Tudor Submariner Gilt 'Red Depth Rating' Manual-Wind

In 1954, Tudor released the Oyster Prince Submariner Ref. 7922, its own version of sister brand Rolex's Submariner Ref. 6204. Equipped with an automatic movement and 100m of water resistance, it set the standard for all Tudor Subs that would follow it throughout the decades.

Just a year later, however, Tudor took a serious left turn and released the Ref. 7923. What was so strange about this watch, you might ask? It remains the only Submariner — from either Tudor or Rolex — to have been equipped with a manually-wound movement. While this made for an extremely thin case, it didn't necessarily lend itself well to the requirements of the budding SCUBA diver, and was quickly retired in favor of the automatic Ref. 7924 "Big. Crown" in 1958.

The Ref. 7923 appeared in two primary dial variations during its production timeline: While both features "gilt" galvanic printing, one has no depth rating, and the other boasts the depth rating in red printing. This latter version — with its red typography echoing that seen on other famous Rolex-family watches — is the catnip of the collector community. In fact, back in 2017, a red-depth rating Ref. 7923 sold for $99,999 on eBay — the most expensive Tudor to ever sell publicly at the time. (This same watch was later listed for sale by noted dealer HQ Milton for $350,000.)

This particular 7923 is in handsome condition considering its age of roughly 70 years: Housed in a 37mm stainless steel case with an acrylic crystal; a small signed 'Brevet' crown with the Rolex coronet; and a bidirectional bezel with an intact black aluminum insert with 10-minute 'Arabic' and five-minute 'dash' markings, it features a black 'gilt' dial with an outer open minute track; luminous triangular, rectangular, and circular indices; the Tudor 'Rose' logo with "Tudor Oyster" written beneath 12 o'clock; "100/330" depth rating text in red; "Submariner" and "Shock-Resisting" in gilt printing; and a luminous 'pencil' handset with small 'lollipop' seconds hand.

Though there is some degradation to the radium throughout the dial, the luminous material remains largely intact — a testament, to be sure, to the watch's design and to Tudor's quality control in the mid-1950s. Housed within the watch is the manually-wound ETA Calibre 1182, which beats at 18,000 vibrations per hour. This hand-wound movement keeps the case comparatively thin and turns the Ref. 7923 into an excellent daily driver. Equipped with heavy-duty spring bars, we've paired it to a thick leather strap with tone-on-tone stitching and a stainless steel pin buckle for a more formal look.

While any mode of 1950s-era Tudor Submariner is a rare bird, indeed, this Ref. 7923 is something different entirely: Manually-wound, svelte, and exceedingly scarce with its red depth rating, it's a museum-quality watch the likes of which the collector community only sees a few times in — well — a lifetime. Call or make an appointment with us to come check out this stupendously cool Tudor Submariner at our NYC HQ!

Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf created Tudor in 1926 for the everyman — for miners, construction workers and all sorts of tradesmen. For your everyday person Rolex was sometimes — and is now more so than ever — out of reach. It was meant for the explorer and the businessman, whereas Tudor was to be a different creature entirely.

In creating Tudor, Wilsdorf wanted to offer “a watch that our agents could sell at a more modest price than our Rolex watches, and yet one that would attain the standards of dependability for which Rolex is famous.”

Tudors were in many ways Rolexes in all but name, with the same waterproof Oyster cases and similar styling. However, in order to keep costs down, the brand used off-the-shelf Swiss movements rather than their own in-house calibres. What resulted were watches that were more affordable than Rolexes to the consumer, but still uniformly tough and reliable.

Today Tudor has certainly defeated any impression of being the redheaded stepchild of the Rolex family, and their current timepiece collection — as well as their vintage counterparts — are getting the recognition and respect they most rightfully deserve. From the colorful “Home Plate” chronograph to the complicated Advisor, these models often picked up where Rolex left off, daring to be more bold and playful in their design. And now that the brand has introduced in-house movements while still managing to keep pricing modest, the company is better poised than ever to win the hearts and minds of millions of new watch enthusiasts.

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