Hey everyone!

I was super excited about this Tudor blind buy. My wifes birthday is coming up and a big rose on a stainless bracelet was on the radar. Ironically during my hunt a good friend of mine called about a Tudor with a "big rose" offered for sale in a small New Jersey town flea market. I heard the $300 price tag, so I jumped on it and thought screw it lets gamble! I didn't even ask for photos. The mystery and anticipation to see it in person made it that much more exciting. As with all gambles, my expectations were low but my hopes were high..... But now I don't know if I hit the jackpot or if I have yet another project watch for the wife. As always, with any vintage timepiece, it is the details in the dial that raise suspicion....

The good:

- The watch is running! Hell yeah baby!!!!
- The case looks solid with bevels still visible. Serial 44X,XXX
- Crystal & crown appears to be original to the watch
- A Tudor stainless bracelet came with it!!! Original to the watch? Not sure

The could go either way:

- What the hell is up with the 9 and 6 on the dial? I've never seen this before. It's like things got freaky between a Tudor ranger and a big rose and they had a baby. I've examined this dial under 10X magnification from all angles and various different light sources and it looks good, it doesn't look like a redial, but that 9 and 6 completely throw me off. Could this be a super rare dial variant for the reference? Or perhaps the 9 and 6 were added on to an original dial? Or maybe I'm just blinded by high hopes and it's a obvious redial? I've never had two numbers drive me more crazy than this

The bad:
- The crystal is in desperate need of some loving.
- A portion of the reference between the lugs is fading off but I can make out that its a 7966
- The bracelet is short for a man but could work great on a women, and since this is for the wife who cares


Anyway, what do you all think? Is this something special, or a weird dial customization?

Attached are a bunch of photos for reference. Oh and practically all the scratches in the pics are on the crystal and not the dial.

Thank you all for your opinions as always, good or bad.

 

I don't know enough to be trusted but I like it ! Congrats
Dibs if by any chance your wife decides she prefers quartz, by the way

 

Gave her an IWC mark and a vintage connie over the years and she's never looked back to quartz since.

 

Darn, I wish I could find something like this on a flea market then ! But such things never happen around here it seems...

 

I scout the markets like clockwork and ever since the internet became a thing, everyone seems to think they know it all, so they jack up the prices on both the garbage and the good stuff.

 

Hi,
Nice find for $300. I believe the bracelet isn't original to this watch and would be from a newer model, still very nice to have a Tudor bracelet.
I'm thinking that dial is refinished, The Tudor should be a little larger next to the prince oysterdate, There is a space between oyster and date, I believe it should be all as one word. I have a old dial very similar to yours for a gold capped case, I can add a picture tomorrow for you to check over.
I really like the watch and think it's a nice watch.

 

You may very well be right. I was more suspicious of the letter "I" in "winding" and of course the 6 and 9. Hoping some Rolex/Tudor wiz's can critique.

 

I am also mixed on dial likely being redialed (Swiss MADE) - very slight chance service dial from 80s but I seriously doubt it.

Cool looking piece

 

Here are a couple photos of a genuine dial from a 7966, notice how the oysterdate is one word with no separation, you can look up other watches on Rolex forum. Also notice the size of the word Tudor over the Prince Oysterdate, The layout on yours seem to be different then all others I've seen.
The 6 and 9 I do not know if that was done at the factory or during a redial, you may have a rare dial but I don't know. I have never seen a T udor dial with just the 6 and 9.

 

Thanks for the photos, that was helpful! Looks like i'll have to source a dial, which almost always is a nightmare

 

You're welcome.
Sourcing genuine vintage parts can be a challenge, if you're in no hurry then it can be a exciting adventure.
Best of luck sourcing a new dial.

 

For

is it for sale?

 

Hi there,
1/ Did you notice this is a thread from 2017 and that the watch was purchased for a wife’s birthday?
2/ even if it ever were for sale (which I doubt given the above), there’s a pending dibs on it (mine) — in other words: « get in line ».
Thanks for your attention, and best regards

 

Hah ... hah ... hah ... hah ... !!!

Way to get in there and defend your claim Syrte!

 

Lol, maybe she didn’t like it