U.S. NAVY SEALS: TUDOR SUBMARINER

TUDOR SUBMARINER

U.S. NAVY SEALS

APOLLO 11 SPLASHDOWN RECOVERY

This is a story I have long been aware of, so it's nice to see Tudor finally share it publicly. I first became aware of this history when I was doing research on the U.S. NAVY SEALAB program many years ago. Tudor, which is a brand that has been owned by Rolex for many, many decades, just came out with this super-cool documentary, about U.S. Navy Seals who were issued Tudor Submariner models, and who they wore then during "Splashdown" for the NASA Apollo 11 Program.

More than half a century ago, mankind returned from the moon and landed in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Today, in “Splashdown”, we tell the little-known story of the Navy UDT-SEAL frogmen - and their issued TUDOR watches - who recovered the astronauts throughout the space program in the 1960s and '70s.

1958 Tudor Submariner Sets Auction Record Sells for $162,500

1958 Tudor Submariner

Sets Auction Record

Sells for $162,500

Heritage Auction House set a world record for vintage Tudor when they successfully auctioned a 1958 Tudor Submariner earlier this week for $162,500. The Tudor brand was founded by Hans Wilsdorf, who also founded Rolex, and Tudor is still owned by Rolex.

The 37MM Tudor Submariner seen above and below appears courtesey of Heritage Auction house and shows the historic Tudor Submariner Oyster Prince Submariner [Reference 7924] which was manufactured in 1958. It features a luminous radium matte gilt dial, and the watch appears to be 100% original all the way down to possesing the original red-triangle bezel insert. When this watch was originally sold back in the late 1950s it probably sold for around $60!!!

The Tudor Submariner that was aucitoned is know as a Big Crown Submariner. What exactly is a "Big Crown" Submariner? Early Submariner models featured an unusually large 8MM BREVET Crown as seen above, and many famous Rolex historical figures wore this model including Chuck Yeager who is pictured below. Chuck Yeager is wearing a Rolex Submariner "Big Crown" Reference 6538, which also features the red upside down triangle on the bezel.

Elvis Presley also wore a "Big Crown" Rolex Submariner Reference 6538 as seen in the photo below which was taken in 1962.

The most famous person who ever wore a Big Crown Submariner, Reference 6538 was Sean Connery when he played James Bond back in the early 1960s.