Brand Guides / Tudor
Reviewed by the Fine Watch Guide team · October 2026
Tudor started as Hans Wilsdorf's plan to offer a watch with Rolex standards of reliability at a lower price. For decades it paired cases and bracelets made to Rolex quality with movements bought from outside suppliers. Since the 2010s it has become a brand in its own right, with the Black Bay, the Pelagos and its own manufacture movements. Servicing a Tudor looks very different depending on whether you own a vintage piece or a current one.
Vintage Tudors, including the Submariners and Oyster Princes of the mid-twentieth century, typically use outsourced Swiss movements in Rolex-made cases. That makes many of them serviceable by a good independent, since the movements are common and parts are available, but the cases, dials and bracelets need the care any vintage watch deserves.
Modern Tudors increasingly use the brand's own MT calibers, introduced from 2015 onward. These are chronometer-certified movements built for durability and long service intervals, and they're designed to be serviced through Tudor's network.
For a current Tudor under warranty, use the brand's service network. Tudor offers a long, transferable warranty on current watches, so check your papers before you take a new watch anywhere else.
Out of warranty, an independent may be able to service a Tudor with an outsourced movement easily. With MT calibers, parts access is the question to ask up front. If an independent can't get genuine parts, the brand is the better route.
Vintage Tudor Submariners, Snowflake-hand divers and Oysterdates are prized by collectors, and their value rests heavily on original dials, hands, bezels and crowns. A factory service may replace those parts with modern ones. A restoration specialist who preserves originals is usually the better choice for a collectible piece.
Be careful with vintage Tudors on the open market. Replacement dials, service hands and aftermarket bezels are common. Have a specialist check everything against known references before you buy.
Modern Tudors trade widely, which also attracts counterfeits. Buy from reputable sellers, check papers against serial numbers, and have the watch opened by someone who knows Tudor movements.
Check the bracelet for stretch, the bezel action on divers, and the crown threads. A full set with warranty papers adds confidence and, on a current watch, may carry remaining warranty.
Most Tudors are built to be worn hard, within their stated water resistance. Have the gaskets checked whenever the caseback comes off, make sure the crown is fully screwed down before swimming on models with screw-down crowns, and rinse the watch after salt water.
Keep receipts and warranty cards with the box. On both vintage and modern Tudors, documentation adds to value and makes resale easier.
Today's Tudor catalog is built around a handful of lines. The Black Bay is the core, covering divers, the smaller Fifty-Eight, GMT and chronograph models, and time-only versions. The Pelagos is the titanium professional diver. The Ranger is the simple field watch with an expedition history. The Royal and the 1926 cover the dressier side of the range, and there are still references with outsourced movements alongside those using Tudor's own MT calibers.
That split between MT calibers and outsourced movements is the practical fault line for service. If your watch uses an outsourced movement, a capable independent can usually handle it with readily available parts. If it uses an MT caliber, ask about genuine parts access before booking anything, or use Tudor's network. The papers or the reference number will tell you which you have.
Tudor and Rolex share a founder and a long history, and older Tudors often used Rolex-made cases, crowns and bracelets marked accordingly. On vintage pieces, those Rolex-signed components are part of the value, so a watchmaker shouldn't swap them for generic replacements. If a vintage Tudor Submariner comes with a Rolex crown or a signed bracelet, keep them with the watch even if they're worn.
Modern Tudors are their own brand, with their own design, movements and service network. The connection still shows in build quality and in the care that goes into cases and bracelets, but you shouldn't assume a Rolex service center will take a Tudor or that parts are interchangeable. Treat a current Tudor as a Tudor.
Tudor's current watches come with a warranty that's transferable to a new owner, so a recent pre-owned Tudor with its warranty card can still be covered. Keep the card, the box and every removed link together. When you sell, a complete set with remaining warranty is one of the easiest ways to get a better price, and it saves the next owner from wondering about the watch's history.
For vintage Tudors, the equivalent is provenance: original papers if they survive, old service receipts and any photographs of the watch over the years. These details can matter as much as condition.
Model-by-model guides to buying, servicing, and what to watch.
The Black Bay launched in 2012 as a modern take on Tudor's vintage divers and grew into the brand's core collection, now powered largely by Tudor's own MT calibers.
The Pelagos is Tudor's titanium professional dive watch, introduced in 2012 with a helium escape valve and a self-adjusting clasp, and later updated with in-house movements.
The current Tudor Ranger, introduced in 2022, is a 39mm steel field watch with an in-house MT caliber, styled after the Tudor Oyster Prince watches carried on the British North Greenland Expedition of 1952 to 1954.
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Hans Wilsdorf, the founder of Rolex. The Tudor name was registered in 1926, and the company was established in 1946.
Many current models use Tudor's own MT calibers, introduced from 2015 onward. Older and some current models use outsourced movements.
Often, especially with outsourced movements. For MT calibers, confirm genuine parts access first.
Usually not if it's collectible. Factory service may replace original dials and hands, which can reduce value.
Tudor's current warranty is transferable. Check the papers for your watch's purchase date and terms.
Papers against the serial numbers, movement type and condition, bracelet stretch, bezel action and crown threads.