GRAIL WATCHES – PART 2

Tudor Submariner 7928

A grail watch is not necessarily unobtainable. It doesn’t even have to be super expensive. It’s one that i would give up others in my collection for. It sits high on a pedestal and never sold! Just passed down through generations. It’s the ultimate timepiece.

Right at the top of my list of grail watch is the Tudor 7928 Military Submariner (MilSub). This for me defines exactly what a divers watch should be. Tough, robust, versatile and a thing of beauty, of which the 7928 ticks all these boxes.

 

Charm & Style

It has the charm of the age of the 1960’s. With the Tudor “Rose” emblazoned on the dial, this watch is steeped in history. Its a very stylish and timelessly classic design. More importantly the Submariner is part of the evolution of dive watches. There are many watches today that tip the hat to Tudor and Rolex alike. The Tudor Submariner 7928 was developed with the French Navy, the Marine Nationale.

The crowns on the ‘Big Crown’ Submariners (ref 7924) were very prone to getting knocked and as a result, they flooded. The 7928 was the first Tudor sports watch to feature crown guards. Most importantly, this was due to feedback from the divers.
There were 4 designs of the crown guard. “Square” (Mk1 Case), “Eagle Beak” (Mk2 Case), “Pointed” (Mk3 Case), and “Round” (Mk4 Case).

Specs

• Stainless Steel Oyster Case.
• Triple lock screw-down Signed Rolex crown.
• No date.
• Drilled Lugholes.
• Bidirectional friction 60 minute graduated bezel.
• 17 jewel Calibre 390 Automatic Movement with Manual Winding.
• 36-hour power reserve

This is the ultimate version of the first generation of the Tudor Submariner. In 1964, The US Navy officially adopted the 7928.

There is something fascinating about vintage watches. The bulk of my collection are from the early 1960’s through to mid 1990’s. I want a timepiece with a story and a provenance too. I don’t want it to be all shiny and new, i want something that if it could talk (am i going a bit deep here) would tell me all about its history, where all the small knocks and dings came from, who owned it.

A watch should be worn, not locked in a safe or kept out of the sunlight. I want the fading tropic dials, the patinaed hands and indicies, the worn faded bezels and cases with lines of life and use.

My collection reflects this, as does my grail watch. They are all old, like me. I am unsure why i’m drawn to dive watches, as I’m not the greatest swimmer either.

Sadly, the Tudor Submariner 7928 could be a watch i may never own. Now highly prized by collectors the prices of these have soared, with a decent one costing between £8,000 – £15,000. The 7928 really does epitomise the coolest of cool divers watch. Maybe one day…

DIMENSIONS

39mm

20mm

47mm

14.2mm

Mark: There is no doubt that this is a cool dive watch. But for me (who doesn’t like Mercedes hands), it has to be to 7016/0, the first Tudor Snowflake. This was the first Tudor with an ETA movement alongside the Tudor shield on the dial with the Snowflake design featuring square markers and square hands. The 7016 ran from around 1969 to 1975.