Stainless Steel “Advisor” Tudor "Advisor, Shock-Resisting”, Ref. 7926. Sold on December 12, 1962 . Fine, center-seconds, water-resistant, stainless steel gentleman's wristwatch with alarm and a stainless steel riveted Rolex Oyster bracelet with deployant clasp.
Case: Three-body, polished and brushed, screwed-down case back with outer ring, crown at 2 for setting and winding the alarm, winding crown at 4.
Dial: Black turning tropical with applied faceted gilt dart indexes and luminous dots. Luminous steel "alpha" hands, red-arrow hand for the alarm. Loss of gilt on some indexes.
Movement: Cal. 1474, rhodium-plated, 17 jewels, straight-line lever escapement, monometallic balance adjusted to 2 positions, shock-absorber, self-compensating flat balance-spring. Dial and movement signed, numbered on the case.
Circa: Sold on December 12, 1962
Serial: 227XXX
Diameter. 34 mm. Thickness 11 mm. Approximate overall length 180 mm.
More about Tudor:
Hans Wilsdorf launched the Tudor brand in 1946, with the aim to sell watches at "a more modest price" than Rolex, but without sacrificing the "standards of dependability" that consumers had come to expect from Rolex. 1952 saw the introduction of the Tudor Oyster Prince, with a famous advertising campaign featuring working men wearing Tudors in strenuous conditions.
The late 1950s experienced sucessful launch of alarm watches from major manufactures such as Jaeger leCoultre with the Memovox. That model was sold under many references in different market and was particularly well received in the American market. Other Swiss companies made interesting watches with an alarm such as the Vulcain Cricket. It is based on these success that Hans Wilsdorf released the Tudor Advisor reference 7926. Similar to the Cricket and Memovox, the Advisor top crown wound, set and activated the alarm and the bottom crown wound the main movement and set the time in the same fashion as the Memovox. Tudor used the A. Schild 1475, a manual wound movement for the Advisor used the Adolph Schild manually-wound Caliber 1475. It is was one of these rare exception when Rolex used outsourced movements in a watch with the oyster case.
The reference 7926 was made for 10 years but with a limited production due to its lack of commercial success, Our version is the rarest one with the "Ranger" dial . The dial has Arabic numerals, a gilt signature with the small rose and the alarm gilt minute counter. The dial has turned a dark brown and some of the markers have lost their plating giving the watch dial a beautiful and unique patina. The case is in great condition and the fact that the watch comes with its original fitted box, paperwork and entire service Tudor history makes it a no brainer for any collector.
