Intrinsically you could argue that Tudor is, in some ways, at least as good a bet as a Rolex as a long term buy - not least because the movement means that owners won't be so tied into the whole Rolex servicing thing. We have several Tudors in the family and it does make a difference.
BUT the fact that Tudors are so easily available new from European dealers at chunky discounts does mean some significant depreciation I think. I'm hoping to pick up a nearly new Pelagos in a bit, and I'll expect to pay less than I can get a new one for from a European source.
Went down to see the display at EJ in Watford today, out of all the watches the one that struck me was actually the advisor with the white dial:
Thought it looked rather nice in the flesh as it were.
The BB didn't grab me, nor many of the others with very thick cases.
Finally managed to have a quick look today in Edinburgh and although my brain is a bit addled at the moment I fell in love with the Pelagos.
Tried it on and even though I have small wrists felt I could get away with it, love the weight and profile.
They are having an open evening in a weeks time and look forward to speaking to Tudor UK then.
Indeed so, that's the acid test - the stems of any watch the same diameter with a similar sized movement will be equally as fragile (or not so fragile), no matter how the spacer is constructed - as long as the movement is solidly fixed. I really doubt that's a problem with Tudors.
...but what do I know; I don't even like watches!
I had a chance to handle a Pelagos, Black Bay and Heritage Chrono this afternoon and they're lobely pieces. I was rather taken with the simplicity and weight of the Pelagos though (along with the intriguing clasp) and it's certainly got me thinking about another brand I hadn't particularly considered in terms of modern pieces.
It was the Heritage Chrono (blue) I thought would be my favourite but it's rather a tall watch.
Had a peek at the Tudors in Frazer Hart yesterday.
I was interested to see the Ranger....I wad a bit disappointed to see how large it is.
Tried on the Black shield today with leather strap/red stitching. Im not a big fan of the leather, seems too plasticky.
And TBH its a valjoux 7750 for £3.5k!
This particular watch is a modern version of their 1957 alarm watch and so has a mechanical alarm module in it as well. I think for this reason it's one of the most expensive with a rrp of £4160 with the bracelet or £4020 on leather.
Probably can be had cheaper from the EU dealers though or Grey dealers like Iconic.
I tried on a black bay, pelagos, and ranger the other day.
The ranger is just too big for the style of watch, and in my opinion, the aged lume looks a bit naff. Same goes for the red bezel black bay.
The pelagos is a very well put together watch in my opinion, and I loved the bracelet design. The watch is very simple, quite brutal, and tool-ish in person. The example I looked at had a slightly misaligned bezel, and I would have insisted on it being refitted prior to purchase, because that's inexcusable on a watch at that price in my opinion, although I understand that's common with rolexes these days too.
The black bay with the blue bezel was gorgeous and I fell in love with it on the spot. It's just a stunning watch. If only they did a version with a date function (a black date window would be preferable. They do seem to have a thing for white day/date displays on black dials).
Huge value for money IMHO!