2016 Tudor Black Bay Black 41mm ETA 'Smiley' 79220N

The Tudor Black Bay was launched in 2012, this Tudor 79220N was launched in 2015, and at Baselworld in 2016, Tudor discontinued the 79220 references with ETA movements and replaced them with an in-house 79230 reference. Therefore, this is one of the last 79220N models produced. Here we have a 2016 Tudor Black Bay Black 41mm ETA 'Smiley' 79220N with a 41mm brushed and polished stainless steel case. Inspired by their Ref. 7922. The case curves over your wrist with a lug-to-lug length of 50mm and a thickness of 12mm, giving the watch an impressive wrist presence. Polished edges and brushed surfaces transition with crisp lines. On the right side is a signed screw-down crown with a black tube ring. The unidirectional stainless steel bezel has a red triangle at 12 o’clock and a black aluminium insert with a silver 60-minute scale protecting a domed crystal. A matte black dial features a gilt outer minute track and gilt-edged disc and baton indexes to mark the hours. The characteristic gilt-framed snowflake hands are coated in luminescence and completed by a gilt sweeping second hand. Text in gilt at 12 with the Tudor motif and at 6 with the ‘200m: 660ft’ “smiley” “Rotor Self-Winding”, indicating an ETA movement inside. On the reverse, a coin-edged screw-down case back. Inside an automatic ETA 2824, 25 jewels, 28,800 beats per hour, which has been modified by Tudor, removing the date function, changes to the antishock system, and finally updating the mainspring mechanism. It comes paired with its original 22mm Tudor Oyster stainless steel bracelet, secured by a signed deployant flip-lock clasp, plus a 22mm Tudor NATO strap and signed pin buckle. The watch comes with its Tudor presentation box, swing tag and paperwork.

This watch is sold with its original Tudor box, swing tag and paperwork. It comes paired with its original 22mm Tudor Oyster stainless steel bracelet, secured by a signed deployant flip-lock clasp, plus a 22 mm Tudor NATO strap and a signed pin buckle. The watch is from February 2016 and is sold in worn condition, but overall it is in very fair condition, coming fresh from a light polish, as you can see from the photos. The watch comes with our 12-Months Warranty.

The Tudor Black Bay 41mm 'ETA', affectionately known as the 'Smiley' due to the 'Self-Winding' text arching like a smiley face on the dial, which is also the way to quickly distinguish between an ETA model and the later in-house reference, which has straight text in that same area. These references have continued to grow in popularity among collectors, and good examples still demand a healthy price in the market. I would not hesitate to add this 2016 example with its bracelet to your collection today, whilst you still have the chance!

Reference : 79220N
Movement : Automatic ETA Cal. 2824
Age : Feburary 2016
Year : 2016
Case Size : 41mm
Case Thickness : 12mm
Lug to Lug : 50mm
Lugs : 22mm
Condition : Pre-Owned
Box and Papers : Box & Papers
Case Material : Stainless Steel
Warranty : 12-Months Warranty
The wrist model's wrist size is 7inch

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 guaranteed 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, and Hans Wilsdorf allowed Tudor to use their waterproof Oyster case and the original self-winding Perpetual ’rotor’ movement. This was an exclusive arrangement that benefited 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 more significant 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.