The term “military watch” can mean several things. It can be a watch simply designed for and sold to soldiers, a commemorative watch with a certain unit’s military insignia or phrase on the dial or caseback, a military prototype, or a proper military-issue watch. Tudors have been all of those things, and below we’ll show and discuss every Tudor Military Watch that we know about!
If you’re new to the brand, you can also see some general information about Tudor.
WWII Era Tudor Military Watches
During World War 2, Tudor was still a very new brand. They were available in Britain, as well as British Commonwealth markets like Australia and Canada, but Tudor was nowhere near the international brand it is today.
24-hour dials
Dials with 24-hour markings are sometimes known simply as “military dials.” Many of the Rolex and Tudor watches sold in Canada in the 1940’s had them. A vintage Tudor military watch from this era will typically be around 30mm and sport a red seconds hand. These were squarely aimed at soldiers heading overseas, and Rolex seemed to drop the 24-hour dial aesthetic when the war was over. However, we haven’t found evidence that these 24-hour Tudors were actually issued by a military.
More Tudor Guides: Rolex and Tudor Watches Only Meant for North America
Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve (1940’s)
Vintage Rolex guru Derek Dier discovered this 1940’s Tudor apparently issued to a member of the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve. The “RCNVR” caseback engraving has also been seen on watches from the standalone “Oyster” brand, which was arguably a precursor to Tudor.
“Commando” Prototype (1960’s)
The “Commando” prototype, with its odd locking lugs and 12-hour bezel, was developed with input from the US Navy in the 1960’s. It never reached production, but it did inspire the Tudor P01 which launched in 2019 and as of 2023 it was still in the lineup with an MSRP of $4,325. Here’s a shot of the original Commando from a Tudor press release:
Military-issue Submariners (1950’s-1980’s)
Military-issue Rolex Submariners (“Mil-Subs”) are extremely valuable and get a lot of attention, but historically, Tudor Submariners were actually used by military units more often. These Mil-Subs are some of the most desirable vintage Tudors ever made.
Learn about Watch Nicknames:
Your Go-to Guide to Rolex Nicknames
Guide to Audemars Piguet Nicknames
Given Tudor’s more affordable price point and comparable reliability, it makes sense that Tudor was favored from a government purchasing standpoint. Members of French, Canadian, Jamaican, Israeli, South African, and American militaries have all been issued Tudor Submariners at some point.
Each type of Tudor Mil-Sub is worthy of a deep dive in its own right, but here we’ll give you an overview of all the military-issue Tudor Submariners over the years.
Marine Nationale (French Navy)
Tudor’s website proudly boasts of their extensive history with the Marine Nationale (French Navy).
“TUDOR’s special relationship with the French Navy dates back to the beginning of 1956 when the Toulon-based Underwater Study and Research Group or Groupement d’Étude et de Recherches Sous-Marines (G.E.R.S.) in French received Oyster Prince Submariner watches for evaluation. These were examples of references 7922 and 7923.”
Tudorwatch.com
Marine Nationale would continue to order various Tudor Submariner references through the early 1980’s–including a special-order destro model made for a left-handed officer-instructor. The famous casebacks with “M.N.” engravings first appeared on ref. 7016 in 1974.
South African
Some of the lesser-known Tudor “Mil-Subs” were the Snowflake Submariners issued to South African soldiers–mostly black 7016 models, made from about 1974-1980. Ross Povey, the Tudor expert behind tudorcollector.com, has been researching them for years and believes “there is high probability that these watches were sourced through the French Marine Nationale, by the South African Navy.” Unlike the Marine Nationale Subs, however, the caseback engraving on the South African examples is just a simple number.
Navy SEALs
Tudor Subs issued to the US Navy have been steadily rising in price.
“SEALs were issued no-date Tudor Subs starting in the 1960’s through mid-1970’s…I remember doing ops with SEAL Team 2 when I was a Recon Marine and lusting after their Tudors.”
Rolex Forums user Beef
Most SEAL-issued Subs have “USN” engraved on the caseback, while others have “SUBASE 3,” for a Submarine base.
In 2021, Loupe This auctioned a special 7928 from 1963. The “MDL-48” on the caseback indicates that it was issued to a Navy SEAL working at the Mine Defense Laboratory in Panama, FL.
Underwater Swimmers
SEALs weren’t the only US Navy divers to be issued Tudor Submariners. Some graduates of the Navy’s Underwater Swim School (UWSS), which operated in Key West from 1954-1973, received ref. 7016 models with “UWS” on the caseback, signifying that its wearer was a bona fide “Underwater Swimmer.” Craft & Tailored came across a fantastic example of one with a lollipop seconds hand.
Israeli Defence Force
This 7928 Submariner was “issued to the Shayetet 13, the Special Forces arm of the Israeli Defence Force” according to SweepingHand.co.uk.
Jamaican Defense Force
Bulang & Sons came across a lovely 1980 Snowflake 94110 with “J.D.F.” on the caseback, for “Jamaican Defense Force”. If you happen to know what “S.W. 33” means, let us know in the comments below.
Canadian military
Canada issued Tudor Submariners to some of their soldiers as well. Derek Dier made another great find with this gilt 7928 Submariner from the mid-1960’s with Canadian military caseback engravings still visible.
Argentine Infantry Corps
Several Tudor Subs have been found with a number followed by “-Ci” engraved on the caseback. For years, these stumped collectors, with many believing them to be Canadian-issue. As Hairspring.com notes, ultimately, “a long forum discussion with confirmation from Tudor determined these to be a rare series of 7928’s issued to the Argentine Infantry Corps.” The “Ci” stands for “Cuerpo de Infantería.”
