Style 41 mm steel case Black dial
Three TUDOR novelties in 2014 - Trailblazers with icon feel
The 2014 vintage proves the value of Tudor's strategy with the launch of its Heritage 2010 line: subtle allusions to the past, select modern touches and models with very attractive historico-esthetic authenticity.
By Joel Grandjean
Editor-in-Chief
Year after year, aficionados and newcomers to the watch world alike wait anxiously for the release of Tudor's novelties. And time after time, unanimously, the brand is praised for its choices. With its Style Workshop, Tudor already set up an innovative approach at the 2010 launch of the collection, an approach that is distinctly different from the usual logic of re-releases. The brand might have just given into the temptation of resurrecting its legendary models for this heritage line, shown in a book scheduled for release in Basel. Tudor went further. The brand's designers took a close look at their rare historic treasures and succeeded in defining some stylistic codes borrowed from the period 1950-1970. They then immersed them into a modern reality, ensuring reliability, solidity and bold accessibility, combining materials, diameters, color options and surface treatments.
TUDOR Heritage Black Bay, drawn to the deep
The 2014 TUDOR Heritage Black Bay draws on the iciness of deep waters for its coloring. By contrast, the original one, released in 2012, drew praise for its warm hues and even captivated the jury of the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie, which created especially the new Revival category. The result, sharp and edgy, is a diver's watch in a 41-millimeter case reviving the spirit of the older model: A measuring tool that was above all reliable, technical, robust and stable.
As for the past allusions, the 1969 reference number 7021 seems to have lent its matt deep blue to the current unidirectionally rotating bezel, while the imposing crown was clearly taken from a 1958 model nicknamed Big Crown by collectors. Some subtle allusions to the emblematic Tudor Submariner reference 7922 from 1954 round off the picture, which is swept by the famous "snowflake" hands used at the dawn of the 1970s. These genealogical touches were added to the timepiece in 2014 by the Style Workshop in a particularly creative and apt touch. The contemporary look of the Tudor Heritage Black Bay lies in the deep black of the dial, the white of the luminescent material, and the silvery hue of its indices. It's also thanks to the frank tube crown in anodized aluminum and the comfort of being able to change bracelets with ease.
This encounter of time and style, combining past, present and future, produced a timepiece that is waterproof to 200 meters and is bound for iconhood. Inside is the self-winding mechanical Tudor 2824. It’s a highly technical version that reflects the renewal process initiated by the brand. It also echoes the military past of some of the brand's references sought, notably, by the French navy. One thing all the Heritage models have in common, including the new Tudor Heritage, Black Bay: they come with two bracelets, one of which is adjustable and is stitched with black and blue producing a complex pattern. The other is of distressed leather with a midnight-blue treatment, or of satin-brushed with a folding clasp.
TUDOR Heritage Ranger, conquering frozen regions
It is resolutely contemporary, and will even appeal to the most urban and urbane without denying its vintage inspiration. This 2014 novelty harks back to the 1960s, and is synonymous with a model bearing the same patronymic. The atmosphere chosen for its launch takes one to the realm of trailblazing journeys on a backdrop of heroic adventures at the edge of the frozen north, with its snow-covered steppes and its sled dogs. It represents a window on a mythical world now open on the city-dweller.
Some elements purposely accented by the Style Workshop have been sourced from the wealth of the Tudor Heritage and hark back to the 1950s and 1960s. The lugs have been drilled through, the indices painted, and its sapphire crystal and matt black dial are domed. These subtle hints of the past are balanced by a resolutely modern concept expressed by peerless functionality and robustness. This is a far cry from being just a plain rerelease. Among the options for the two straps delivered with each of the pieces, the now famous adjustable bracelet with old-style woven fibers comes with a camouflage and the leather strap of a cuff bracelet.
With its roots in the past, this powerful 41-millimeter model brings its tool-like codes to today's adventurers. It also reveals itself in the TUDOR rose logo engraved on the steel screwed-in winding crown. Inside the case beats the self-winding mechanical TUDOR 2824, with a 38-hour power reserve. It is water-resistant to 150 meters.
A line is born, the TUDOR Style
And blended with a DNA so dear to Tudor, empowered by the Style Workshop and built up with elements from its own heritage, the models from the Tudor line skillfully combine minimalism and original values. These mechanical timepieces display the hours, minutes and seconds, and that suffused with Italian-style dolce vita, where elegance and refinement coexist cheek-by-jowl. The watches radiate with their double bezels, the alternating satin and polished surfaces, and the expression of the dials inspired by finishings from days gone-by. Even though they are in full swing with our current age, carefree and light, they nevertheless comply with the classics. The models are waterproof to 100 meters and come with steel or steel/gold cases. Retro-chic in style, they are offered in four sizes, 28, 34, 38 and 41 millimeters. As examples of glamour and watchmaking skill, the references of the Tudor Style always house a self-winding mechanical movement, even the smallest one, which has the Tudor 2671.
Tudor is determined to establish its style and reaffirm its positioning through incredible accessibility and with full knowledge of the reliability and the history that its products can call their own. In 2014, its devotees old and new received a veritable lesson in manufacturing excellence. It's a bouquet of premium icons.
TUDOR Heritage Black Bay, retail price CHF 2,950.-
TUDOR Heritage Ranger, retail price CHF 2,700.-
TUDOR Style, retail price CHF1,900.- (28 mm on leather).
