VINTAGE ROLEX WATCHES: THIS WEEK IN WATCHES & 200TH POST!

Welcome to my first 'Sunday Special' - 'A week in the watch world' blog post. I will be posting these every Sunday so that you can stay informed of what the past week brought in to Knightsbridge HQ and other happenings in the world of horology! I will be choosing and discussing a few of the most exciting pieces to discuss. This also happens to be a very exciting milestone as the 200th post on my blog, which has been up for 5 years already!

This week I will be looking at and comparing the new Tudor Heritage Black Bay and the super cool vintage Rolex Prince - Eaton's 1/4 Century Club from the 1940's. Two very different watches that share the same 'heritage' within the Rolex company. I will also show a couple of my favourite picks from this pasts weeks SIHH Trade Show in Switzerland.

Two of my favourite watches that came in to HQ this week were the new Tudor Heritage Black Bay and the super classic 1940's Rolex Prince - Eaton's 1/4 Century Club. Both watches share DNA in the fact that they are both made by Rolex. The 1/4 Century was made for Eaton's by Rolex and the Tudor Watch Company is owned by Rolex.

TUDOR HERITAGE:
-released in 2012
-stainless steel
-retro styling
-41mm case diameter
-self-winding mechanical
-divers sport professional series watch

ROLEX PRINCE - EATON'S 1/4 CENTURY CLUB
-circa 1940's
-14k yellow gold case
-state of the art design for the period
-case diameter 23mm
-18jewel high-grade rectangular mechanical movement by Rolex
-classic dress watch

As you can see, two very different watches. Both with lots of appeal and character. The Tudor at the moment is fetching 'over' list price in the re-sale market due to high demand and short supply. The 1/4 Century has dropped considerably in the last few years as trend has moved to stainless steel sporty models. I believe that the prices of these old gold Rolex Prince watches has bottomed out and consider them to be a very solid 'long-term' performer to any collection. They are under appreciated at the moment; when they come back they will jump fairly quickly and considerably in price given the fact that are still quite rare and beautiful.

They did do a great job on the Tudor. It really has a very solid build quality and looks great on the wrist. It is a watch that can be worn everyday without ever worrying to wind it or keep it dry. A great mix of the modern reliability and retro styling. If you can get one at the list price I believe it will be a watch that will be well worn and not terribly expensive. I don't think it will ever become a 'rare' or 'collectible' watch, if your intention is to buy 'collectible', I advise you to stick the original issue models from the 50/60/70/80's.

Take a look below at a couple of my personal favourite pieces released at the SIHH trade show this past week.