Manufacturer: Tudor Year: Circa 1971 Reference No: 7031/0 Model Name: Oysterdate Chronograph Material: Stainless steel Calibre: Mechanical, 7734, 17 jewels Bracelet/Strap: Stainless steel Rolex Oyster bracelet, 175 mm. maximum length Clasp/Buckle: Stainless steel Rolex Oyster folding deployant clasp Dimensions: 40 mm. diameter Signed:Case, dial and movement signed Literature: For another example of a reference 7031/0, please see Tudor Anthology by Alberto Isnardi, page 128 and 129.
Catalogue Essay
The present watch represents the first of the Tudor chronograph introduced in the 1970s. It is recognized by its bakelite or acrylic inserts and its grey dial with black registers. Tudor also upgraded their coding system in 1967 using 5 digits instead of 4 and the last digit identifies the case metal, in this case, '0' indicates steel.
The present watch is a very original example with strong case definition. This Tudor Oysterdate Chronograph features a 40 mm. case and a 14 mm. thickness, screw down pushers with milled design and its so-called 'Monte Carlo-type' dial, a nickname given as the dial represents the casino chips. The dial is also referred as a 'home-plate' dial due to the dial design resembling a home plate in baseball.
Almost twenty years after Rolex was founded, Hans Wilsdorf established Tudor with the intention of making more affordable watches without compromising the quality for which Rolex was renowned. Tudor was named after the British Dynasty that ruled England from 1485 to 1603, and their symbol came from the "War of Roses." After interchanging Rose and Shield symbols for a number of years, the firm replaced the Rose with the Shield logo from the 1960s until today.
Some of the most recognized vintage models made by Tudor include the Submariner, a waterproof model first introduced in 1954, the Oysterdate, the earliest versions of which were nicknamed the "Monte-Carlo," the Heritage, which included the date at 6 o'clock, as well as the Pelagos, which translates to "deep sea" in Greek.