For many, the post-Submariner and pre-Heritage Tudor watches fall into an era of “not sure” or “wow, never saw that.” The situation wasn’t helped as the brand was withdrawn from sale in two of its biggest markets, the US and UK, for over a decade. With prices creeping ever higher, collectors who aspired to own “Snowflake” Subs, “Big Blocks” or “Monte Carlos” had to fork out significant sums for such pieces. With that in mind, keen Tudor collectors began taking an interest in the Small Block chronos and the later Submariners with Mercedes-patterned hands, and guess what? Since then, those watches have doubled, then tripled and now quadrupled in prices.
The next era in Tudor’s history is very different, however. You may not have even heard of many of the pieces, and I can guarantee most won’t be aware of all the versions that were made. Maybe I’m not either. But the watches that I am writing about today are most likely going to be tomorrow’s collectibles… (Isn’t that just always the case?) Before delving into this relatively unknown period in Tudor’s history, let’s talk about the word “naut,” which is most commonly used as a suffix. Its most well-known use is probably astronaut or as the Russians prefer
