An Unlikely Tudor Throwback (in Solid Gold) Heads to Only Watch

We’ll have a lot more on our favorite lots from this year’s Only Watch sale next week, but on this day of big Tudor news, we’d be remiss not to mention their contribution to the 2023 edition of the charity auction, a solid gold chronograph inspired by their very first automatic chronograph. The Tudor Prince Chronograph One brings some luxury flair to the auction from the tool watch specialist, in a format that the brand had all but abandoned by the time they relaunched in the US over a decade ago. In addition to being a literal unique piece (as all watches in the Only Watch sale are) this one sports a new caliber that is honestly kind of hard to believe even exists in 2023. 

The 12, 6, 9 chronograph display here is a familiar sight to anyone who has dabbled in enthusiast centric chronos – it’s the hallmark layout of the vaunted Valjoux 7750, an ubiquitous caliber if there ever was one, used by more brands than we can possibly count over the years, including, of course, Tudor. The Tudor Prince Chronograph line that made use of these movements as well as the earlier “Big Blocks” dating to the late 1970s have always been collector favorites, coming in a variety of colorways over the years. It differs sharply from modern Tudor chronographs that use their in-house caliber with a 3,6 9 layout that seems to beg for comparisons to the Daytona, which of course is made by Rolex, Tudor’s sister brand.

Now that classic layout is back, sort of, with what Tudor describes as a “prototype Manufacture Chronograph Caliber,” or Caliber MT59XX if you want an official designation for the movement. On the technical side, it features a column wheel and Tudor says it meets all of their stringent performance standards. You’ll notice that unlike the 7750, this movement features only a date at 3:00, and forgoes the day of the week display (we get a Tudor wordmark and logo in its place). 

The case is 42mm and based on the original “Big Block” Tudor chronographs, originally released in 1976, a precursor to the Prince Chronographs that would come later. It’s a big hunk of yellow gold, with a matching solid gold bracelet, and a vintage inspired and totally appropriate aluminum bezel insert. The dial is a classic lacquered black with sunken gold subdials and accents. Altogether it’s a fairly brash statement, particularly at 42mm, and one of the more unexpected throwbacks we could imagine given the now widespread use of Tudor’s existing manufacture chronograph movement, Caliber MT5183. 

The big question here, obviously, is what will become of this movement? A one off movement designed from the ground up is an expensive endeavor indeed, although if there are a handful of brands that are rich enough to do such a thing, Tudor is probably in that conversation (Patek Philippe is another, and their yet to be unveiled contribution to Only Watch this year is, in fact, a watch with a movement they’re promising will only be made once). Regardless of the future of Caliber MT59XX (if there is one) we’ll be watching the auction results for the Tudor Prince Chronograph One closely when the Only Watch auction is held in November. Tudor