40mm polished stainless steel case that sits comfortably on your wrist, thanks to the thick tapered drilled lugs. Its curved flanks lead to a lug-to-lug length of 48mm and a case thickness of 13.5mm, giving the watch an impressive wrist presence. Down the right side, we have the screw-down chronograph pushers and a signed, deep-knurled screw-down crown in the centre. The wide polished steel fixed bezel features a deep engraved Tachymeter scale filled in black, supporting a sapphire crystal above a dynamic black dial. An outer minute track with lume pips is precisely executed, surrounding Tritium-painted Arabic numerals marking the hours, a date window with Cyclops magnification sits at 3 o’clock, the chronograph consists of three registers: a 30-minute, 12-hour and a running seconds, each slightly recessed with concentric circular pattern, white numerals and a white stick hand. Slender steel baton hands are filled with Tritium and complemented by a red tapered chronograph hand. At 3 o’clock, we have applied the Tudor motif ‘Prince Date’ printed underneath and arching around the 12-hour register ‘Automatic-Chrono Time’ completes this Pre-Tiger chronograph. On the reverse, a coin-edged screw-down solid case back features a personal engraving. Inside an automatic Valjoux Cal. 7750, 25 jewels, beating at 28,800 beats per hour, three-plane Cam, hand winding and hacking seconds. It comes paired with its brushed and polished full-sized 20mm Tudor stainless steel 3-link Oyster bracelet secured by a signed folding clasp. This rare watch is sold with its Tudor box, swing tag and papers.

This watch is sold with its Tudor box, swing tag and papers. The watch comes with its original full-sized 20mm Tudor Oyster stainless steel bracelet with a signed Tudor folding clasp. The watch is from February 1998 and is in worn condition, but overall it is in very fair condition for its age. The engraving on the case back can be removed on request, as you can see from the photographs. The watch comes with our 12-Months NON-Waterproof Warranty.

This is by far one of the best Tudor Chronographs I have had the privilege of stocking, and you can see why. This 1998 Tudor Prince Date 'Pre-Tiger', reference 79280, is from the very same year Tiger Woods signed a sponsorship deal with Tudor and the words 'Tiger' appear on the dial, plus some other subtle changes. This example in the perfect 40mm case features a deep black dial with the striking red chronograph seconds; the contrast is perfect. It also comes with its original bracelet, all links included and its original box and paperwork, clearly a prized and cherished possession that was well looked after. Add this to your collection today before you miss out!

Reference : 79280
Movement : Automatic Valjoux Cal. 7750
Age : February 1998
Year : 1998
Case Size : 40mm
Case Thickness : 13.5mm
Lug to Lug : 48mm
Lugs : 20mm
Condition : Pre-Owned
Box and Papers : Box & Papers
Case Material : Stainless Steel
Warranty : 12-Months NON-Waterproof Warranty
The wrist model's wrist size is 7inch

Swiss watchmaking company “Veuve de Philippe Hüther” on behalf of Hans Wilsdorf, the founder of Rolex watches, first registered in 1926 The Tudor trademark. Wilsdorf took it over himself in 1936. Soon after the Second World War, Hans Wilsdorf, who founded Rolex, knew that it was time for Tudor to have a proper identity of its own. The Tudor Rose started to appear on their dials from this moment. On 6 March 1946, he created the “Montres TUDOR S.A.” company, creating watches for both men and women. Rolex guaranteed the overall design aesthetic, as well as 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 their 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.