Rolex

Ross Povey
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Oman Tudor...

I'd like to share with you all a really special Tudor chrono that I recently acquired. I have long been an admirer of the Middle Eastern logo watches and have owned a couple of logo dialled Datejusts over the years. My favourite of the logos is the Sultan of Oman and so it was that when I first saw my new Tudor Chrono, I had one of those "I've got to have it" moments!

The watch is a Tudor Chronautic ref 79380 and was supplied to Rolex's official AD in Oman in 2004. The version of the crest that appears on my watch is the one used by the Sultan of Oman and Muscat for family gifts. The 'icing on the cake', in terms of provenance for this watch, is that I have two letters from Rolex UK confirming all of the details of delivery signed off by the infamous Mr Hudson! The cherry on top of the icing is the fact that this actual watch is featured in the recent Isnardi book The Tudor Anthology.

The condition of the watch is virtually new old stock, with the protective plastic still on the bracelet clasp. The dial is a lovely gloss black and the depth of the case and the familiar Trip-lock crown lend the watch a solid hefty feel that is always a pleasant surprise with these Tudor Chronos. It's the third generation of the Oyster cased chronos. The 791x0 Big Blocks led onto the slimmer 792x0 cases. This is the final incarnation as the 793x0 series and feels somewhere between its predecessors in terms of thickness.

The quality of the engraving on the caseback is really amazing and under a loupe shows some real detail! Last, but by no means least, is the Tudor box. The Oman crest is printed in gold above the TUDOR monicker is a very nice collectible piece in itself!

Anyway, enough of my ramblings! I do have to say a big thank you to my great friend Roberto for parting with this beauty. Also, credit to John Harris for his research work that led to the watch getting the very important 'Hudson Letters'.

So, on to some pics. The bad ones are mine and the amazing ones are Roberto's!









Thanks for looking chaps!

Ross