Vintage Tudor Princess Oysterdate

[jmb]

My wifes birthday was a couple weekends ago so I decided to do something special for her since she's put up with me for over 30 years and usually gets short-changed in the gift department.

I was going to get here a Swiss movement Ladies Datejust to replace her a21j powered one and then I ran across this vintage gen Tudor while sifting flea-bay listings for other stuff. The pics were nice and it looked to be in excellent cosmetic condition so I pulled "ye olde trigger". The watch arrived Saturday and other than a folded link bracelet that was about 1.5" too short for wive.gov I was pleasantly surprised. I swiped the band from her Datejust rep that had a schizo movement and she was "up and running" in short order. I have ordered a Tudor signed two-tone bracelet but the full SS one doesn't look that out of place for the time being.

Here's a few pics for the Tudor-philes amongst us:

I was a little surprised to discover that although the crystal has roughly the same diameter as the Datejust rep the case is visibly smaller which sort of damped her enthusiasm for the piece just a little bit:

Once I get the proper band about the only other thing I see that needs attention is either the crown or more likely the tube. Possibly the tube has been replaced and the replacement was an aftermarket piece that was a bit too long?

[redwatch]

Nice find J! Yes, the tube does look like it might be an after market tube. The crown is definitely sitting off the case just a little too much.

[jmb]

A bit of "judicious" file work should remedy that...

[alligoat]

Looks nice, JB. A new set of hands would also be nice. I'd bet your wife could care less about an 'original condition' watch! Which movement is beating inside?

[TeeJay]

That's looking pretty sharp

[BrianT]

Real nice piece, now you need the crimped style bracelet with the Tudor shield to finish er off

[jmb]

This is the original band:

Mr. Goat - I haven't opened it up yet but listening to it tells me it's a low-beat so I would think it might be a 2751?

[brendo22]

Super cool piece J! Definite upgrade for the wife!

[FxrAndy]

Nice one Jmb

[aeromatic]

Very nice! well done!

[omgiv]

Great find!!! I have been looking for a watch for my wife that she would wear. Tudor's are so nice!!!!!

[ubiquitous]

I just love that crystal profile...

[jmb]

Yeah, it's tall and very clear so I'm assuming that it was replaced about the same time that half the case was polished away!

[jmb]

The wife called this morning on her way to work, frantic, and said her new watch had water in it!!! I told her that was a bad thing and to turn around and bring it back... I thought, "After spending this much on a watch and it $hits the bed the second day she wears it, I'm screwed..."

I met her on the sidewalk and traded her for her old trusty a21j Ladies Datejust and she hauled a$$ to work. I looked at the Tudor and there was fog on the inside of the crystal - CRAP!I went out to the shop, opened up the back and found a dry deformed O-ring - strike one... I then pulled the stem and found a badly mangled tube and cut up O-rings - strike two and three. I started feeling sick because I was gonna have to tell her it would be a couple weeks before she could wear it since I was going to have to order some parts. But, I don't give up that easy...

I found the O-ring from the case back of her dead Datejust rep fit the Tudor back perfectly so on it went. I tried to remove the crown but didn't have a tool small enough so I drilled off the external part of the tube and then ran a smaller size drill bit through it and it grabbed and screwed the remains into the case where it could be removed. I figured I had the hard part finished so the quest for a tube began.

Some time back I ordered some 6mm crown and tube sets from my "parts guy" and the tubes were much too small for the standard 3mm hole so I had almost forgotten about them. I pulled one of these out and the thread matched the case perfectly and the gen 5.3mm twin lock screwed right on! I took the rubber gasket out of the 6mm crown and installed it into the 5.3mm crown and it was a perfect fit as well. A drop of thread locker was applied and the new tube was installed into the case and lo and behold the crown now screws down flush with the case!

I still haven't built one of those pressure tester gizmos so I'll just remind her to not get it very wet but it surely will be a lot more watertight than before!