A Swiss Watchmaker's Objects Of Tectonic Significance

For a time of monumental doubt, a Swiss watchmaker’s objects of tectonic significance.

- Terence Poh

IN THIS ERA of the ubiquitous smartphone, time can be told with Borgian precision at the touch of a fingertip. Even then, people remain loyal to wearing watches, to the point where just one isn’t enough for most of us, let alone the fervent and overzealous watch aficionados among us. There’s even a community of folks who photograph themselves wearing their watches in front of landmarks and post them on timepiece forums. It is quite clear that watches no longer just tell time for us — they tell stories.

And the wristwatch maker Tudor has a story to tell, specifically a history of equipping game-changing individuals with timepieces that connect them to the world.

In 1954, the Swiss brand debuted its Oyster Prince Submariner reference 7922 which combined the house’s robust construction with technical functionality to create an affordable timepiece. Made to sustain prolonged, extensive underwater activities, the Submariner was ideal for military diving operations. Tudor targeted the emerging needs of military divers and, in 1956, partnered with the French Navy’s Underwater Study and Research Group (Groupement d’Étude et de Recherche Sous-marine) to equip French combat divers with the Submariner. Tudor was able to hone the first generation of the watch through test-driving them at military operations. Improvements to the Submariner included, for instance, the extension of the maximum immersion depth from 100m in the reference 7922 to 200m in the reference 7924 created in 1958. After a series of delicate, subtle refinements in the early 1960s, the reference 7928 was born — the iconic piece with distinct round crown guards that would go on to provide the technical blueprint for the Tudor Submariners.