Tudor Oyster Prince Submariner Ref. 7928, ca.1965-1966

Identity Tudor Oyster Prince Submariner, Ref. 7928, circa 1965-1966. Automatic movement. Steel Oyster case, 39 mm, rounded crown guards, screw-down crown signed with the Rolex coronet, case back marked "Original Oyster Case by Rolex Geneva". Rotating bezel graduated to 60 minutes, black insert. Black dial bearing the small rose-shaped logo known as the "Small Rose", painted indexes, Mercedes hands, lollipop seconds hand. Plexiglas crystal. Rolex-signed riveted Oyster bracelet and clasp. Horological context Tudor came into being in 1926 at the initiative of Hans Wilsdorf, already at the head of Rolex, to offer the brand's reliability at a more accessible price, its watches drawing on Rolex's Oyster cases and automatic movements from Swiss suppliers, notably ETA for many models. At Tudor, the name Prince denotes the self-winding rotor movement, the equivalent of Rolex's Perpetual. The Tudor Submariner appeared in 1954 with Ref. 7922, a year after the Rolex Submariner, sharing its Oyster case, screw-down crown and rotating 60-minute bezel. The line then developed its own signatures: from 1969, the "Snowflake" dials and hands created for the French Navy, then the return of Mercedes hands on the final generation. Ref. 7928, introduced in 1959, is the first Tudor Submariner to receive crown guards. Tudor itself presents the 1967 version as the culmination of this first generation. Character The dial reads "200 m – 660 ft", the depth the Tudor Submariner has reached since 1958. The "Small Rose" logo is in its final years as the signature of the maison, before its replacement by the shield in 1969. Patina has spread across the dial and faded the bezel insert to grey: the marks of a tool watch that has lived. Serviced watch. Normal patina and signs of age, with marks; case back hand-engraved with initials. Delivered with the brand box and the Contre-Temps 24-month warranty certificate.