Wristwatches · Wristwatch
Tudor Home Plate 7031, 1970
- Maker / attribution
- Tudor (maker)
- Date
- 1970
- Historical period
- Quartz Revolution (1969 – 1990)
- Country of origin
- Switzerland
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Dimensions
- Case 40 mm
- Stock no.
- Product 3855643050071
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, S.Song Watches (product 3855643050071)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Tudor Home Plate 7031 (English)
View the source record (dealer listing) ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction
Record summary
Catalogued by S.Song Watches (dealer), Seattle (stock number Product 3855643050071), this is a wristwatch by Tudor, made in Switzerland, dated 1970. The Atlas places it in the Quartz Revolution period (1969 – 1990) of its Wristwatches collection. Recorded dimensions: Case 40 mm. The record is illustrated with 6 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Dealer description — S.Song Watches
The Tudor Home Plate was first produced in 1970 and was the first ever chronographs made by the manufacture. Produced for less than two years, before being succeeded by the 7100 Series Monte Carlos, the Tudor Home Plate is one of the rarest and most sought after vintage Tudor pieces. While Rolex was much more austere in its design language, its younger sibling Tudor has a much more liberal approach to watches, as demonstrated by this Home Plate. Featuring square crown guards, screw down pushers and housed in a 40mm stainless steel case, which at the time was a whole 4mm larger than the Daytona, this Tudor features orange accents on the dial and hour markers shaped like a home plate on a baseball field- which explains the nickname. The dial is finished off with a matte grey background and two black angular subdials and outer track. There is no denying that the Home Plate is one of the most desired vintage Tudor pieces to collect, but this example is made complete with its box, guarantee and original receipt, detailing its sale in July 1971 by the then Tudor retailer Paul Wagner OHG in Vienna, Austria. Furthermore, it is very common to see spotting and tarnishing to these grey Tudor dials, but this example has been kept in excellent condition, with a nearly flawless dial. Example like this are hard to come by and while the hype is all about the Daytona today, do not forget about its younger and just as special sibling as it will surely be a great investment for any collection.
Historical context
Quartz Revolution (1969 – 1990)
Seiko's Astron begins mass quartz timekeeping; traditional industries contract sharply.
Quartz and digital watches transformed the market after 1969. Swiss employment collapsed, Japanese and Hong Kong production soared, and the Swatch (1983) helped the Swiss industry recover; mechanical watches survived as luxury goods.
Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Modern Mechanical Horology
Atlas type guide
Wristwatches
Bracelet watches were worn by women from the early nineteenth century — Breguet made one for Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples, in 1810–12 — but the wristwatch only became a man's instrument with military use and aviation in the early twentieth century. Between the World Wars it overtook the pocket watch; the 1920s and 1930s brought rectangular Art Deco cases, water-resistant cases and the first automatic winding systems.
After 1945 the wristwatch became a carrier of identity — dress watches, sports and dive watches, chronographs, calendars — produced by Swiss, American, Japanese, German, Soviet and Chinese industries. The quartz revolution after 1969 and the mechanical renaissance since the 1990s, including the rise of independent watchmakers, complete the story.
What to look for
- The reference number (between the lugs or inside the case back) and serial number, the starting point for dating.
- The calibre: its maker and number are often stamped under the dial or on the bridge.
- Originality of dial, hands and crown — refinished ('redial') dials are common.
- Case material marks: 18K/750, 14K/585, stainless steel, gold-filled, plated.
Dating clues
- Wire-lug cases: before c. 1925.
- Water-resistant screw-down cases: from 1926.
- Quartz movements: from 1969; sapphire crystals widespread after c. 1980.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
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