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Tudor Oyster Air-Tiger, c. 1964

DocumentedDocumented from a dealer's listing; attribution and date as stated by the dealer.
Maker / attribution
Tudor (maker)
Date
c. 1964
Country of origin
Switzerland
Object type
Wristwatch
Dimensions
Case 35 mm
Stock no.
40991591
Credit line
Dealer listing, Analog/Shift (40991591)
Catalogue title (original)
Tudor Oyster Air-Tiger (English)

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Record summary

Catalogued by Analog/Shift (dealer), New York (stock number 40991591), this is a wristwatch by Tudor, made in Switzerland, dated c. 1964. 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 circa 1964, it features a 35mm stainless steel case with 'holey lugs,' an acrylic crystal, a Rolex signed crown, a polished steel bezel, and sunburst silver Tritium dial with applied indices and matching 'alpha' handset. 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.

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