100 Years of Tudor: From "Budget Rolex" to Collector Favorite

This year, Rolex's Oyster case turns 100. It's an anniversary that's getting a lot of attention — and fair enough — it's a big milestone. But there's another centenary happening in 2026 that deserves its own moment: Tudor is also turning 100. The story of how this brand got from 1926 to here is one of the more interesting ones in modern watchmaking.

A Brand With Purpose

Hans Wilsdorf registered the Tudor name in February 1926 with a clear purpose: build watches with Rolex-level dependability at a price more people could actually afford. For decades, that meant using off-the-shelf movements in Rolex cases. Tudor supplied the French Navy with dive watches through the 1960s and into the '80s. The US Navy SEALs wore them. The Canadian Navy wore them. The Tudor Submariner, introduced in 1954, was a genuine tool watch trusted in real operational contexts, earning its reputation on its own merits.

Into the 1990s, Tudor found itself in an awkward stretch. The brand had been phasing out Rolex-sourced parts, the designs had gone in an interesting direction (think Hydronaut models), and the brand pulled out of key markets including the US and UK. Tudor wasn't dormant, but it wasn't building toward anything clearly defined.

2012: Not a Revival, But a Turning Point

Tudor Black Bay and Pelagos

As Tudor's Cole Pennington put it in a conversation with Teddy Baldassarre: "There is this popular narrative that Tudor came back or Tudor was revived with the Black Bay — not entirely true. It was still humming along... it wasn't like the company was relaunched with the Black Bay … however it was kind of a high point in thinking about design and shifting perspective in design."

Tudor Heritage Black Bay (2012). Image Source: David Rosas

That's an important distinction. Tudor never died, so it was not "revived" by the Black Bay. But 2012 was unquestionably one of the largest turning points in the brand's hundred-year history. Two watches: the Heritage Black Bay and the Pelagos. The Black Bay pulled the snowflake hands, domed crystal, and big crown aesthetic from Tudor's own archive and built something vintage-inspired with its own personality. It isn't a reissue. It isn't a Submariner. It's a Black Bay. The Pelagos went the other direction — 42mm titanium case, 500 meters of water resistance, the first titanium watch from either Tudor or Rolex. Both went on to become pillars of Tudor's modern catalog, foundations of large, diverse collections that continue to grow today.

Tudor Pelagos (2012). Image Source: Bulang & Sons

Then in summer 2013, Tudor returned to the US market. For American collectors with minimal prior exposure to the brand, that return combined with the Black Bay and Pelagos did feel like a revival. But the more accurate framing is that 2012 was the moment Tudor's design identity crystallized.

The Tudor Playbook

Tudor Pelagos FXD Cycling Edition

Since 2012, Tudor has operated in ways that rhyme with Rolex in some respects and diverge sharply in others. Like Rolex, Tudor has refined a small number of core collections generation by generation rather than constantly launching new ones. But Tudor has also done things Rolex would never do — material experimentation with carbon, ceramic, and bronze; releases throughout the year rather than a single annual batch; rapid expansion of younger lines like the Pelagos FXD. The METAS certification push has been particularly significant and brings a welcome level of accountability and performance to mass-produced Swiss watchmaking.

Tudor in 2026

Today, a Tudor watch appeals to different sensibilities than a Rolex. It's sort of what Rolex used to be — the go-to choice for a watch that will last a lifetime, shy of buying a capital-L luxury timepiece. Rolex has climbed up that luxury ladder in recent years, while Tudor now occupies the $2–6K range, wherein experimentation, optionality, and objective value are prioritized. A hundred years in, Tudor has built something Wilsdorf probably didn't anticipate: a brand with its own collections, its own design language, and its own appreciators, sometimes entirely separate from Rolex.

We'll get our first look at what Tudor has planned for this milestone year at Watches and Wonders in Geneva, where I'll have access to the Tudor salon starting April 14th. Day-one hands-on coverage will be up here as soon as we're out of the room.