TUDOR

Rolex founder Hans Wildorf originally registered Tudor in 1926 before launching the company properly in 1946 — combining off-the-shelf Swiss movements with Rolex-made cases and bracelets in a mission to bring customers into the Rolex brand family at a lower price point. As one would expect from a more accessible sibling to luxurious big brother Rolex, Tudor has for most of its history been associated with tool watches — like the Tudor’s Oyster Prince, one of its best-loved early models, worn by the U.K.'s Royal Navy, and the Tudor Submariner, used by various military organizations around the world all the way into the 1990s. Tudor had been largely absent from the U.S. commercial market until somewhat recently, when the brand made a major push in 2013. Since then, Tudor has attained new levels of popularity among consumers, who have been duly impressed by red-hot models like the Black Bay and Pelagos, two dive watches whose style is largely derived from elements of the Oyster Price and Submariner, and by the company’s efforts to forge an identity separate from Rolex. The latter initiative can be found in watches like the Black Bay Chronograph, which contains a movement co-created with Breitling, and in the increasing number of Tudor in-house calibers supplanting the outsourced movements of yesteryear.

Founded: 1926

Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland

Ownership: Rolex SA

Notable models: Heritage Black Bay, Pelagos, Heritage Ranger

Did you know: Tudor Oyster Prince watches were worn on the 1952 British scientific expedition to Greenland.