Tudor look to have turned their attention to more dressy models in the collection with a new Glamour model...
Recently Tudor has invested a lot of time and money into their sports watches range with most efforts going into the Black Bay. You'd be forgiven then to not really know about their more classical, slightly dressier range of watches. The Tudor Classic, Clair De Rose, Style and 1926 are some examples that fall into this category. If we look back to their history (meaning their relationship with Rolex) all of these models share very similar DNA to the Datejust and Day Date style of watches.
The Tudor Classic - Clearly very similar to the Datejust from Rolex: Tudor Pressroom www.tudorwatch.com
These models are rarely discussed in the watch collecting community. They certainly possess high levels of craftsmanship and luxury finishing however much like the Cellini from Rolex, these models are overshadowed by Tudors sports offering. However, the new Tudor Glamour Double Date recently announced looks like an early indication of some fresh air coming to the Tudor collection.
"The Glamour line embodies TUDOR's sense of elegance and its vision of the tradition of fine watchmaking. Throughout its history, TUDOR has offered a diverse collection within the dress watch segment. With this in mind, the new Glamour Double Date model displays subtle lines, a wealth of detail, and superior manufacturing quality..." - Tudor Watches www.tudorwatch.com
The Tudor Glamour Double Date - Tudor Pressroom www.tudorwatch.com
The first feature of the Double Date that jumped out to me as a positive was the date window placement and size. It instantly reminded me of other big date creations from the likes of Lange such as the Lange 1 and Lange Sax-O-Mat. This date window sits perfectly on a pin striped style dial with the brand name just below. It's nice to see the Tudor shield now sits at the top of the dial in the 12 o'clock position, a welcomed transition from the likes of the Rolex Datejust.
Balancing the watch very well is the smallsub-secondss dial with elongated seconds counter. Finished with a concentric detail, this is a style we see extended to the outer of the dial where the diamond shaped indices, and that Tudor shield sit. This dial configuration looks to give the watch the illusion of being smaller and helps bring the surface area of the dial down.
Mr Beckham himself showing off the diamond set dial steel and yellow gold Double Date - Tudor Pressroom www.tudorwatch.com
However, the desire to give off the illusion of seeming smaller is something Tudor may struggle with. The Glamour Double Date comes in at 42mm in size with an 8mm thick movement. Watch collectors (myself included) may struggle to understand the logic behind this choice. From our perspective, watches are becoming smaller and smaller and there are many of us who would vocally want this in a size closer to 38mm for example.
However, it's easy to forgot only a few years ago watches in larger cases were the mainstream popular choice to be going for and it's going to take time before we all a big switch in that (if ever!)
The watch is 100m water resistant, perfect for the lifestyle these watches will be living.
The In-House Calibre MT5641 COSC Movement - Tudor Pressroom www.tudorwatch.com
The Glamour Double Date gets treated to being the first watch from Tudor to pioneer a new movement. The Calibre MT5641 is a COSC certified in house movement and is the first to feature a sub seconds at 6 and double date at 12. The movement comes with impressive stats including a silicon balance spring and 70 hours of power reserve (For the collectors among us who are used to 40 hours, 70 hours is a game changer). This movement is visible through a display case back, a big feature that is different from Rolex.
"The design is striking while remaining true to its function and to what TUDOR watches have become known for: robustness, waterproofness and precision." - Tudor Watches www.tudorwatch.com
Each dial colour available for the Double Date - Tudor Pressroom www.tudorwatch.com
Options For All
This model has been created in an impressive range of options. Dial colours available are silver, black, champagne-colour, or opaline white. From this, the range then sort of explodes with 22 configurations in total. Stainless steel, two tone with yellow gold, metal bracelets or leather straps, diamond indices as well as the most unique looking model in my eyes being the opaline dial option which has blue hands and indices. The approach from Tudor seems to be 'something for everyone'. The lowest priced Double Date comes in at £2,300 which offers pretty good value for money for a watch with an in house movement, big date function from a brand such as Tudor. As mentioned previously having 22 options for customers really shows the brands intention with this range as being something which can appeal to almost everyone.
The future of the Double Date?
The Tudor Glamour Double Date - Tudor Pressroom www.tudorwatch.com
I think Tudor will find success with this model, for some of us collectors its a no go because of the size, however, there are plenty of people out there who will not even consider the size of the piece to be an issue and will find it ideal.
As a design, I really enjoy this piece. There isn't really anything I'd change on the dial (maybe different hands, but thats being picky) the case is clean and simple, good thickness with a nice display case back The aspect of the watch I'm not personally a fan of is that 42mm size. Let's hope this is the beginning of Tudor starting to diversify and really grow a rounded, popular, unique coherent range of watches. Not a bad way to round off 2018 Tudor, not bad at all...