Military insignia dials (1980’s)
Rolex made a wide variety of dials with government insignias over the years, but vintage Tudor watches with such logo dials are much rarer. We did find a couple, and we’ll break them down for you now.
Learn more: Rolex Government Logo Dials
UAE Armed Forces
Rolexes with a golden eagle insignia for the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces have become quite collectible. Their Tudor equivalents are even harder to find!
UAE General Command of Civil Defense (Police)
Although most logo dials with this Emirati crest feature a gold eagle, dials with a different script underneath the bird were made for the UAE General Command of Civil Defense, which is more like a national police force than a military unit. These dials feature a silver eagle.
Libyan Army
A Vintage Rolex Forum user named nicolaus-it listed this Tudor with a Libyan Army crest dial for only €1,000 back in 2010. It’s the only one of its kind we’ve found so far, although there are Rolex equivalents with this same insignia.
Pelagos FXD 2-liner
Tudor seemingly took a multi-decade hiatus from the military watch world, but recently they’ve rekindled their relationship with their most legendary military partner. The Pelagos FXD, with its fixed lugs and fully hashed bezel, was developed along with input from the Marine Nationale (French Navy). The very first Pelagos FXD’s were issued to the Marine Nationale in 2021, and those are identifiable by their “2-liner” dials.
Standard production FXD’s have 4 lines of text at the bottom of the dial. Tudor released a black version of the Pelagos FXD in 2023, celebrating their relationship with the US Navy. According to Watches of Espionage, the black FXD was issued to SEAL Team Six about a year before the consumer version was released. The military-issued versions have caseback insignias, unlike the sterile consumer versions.
Modern Tudor Military Logo Dials
For the past few years, Tudor has apparently been ramping their custom logo dial program back up. Modern Tudors have been found with dials sporting the logos of car meetup groups, fashion brands, Ed Sheeran’s “Divide” album, a Puerto Rican fishing tournament, and many more. Often collectors find dials made for military units to be the most interesting. We’ll show you pics of all the known modern Tudor military watch dials here! Almost all of them are from the UK or France.
Number 32 (The Royal) Squadron dial
Number 32 (The Royal) Squadron is a unit of the British Royal Air Force often responsible for transporting VIP’s. Appropriately enough, 32 examples were made.
24 Commando Royal Engineers dial
The British Army’s website says this about the 24 Commando Royal Engineers: “Our commando sappers are the Royal Engineer soldiers and officers who provide combat engineering solutions to the very high readiness forces of 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines.”
Army Air Corps (UK) dial
Unlike the Royal Air Force, which is responsible for aerial warfare and primarily uses planes, the Army Air Corps provides support for army ground units, predominantly with helicopters. 31 Tudor Black Bay Steels were made with the AAC insignia.
RaSP dial
The final modern British Tudor military watch we have to show you is the RaSP Black Bay. The Metropolitan Police’s Royalty and Specialist Protection Unit, or “RaSP,” is essentially British equivalent of the US’s Secret Service. This is one of 75 examples.
COS dial
Le Commandement des Opérations Spéciales (COS) is the French special operations control division. The chronometer text matches the colors of the French flag.
CPEOM dial
The Centre Parachutiste d’Entraînement aux Opérations Maritimes (CPEOM) is a French clandestine combat diver unit. Like the COS dials, the customization is fairly subtle–no big custom logos. The red 7 o’clock marker represents 7 meters–the maximum depth diveable on pure oxygen. Unlike typical scuba divers, who generally use compressed air (21% oxygen) or nitrox (32-36% oxygen), combat divers almost always use pure oxygen.
Fittingly enough, the phrase “Memento Audere Semper” on the dial means “Always Remember to Dare”–not far off from Tudor’s “Born to Dare” slogan. Combat divers dive with pure oxygen, as opposed to standard compressed air which is 21% oxygen.
DGSI dial
The DGSI dial looks like a typical blue Black Bay 58 dial at first glance–until you notice that the chronometer text is in French. DGSI stands for “Direction Générale de la Sécurité Intérieure,” which translates to “the General Directorate for Internal Security” in English. It is the domestic intelligence agency of France responsible for counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and various other national security matters.
DRPP dials
These dials say “Semper in Mali Umbra,” meaning “always in the shadow of evil,” appropriate enough for the Direction du Renseignement de la Préfecture de Police (DRPP), a French police unit responsible for security intelligence in the Paris area. This is one of 50 examples.
Joint Task Force 2
“Facta Non Verba” means “Actions, Not Words,” a fitting slogan for a watch worn by a member of Joint Task Force 2. JTF2 is a Canadian special operations force that is primarily responsible for counterterrorism and special reconnaissance missions. It is considered one of the most elite military units in Canada.
Hawkeye
Watches of Espionage discovered the first modern-day Tudor with a custom dial made for an American special ops unit. A special batch of 50 Pelagos LHD models were made with “Hawkeye” written in red on the dial, representing the nickname for the Counter Assault Team (CAT)–a specialized unit within the U.S. Secret Service’s Special Operations Division (SOD). The CAT provides tactical support to the Presidential Protective Detail.
Tudor’s custom dial program is still active, so more of these commemorative Tudor military watches are likely to come. Have you seen a Tudor military watch with an insignia or phrase on the dial not yet shown here? Let us know in the comments below–we’ll try to keep this list updated to keep it as comprehensive as possible for all the military Tudor fans out there!