
Wristwatches · Wristwatch
Tudor Oyster Air-Tiger, c. 1960
- Maker / attribution
- Tudor (maker)
- Date
- c. 1960
- Historical period
- Modern Mechanical Horology (1945 – 1969)
- Country of origin
- Switzerland
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Dimensions
- Case 35 mm
- Stock no.
- 40990171
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Analog/Shift (40990171)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Tudor Oyster Air-Tiger (English)
View the source record (dealer listing) ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction
Record summary
Catalogued by Analog/Shift (dealer), New York (stock number 40990171), this is a wristwatch by Tudor, made in Switzerland, dated c. 1960. The Atlas places it in the Modern Mechanical Horology period (1945 – 1969) of its Wristwatches collection. Recorded dimensions: Case 35 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 — Analog/Shift
Smaller, midcentury Tudor watches may be one of the last realms of “affordable Rolex.” Hear us out: This particular watch, a reference 7957 Oyster Air-Tiger, is emblematic of the simple, utilitarian (and beautiful) designs Tudor was debuting in the mid-20th century. (The Air Tiger was part of a series of watches honoring the British pilots who gallantly defended English skies during the Battle of Britain, and was made by both Tudor and Rolex.) Dating to roughly 1960, it features a 35mm steel case, acrylic crystal, signed crown, polished steel bezel, and sunburst silver tritium dial with applied baton indices and matching handset. The excellent case features a nice touch on its caseback — a deep engraving of “Oyster By Rolex.” Though many 35mm Tudors — and indeed, Rolexes — featured automatic movements, this particular gem is a manually wound watch, meaning the case is particularly thin and disappears easily under a cuff. If you’re the type of person who enjoys the ritual of winding your watch every day (as we certainly do here at Analog/Shift), then this is the right watch for you. Nab this affordable piece of the Rolex pie before anyone’s the wiser!
Historical context
Modern Mechanical Horology (1945 – 1969)
Tool watches for divers, pilots and astronauts; electric watches anticipate the electronic age.
The classic era of the mechanical wristwatch: dive watches, chronographs for motor racing and space flight, GMT watches for jet travel, slim dress watches, automatic calendars, and the rise of Japanese manufacturers alongside Swiss, American, German and Soviet industries.
Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking
Atlas type guide
Dive and water-resistant watches
Keeping water and dust out of a wristwatch was a long-standing challenge. Rolex's screw-down Oyster case (1926) and Omega's Marine (1932) were landmarks; in the early 1950s Blancpain's Fifty Fathoms and Rolex's Submariner defined the professional dive watch with rotating bezels for timing dives, luminous dials and high water resistance. The ISO 6425 standard (1982) later codified what a 'diver's watch' must do.
Dive watches became icons of post-war design and exploration, and their evolution — helium escape valves, ceramic bezels, saturation-diving depth ratings — records the history of underwater work.
What to look for
- Unidirectional or bidirectional rotating bezel with minute markings.
- Screw-down crown and case back; depth rating printed on the dial.
- Luminous hands and markers (radium before c. 1960, tritium c. 1960–1998, then Super-LumiNova).
- Reference numbers on the case between the lugs or inside the back.
Dating clues
- Screw-down Oyster cases: from 1926.
- Professional dive watches: from 1953.
- Tritium 'T' marks on dials: c. 1960–1998.
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.
Related records
Wristwatches · c. 1973
Tudor Prince Oysterdate Ranger II, ref. 9101/1, c. 1973
Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva
Wristwatches · c. 1973
Tudor Prince Oysterdate, ref. 9101/1, c. 1973 (Antiquorum Lot 389-114)
Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva
Wristwatches · c. 1973
Tudor Prince Oysterdate, ref. 9101/1, c. 1973 (Antiquorum Lot 389-115)
Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva
Wristwatches · c. 1974
Tudor Princess Oysterdate, ref. 9311/0, c. 1974
Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva
Wristwatches · 1945
Wristwatch by Eterna, 1945
Museum Rotterdam
Wristwatches · c. 1945
Breitling Premier, ref. 790, c. 1945
Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva
Wristwatches · c. 1945
Universal Genève Uni-Compax, ref. 22492, c. 1945
Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva
Wristwatches · c. 1950s
Baume & Mercier wristwatch, c. 1950s
Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva
