Ladies Rolex Tudor 9ct 1956

Tudor

Created by Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf, Tudor owes much of its initial success to its affiliation with Rolex. Tudor watches were originally intended as a more affordable alternative, offering the same quality and craftsmanship, but at a lower price point. Today however, Tudor is flourishing as a popular watch brand in its own right.

Description

Here we have a wonderful original ladies Tudor dress watch from 1956 with a beautiful, original, unrestored and untouched ivory-cream dial. This is a classic and an excellent 1950s example of some of the outstanding work Tudor created. This watch shows very few signs of ageing, which is one of the reasons we have to decided to leave this watch alone, rather than restore it.

The Dial

This dial is beautifully symmetrical, well balanced and proportioned. The dial itself, in ivory-cream, contrasts wonderfully with the 9ct yellow gold case, original gilt ‘lance’ hands and yellow gold ‘pencil’ hour indices. All of these wonderful features make this watch very clear and easily read once upon the wrist.

This dial is simply signed with ‘Tudor’ at the very top below 12 and ‘Swiss’ at the very bottom, below 6.

As this dial is in original, unrestored condition, this has been left untouched by our restoration team due to its superb condition. Usually, we restore the dials of the watches we sell, however we decided in this case to leave it alone, due to its unusually good condition and to retain its originality and charm for those who prefer this. It also helps to contrast with almost all of the other watch dials you see on our website, which have been restored. The hands, likewise, have also been left in their original untouched condition.

Please note, studio lights, professional-grade digital cameras, and macro lenses can be very unkind to an unrestored vintage watch dial. Also the dial here measures less than 1.25 inches across, so the image you’re seeing may be between 5 – 25 times larger than the watch itself. Therefore please keep in mind you are seeing many tiny flaws which cannot be seen, or will be very hard to see with the naked eye, even under close examination. Suffice to say, on the wrist, in natural light, this dial looks much better and carries a great deal more charm than the photographs portray.

The Movement

The original Tudor, 17 Jewel hand-wound movement is of exceptional quality and is original to this watch. It is signed ‘Tudor’, ’17 Rubis’,  and ‘Swiss Made’. The watch movement has been fully overhauled and serviced by our watchmaker who reports it to be in excellent condition and we are therefore happy to offer this watch with our 12 months warranty*.

Note: This watch is perfectly suited for evening wear and special occasions, but not for everyday use. Watches of this age, even with this quality of movement may gain or lose up to 2 minutes per day due to their age. They will however, run for at least 24 hours and are wonderful, both to wear and own.

*Please note – our 12 months’ warranty is only applicable if the full list price is paid.

The Case

The sturdy 9ct solid gold case measures just 15mm in diameter, excluding the correct Rolex signed crown. This makes this quite a small watch. However, the case is very robust meaning the watch, while ‘ladies cocktail watch size’, is still suitable for everyday use.

Inside the case-back, all the markings are correct and as we would expect is signed ‘Rolex’ with the Rolex crown, along with 9ct hallmarks which date this watch to 1956. The serial number 23132 is also shown. This watch also carries a 9ct hallmark on the outside edge of the case, by the crown.

The case has been cleaned, carefully inspected and carefully hand-polished, which was all that was required to bring it back to its current tip-top condition with no scratches dings or marks of any kind visible to the naked eye.

As always, our standard advice applies: Vintage watches should be kept clean and dry at all times.

The Strap and Buckle

The watch is fitted with a high quality black leather strap and a plain gold-plated buckle which we feel suits the watch perfectly. However, if a different colour or different style of strap is preferred, please let us know and we will do our best to provide your choice, free of charge. We carry tan, conker, dark brown and black in stock in plain padded leather, crocodile skin or lizard skin and can also obtain most types and colours from our partners at ‘Watch Obsession’ within 48hrs. Please take a look at their huge range of straps if you wish here.

Box and Papers

Although there are no original papers with this watch, the reference numbers, markings, signatures and hallmarks are all correct, dating this watch to 1956.

Detailed particulars will be included with our purchase receipt for your interest and security. A separate insurance valuation for the replacement value of this watch will be provided at the time of sale along with our unique ‘Lifetime Authenticity Guarantee’ which states: “If this watch proves to be anything less than 100% genuine, authentic and original, a full refund will be given at any time”.

The high quality hardwood presentation box shown in the photographs is included.

Payment and Delivery

If you would like to pay by bank transfer, we will be pleased to assist you with this. Similarly, if you wish to pay by International SWIFT or Bank Wire Transfer we will provide you with our BIC / Swift number and our IBAN number.

Please check the import duties and any taxes your government may apply, these are different for each country and, unfortunately, out of our control.

We understand there may be some ‘loopholes’ that may help you avoid these charges; however, attempting to use these could impact our ongoing ability to serve our growing international customer base.

For those who happen to visit London on occasion, we are, of course, more than happy to store your watch until we can meet you in our offices in Kensington, London, and hand your watch directly to you there.

As with all our watches, this watch will be sold under our 14 days no-quibble sale or return policy.

In Conclusion

This is a superb, highly collectable and totally usable vintage watch from horology’s most famous name, which will provide an excellent financial investment as well as be something to treasure and enjoy! It will make the perfect gift as well as a practical, accurate and reliable timepiece to use on a regular basis, as you so wish.

A word on our prices – We always try our hardest to acquire the very highest quality watches we can find, before restoring them to the highest possible standards. We then offer these at the fairest prices we can, taking into account our pre and post-sales care and service. This approach means we will never be the cheapest, but nor will we be the most expensive. Indeed there are some well-known stores in West London which are highly successful charging between two to three times the price you see here. We, therefore, consider our prices to be fair, given the quality of watches we have to offer.

Please note, we also welcome part exchanges. If you have a watch or a small collection for sale, please contact us as we will be happy to discuss this.

We will also be happy to Service your watch, Repair your watch or Restore your watch, all at ‘sensible’ prices. Please see here.

If you have any questions please call us on 020 7727 7095 or if calling from overseas on +44 207 727 7095.

Please take a look at our other fine vintage gold watches.

Thank you.