Bracelet

Tudor Submariner bracelets largely followed the same path as Rolex, especially early on, with Rolex manufactured and often Rolex signed bracelets used well into the 1970s. Over time, Tudor moved to its own branding, but the foundation remained firmly rooted in Rolex design and construction. There’s already plenty of good documentation out there - Hodinkee and Rolex Haven both come to mind - so rather than rehash it, the focus here is on a more unique and particularly interesting bracelet released by Tudor.

A catalog image surfaced several years ago that sparked considerable interest among collectors. Featured across a number of different Tudor models was an unusual bracelet that departed from the traditional Oyster construction, adopting a flatter, more integrated design that felt distinctly different from Tudor's Rolex-derived foundation. It is believed that this bracelet was produced specifically for the Japanese market.

Examples remain poorly documented and surface only rarely. Recently, however, a dealer in Switzerland, Ponti Collection, sold an example that has provided additional insight into this intriguing bracelet. The watch shown below is a reference 7928, suggesting that this bracelet may have been available as early as the mid-to-late 1960s. While some questions remain regarding its exact availability and distribution, surviving examples indicate that Tudor was willing to experiment with designs outside of its traditional Oyster bracelet offerings, particularly in markets where local tastes may have differed from those in Europe and North America.

The other thing to note is that around the late ’70s into the early ’80s, we start to see the Tudor logo appear on the clasp of 9315 bracelets. This marks a clear transition period, where Tudor begins to move away from Rolex-branded components and establish more of its own identity, even though the underlying bracelet construction remains largely the same.