The well-known Swiss watch brand Tudor has been involved in the watch market since 1926. Originally, founder Hans Wilsdorf introduced the brand as the “little sister” of the Rolex company, which he had set up 15 years earlier. This was not just boredom, however, but an ingenious idea: Tudor was to cover a completely different target group with its cheaper range. The alternative to the “brand with the crown” was to offer cheaper watches of the usual high quality and thus represent a suitable variant for newcomers to the luxury watch sector – a real challenge. But Wilsdorf dared the attempt and had enviably great success. One of the reasons for this is his special strategy: after registering the brand, the marketing professional waited 20 years until he finally presented Tudor to the masses with a perfectly elaborated range and a well thought-out advertising strategy. And this at a time when marketing as we know it today did not even exist! Wilsdorf was a pioneer in this field, who recognized early on how essential the right brand presentation is for the success of a company.
One year after the end of the Second World War, the first Tudor models were presented which, similar to the Rolex models, had a sporty design and high robustness. However, Tudor wristwatches use supplier movements to save costs and lower prices. Thanks to the outsourcing, Tudor can keep the price difference and still offer excellent quality. To this day, the company continues to cooperate with ETA, one of the best Swiss raw material producers. Tudor quickly made a name for itself in the watch industry as “Rolex for the little man” with robust and reliable timepieces, and the company has indeed been able to maintain this reputation over all these years – the products are still celebrated by fans all over the world almost a century later. The vintage models in particular, in which Rolex cases and straps are installed, continue to enjoy immense popularity. However, the clear distinction to “mother” was also an important step for Tudor: through meaningful advertising campaigns in the 1950s and 1960s, which showed the watches to road workers and miners, Tudor successfully stood out from Rolex and its luxury image.
By the way, Wilsdorf chose the Welsh royal family of the same name as inspiration for the company name. The Tudor dynasty is best known for King Henry VIII, who opposed the Catholic Church, appointed himself head of the church and married six times. Two of his chosen ones are known to have been executed. During the governments of his children, too, there were repeated power struggles and revolutions. The Tudors thus stand for power, uncompromising and change, which Tudor ideally represents. The rose as a symbol of the famous royal family soon became the company logo of the brand.
Little sister, big performance
In the course of time, this portrait of Tudor was somewhat lost and the brand was increasingly oriented towards “Mama” again. With the change in management, however, a new way of thinking came about and the company returned to its original, independent core idea. Tudor recognized its value in this uniqueness and ultimately remained on this path. With the Heritage collection, the brand succeeded with a look back into the past and a new start: the renaissance of the popular vintage models from the 50s and 60s brought the remarkable history of the brand to the fore and successfully put it back on its personal path. The success of these models was so enormous that a whole wave of vintage reinterpretations of other brands followed. Each of the Tudor models has its own character. To this day, these vintage editions in particular, as well as their original originals, are in great demand among collectors. No wonder, then, that the value of well-preserved specimens has been rising steadily for some time now!
Since his reorientation at the time, Tudor has consistently maintained his own style without even being in the shadow of Rolex. The watches have long been known for their high quality and durability, but also for their innovative solutions in design and technology. With these features, Tudor has made a name for itself worldwide and has been able to hold its own in the highly competitive market of timepieces in the long term. In 1996, the brand celebrated its 50th anniversary and marked this triumph in a very special way: The connections to Rolex that had appeared on the watches up to that time were completely removed from the cases, crowns and bracelets. In 2009, Tudor took another big step towards independence and designed a new collection with a focus on motorsport. Until 2011, the brand cooperated with Porsche as a “timing partner” for sporting goals. Tudor had a big fish to fry with and the success was certain from the very beginning. The cooperation also represented the reorientation ideally. The brand had its own identity before – but now the “umbilical cord” had been cut completely and Rolex’s child had grown up completely.
In eternal bloom – Tudor’s success continues
Since 2013, Tudor has been official timekeeper of the World Enduring Championship (WEC), a challenging long-distance racing series. The sporting goals of the competition and the company values have the same denominator, because both precise timepieces and fast cars depend on performance, reliability and passion. Through this cooperation, Tudor once again emphasizes the close connection to the world of engines. The high importance of technology and style, which have always been the focus of the collections, can also be clearly seen in the models themselves: The clear lines and sporty design of the watches leave no questions unanswered. In 2015, Tudor had a new hammer in store at Baselworld: For the first time, the company presented a specially developed manufactory movement. The MT 5621 is an automatic movement with a stop-seconds function for the most accurate time setting, with a power reserve of up to 70 hours. Once again, there are no savings in innovation and quality. The MT 5621 embodies the strong pioneering spirit of the brand, which has even grown over the years. Hans Wilsdorf landed a second shot in the right direction with Tudor a long time ago and the brand still stands for performance and robustness. Tudor has a wide range of target groups and many celebrities are among the fans. We are excited to see what the brand will surprise us with – after the last few years, expectations are naturally high. But we are confident that Tudor will not disappoint us in the future.
This post is also available in: German