Talk about punching above your weight. News broke overnight via Hodinkee of a new record set by Rolex’s sister company which raised a few eyebrows.
The Tudor Big Crown Submariner ref. 7924 you see before you took the crown for the most expensive vintage Tudor ever sold at an auction at US$162,500 (AU$230,000). The diving watch hails all the way back from 1958 where it was the successor to ref. 7922 that debuted in 1954. At the time it was essentially a reliable Rolex dive watch offered at a cheaper price. This made them attractive options to the world’s Navy Armed Forces including the French and the Americans. Cool fact: the watch sports a Rolex logo on the crown.
The previous record-holder for the most expensive Tudor was a ref. 7923 – the very first Tudor Submariner from 1953 which was driven by a hand-wound movement. The watch eventually went for $99,999 via eBay in 2017 – a price which reflects the maximum bid allowed on a listed product before special protocols are needed.
But none of these can top the Tudor Black Bay One, a modern diving watch which the Swiss watchmaker produced for the 2015 Only Watch auction. The selling price? A staggering CHF 375,000 (AU$532,000) which eclipses the standard Black Bay timepiece by 120 times and takes the title as the most expensive Tudor ever.
Not a mad markup considering this Rolex sold for $3,000,000 recently.
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