My first post in the Rolex forum. Something I didn't thought would happen. I'm mostly an Omega collector, but do like/have other brands and even if I never let myself be bitten by the Rolex bug, I do have respect for a lot of their old stuff, especially the divers. But l'm just not a fan of the mercedes hands, but would like to try out the oyster case. So I had my eyes on the Tudor Snowflakes for some years, but nothing really fancied me. Most with date, and the cycplos was a no-go, many with replacement parts, redone lume, outright fakes etc etc. My trusted watchmaker, who's also happens to be a longtime collector, had one for years, but never could be persueded to let it go. Well, not until recently, where all the watch planets were aligned Enough rambling from a happy camper. Here she is. An early blue snowflake reference 7016, serial 742x, ETA 2483, caseback marked IV 70 inside, early swiss only dial with the typically "rot", heavy patina on the lume, both dial and hands, but not so much on the minute hand - not uncommon I think. Fat font faded bezel, original pip, crown and crystal AFAIK... and dare I say it, a sharp case with nice bevels - not polished much, if ever. But a couple of dings and scratches to add to the patina. It seems all original, but I'm by no means an expert on these... and would really like to know what the more knowledgeable Rolex/Tudor collectors inhere have to say. So please comment, the good, the bad and the ugly - if any. And sorry for the picture overload...couldn't help it ;-) Thanks
Cool Snowflake! I too am not a fan of Mercedes hands and/or cyclops/dates. This makes me rethink my dismissal of the Tudor range, a real tool watch gets me pretty excited. The Wabi is strong with this one, and your photos are incredible (what is your camera/lense?) in bringing out the wonderful patina. As is so often the case (NPI) I see such great vintage watches on this forum, but no matched wear on the straps, I'd like to see this one a properly thrashed band
Thanks. Well, top pro equipment...an old galaxy s4 plus a $5 clip-on macro lens Non taken! Well, I'm not a big fan of those distressed straps that's in fashion ... I'm old school, and even though this one won't see water in my time, a diver has to be on steel, rubber, shark or synthetic IMO. So it's on a very dark blue perlon for now;-) ... But a blue swiss tropic or brown/tan shark could happen in the future
Beautiful watch....stunning! It's all good, no bad or ugly as far as I'm concerned but I'm certainly no expert either.
Great story... and watch. Love the "dial rot" on these earlier Tudor sub references. An example of patina I like. Oh, and ..... DIBS,
Incredible. A rare blue 7016, with just the right amount bubbling, orange lume and a mint case. It's the perfect Tudor, it was definitely worth the wait. Congratulations.
These become quite desirable, a dealer and my watchmaker always end up asking me if I want to sell my snowflake.
Nice pick up for you - congrats! They do have a certain charm to them, in particular with strong patina on the lume, like this one I serviced last year... Cheers, Al
Lovely. Same thinking as you - been eyeing the snowflake for yonks, just can't bring myself to pull a trigger unless stars align!
Lovely! Heres mine. Was lucky enough to have a correct 7206 riveted bracelet with it. Actually, finding one with an unretouched dial and original crown is pretty scarce! Both the SWISS and the T SWISS T are period-correct (according to the "Tudor Anthology" reference book). The dial rot is actually only noticeable at high contrast. Absolutely will not be something you will dislike seeing if it's on your wrist.
Tudors are my main focus. I am semi certain that case is spot on, not polished beyond a Cape Cod cloth - and not even sure that much. Blue 7016, flake dial, likely unpolished, nice patina - you nailed a pretty hard to find watch - nice job! Let me know if decide to part with it My blue says hello
