Tudor Oyster Royal 'Honeycomb Albino Explorer', early 1950s

Dealer description — Analog/Shift

Tudor’s legacy as maker of high-quality tool watches was cemented long before the brand re-entered the American market in late 2013. A perfect example of the brand’s watchmaking pedigree is this super cool - and mega rare - Tudor Oyster Royal from the 1950s. Tudor’s waterproof Oyster-cased watches - like Rolex's - were introduced in 1946. This example, a Reference 7934, dates to the early 1950s and features a 34 stainless case and a manual-winding movement. Also present are a domed acrylic crystal, ‘holey’ lugs and a Rolex signed screwdown crown. Most excitingly, this lovely piece features an incredibly rare luminous textured white honeycomb ‘albino’ dial with applied gold ‘dart’ indices and Arabic numerals at the quadrant positions, much like the Rolex Explorer. In the early years of the watchmaking industry, before mass-machining took effect, every component of a watch was constructed by hand, or milled on a hand-powered machine. Although this watch was a product of early machine production, textured dials such as this one are still extremely complex to construct. Paired with a gold dauphine handset and a blued-steel center seconds hand, this special piece hits the right notes hard in the dial department and is sure to set many hearts aflutter! We’ve outfitted this piece with our Analog:Shift Byrd Blue Leather Strap which pulls out the blue from the second's hand, complementing the warm patination present throughout the piece. If your preference in timepieces can be described using words such as vintage , rare , textured , albino , Explorer - dial , and patina - you've just found the next addition to your collection!