2022 Tudor Black Bay ETA Black 79220N "Last at Retail"
Ref: 79220N
Specification
Lugs : 22mm
Condition : Unworn
Box & Papers : Box & Papers
Case Material : Stainless Steel
Warranty : Manufacturer Warranty
Points of Mention
This watch is sold with its original Tudor box and paperwork, the watch is still stickered. The watch comes paired with its original 22mm Tudor leather strap. The watch is from July 2022 and is sold in unworn condition as you can see from the photos. The watch comes with its Manufacturer's Warranty.
The Watch
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 one was sold by an official retailer 6 years after being discontinued, from working in retail in the past I know we have forgotten about certain watches, but this is a whole new level and one I've personally never seen! Here we have an unworn Tudor Black Bay Black ETA 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 big crown, the unidirectional stainless steel bezel has a red triangle at 12 o’clock and black 60-minute scale inserts protecting a domed crystal. A matte black dial with a gilt outer minute track and gilt-edged disc and baton indexes mark the hours, the characteristic gilt framed snowflake hands are coated in luminescence and completed by a gilt sweeping second hand and text in gilt at 12 with the Tudor motif and at 6 with the “smiley” “Rotor Self-Winding”. 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. The watch comes fitted on its Tudor 22mm leather strap with a signed deployant buckle and comes with its Tudor presentation box and papers.
Personal Note
Yes, you read that correct, 2022! This watch was discontinued in 2016, I've seen some sold in 2017, 18 and even 2019 by retailers... I remember working retail trying to get rid of these "ETA" models at a hefty discount, we couldn't get rid of them, but to have one until 2022? I suspect the retailer forgot about this one in its box or the back of a safe... Makes me wonder what else will appear in many years after being forgotten about!
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 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, 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 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.