My wrist list is long, and getting longer by the week, adding new references almost daily; more often than not, convinced by a compelling press release and some tasteful press shots. I won't buy all of these pieces, of course, but there they sit, joining their contemporaries on my notional wrist.
That is, apart from Tudor; a brand that I haven't always been drawn to, I’ll admit. But after seeing the novelties in the metal in Geneva this year, the Swiss luxury brand has quietly become one of the more compelling offerings in today’s horological market.
Perhaps I listened too intently to the old blokes shouting at clouds, telling us all that Tudor was nothing more than Rolex's little brother. Of course, there is some truth to it all – Tudor was launched by Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf as a line of watches at a more approachable price point, built with off-the-shelf movements paired with Rolex cases and bracelets.
Through the 20th century, Tudor built its reputation on military and professional-diving contracts – the French Marine Nationale and US Navy SEALs issued Tudor Submariners to divers from the 1960s through the 1980s, and the "Snowflake" hands, now the brand's signature, were a functional feature developed for the French Navy in the late '60s, not a styling flourish.
The Heritage Black Bay landed in 2012 as effectively a "greatest hits" of Tudor's dive-watch history. Tudor got its first in-house movement in 2015, and by 2016–2018 in-house manufacture calibres had rolled out across the sports range.
But still, the Rolex comparisons (or should I say, the Tudor criticisms) continued. It would take something new entirely to shake the reputation and let Tudor step out of Rolex's shadow. It would take something daring.
It's only been in the last two years that you could genuinely say Tudor has found its own voice. Not by trying harder to distance itself from Rolex, but by doing the opposite, leaning fully into being Tudor, colour and all.
Start with the Daring Watches collection, because it's the clearest evidence we have of a watch brand defiantly unafraid to stand out in a sea of monochromatic metal.
In early 2024, Tudor dropped a bubblegum-pink Black Bay Chrono tied to David Beckham's MLS side, Inter Miami. The internet, predictably, broke. A year later, Tudor dropped the follow-up in blue, a turquoise dial teased by Jay Chou and Beckham on Instagram before Tudor had said a word about it.
Neither watch pretended to be one of Tudor’s functional tool watches with a wild dial slapped on. They were fun, limited, and earning attention for all the right reasons.
Then, this June, Tudor doubled down with the Black Bay Chrono 39 "Bumblebee", a genuinely significant release for the brand, and another addition to the ever-growing Daring Watches collection.
Yes, the black-and-yellow dial is the headline – something you will undoubtedly spot from the other side of the room – but for me, the real story is the case. Tudor finally shrunk the Black Bay Chrono from its long-criticised 41mm proportions down to 39mm, all while keeping the same Kenissi-built MT5813 column-wheel chronograph movement that's made this watch a value darling since 2017.
I was fortunate enough to get an intimate touch and feel with the new model in Sydney last month. It’s a huge improvement on a piece that wasn’t exactly short on suitors, with a slimmer profile – 13.1mm down from 14.4mm – that gives the wearer more comfort and wearability beyond just the spec sheet.
And then there's the Ranger, the one that perhaps turned my head in the first place. When the 36mm version landed at Dubai Watch Week in November 2025 alongside a new "Dune White" dial, it didn't get the same online fanfare as the Daring Watches.
But for me, it immediately jumped out as one of the best watches Tudor makes, with a warm ivory dial within a slimmer, tighter field watch. If the Black Bay and Bumblebee are raising the ceiling, a re-imagined (and re-sized) Ranger is raising Tudor’s floor.
And then, in April this year, Tudor turned 100. Instead of playing it safe with another Black Bay reissue – because let's be honest, that would've been the easy move – it built something entirely new, the Monarch.
A faceted, semi-integrated sports watch with a champagne "California" dial, snowflake hands reworked into something closer to Breguet, and Tudor's most finely finished movement to date, visible for the first time through a display caseback the brand has historically avoided.
It sits in that increasingly crowded "integrated sports watch" conversation dominated by six-figure Royal Oaks and Nautiluses, and it does it for around $8,000.
Alongside it, Tudor also launched a ceramic Black Bay (because they had to have at least one in the mixer). The case and bracelet are now fully ceramic (the bezel is black-PVD-treated steel fitted with a ceramic insert, as are the crown, caseback, and clasp). The finished product is sleek and innovative – anything but a reissue.
None of this happened by accident, of course. And none of it happened because Tudor was trying to out-Rolex Rolex.
CEO Eric Pirson – a 29-year Rolex Group veteran who's run Tudor since 2016 – has reaffirmed that Tudor isn't chasing Rolex's price segment, and never will. It's a strategy that took a beating in 2024, when Tudor's sales dropped a brutal 34% amid a broader industry slowdown.
But 2025 told a different story: units up from 160,000 to 180,000, average sale price climbing 26%, and its share of the secondary market rising faster than almost any other major Swiss brand. If you look closer, it reflects a larger trend we’ve seen across luxury in the last 6-12 months: collectors pivoting away from speculative pieces toward names with inherent value.
That's the thing that’s struck me recently. Tudor’s spent the last year making watches that are colourful, slightly weird, and staunchly unique, and it’s allowed Tudor to confidently step out of its sister brand’s shadow and somehow make it more serious for it. I didn't see it coming, but here we are: Tudor is one of my favourite watch brands going into the second half of 2026.