French Navy 1950's - 1983.
The french navy use of Tudor is perhaps the
closest cooperation between a countrys armed forces and Rolex, except for the
Panerai and UK Milsub connection. The very first french "Marine
Nationale" watches seen date back to the mid 1950's with the Tudor
Reference 7922 Submariner.
The french navy employed Rolex military
issued Submariners from the early 1960's till around 1968. At this time Tudor
took over. It should be noted that the French navy also used other brands -
including Doxa. Because of this, it is hard to ascertain how many Tudor
Submariners were issued all together. However considering the rarity in the
market, it is realistic to believe that the amount is similar to that of the UK
Military Rolex equivilant.
Timeline....
1950's. Reference 7922 is developed.
Introduced circa 1953. Some say for prototype use at M.N. French navy and Rolex
has always been close and it is fair to assume that Rolex developed military
watches together with M.N. in similar fashion to the Comex / Rolex association.
Reference 7924 turn up circa. 1958.
1959 (late) till 1968. Tudor Reference 7928
Submariner. The case developments described in the submariner section is
similar to the Military spec versions.
1968 till 1975 (approx.) the M.N issued
Tudor Reference 7016 and 7016/0 Submariners. These had black dials and this
dial variation were very prone to dial rot. Few good examples exist today. This
is not a problem specific for M.N issued versions though. The same issue exist
on civilian versions. Snowflake configuration ran from 1974-1975
1976 till 1979 (approx.) the M.N issued
Tudor Reference 94010 Snowflake submariners. These had blue dials and blue
bezels. The dials were the "new" generation and not prone to dial
discoloration. The snowflake design is quite classic with the square minute
hand and square markers.
1980 till 1983 (approx.) the M.N issued
Reference 94010 with Triangle markers and ordinary mercedes hands.
TUDOR Reference 7922. Big crown version.
M.N. issued. Photo by Maurits / DrStrong. Linked with permission.
TUDOR Reference 7924. Big crown version.
M.N. issued. Photo by Maurits / DrStrong. Linked with permission.
TUDOR Reference 7928. 1960's M.N. issued.
Photo by Maurits / DrStrong. Linked with permission.
TUDOR Reference 7016. 1974 issued
"Snowflake" - Black dial. Marine Nationale. Photo by DrStrong. With
permission linked to this site.
TUDOR MN '77. Reference 94010. Blue
combination dial/bezel. Photo by Morgan
TUDOR MN '77. Reference 94010. Twoliner MN
77 engraving. Note that there is no bracelet wear. Photo by Morgan
TUDOR Submariner Reference 94010. MN issued
Submariner. Decommisioning paperwork. Note the triangle marker dial and
"mercedes" hands. Photos by Ross.
TUDOR Submariner Reference 94010. Note the
brushed sides. Most unrestored M.N watches have these. Photo by Ross.
TUDOR Submariner Reference 94010. Caseback
engraving. Easy to fake - so paperwork and provenance is key on these watches.
Photo by Ross
S.M Beveziers. Submarine. Photo by French
Navy.
Note that the MN 81 has a 5 digit serial
number. In approx. 1980 the serials reached 999.999 (This run from mid 1950's
till 1980 - 1 million watches produced) and as a consequence Tudor started
again from zero. Precisely what number they started at is unknown, but 60.000
serials has been seen - I am certain lower ones also exist.
The 5 digit serials run till around 82-83
at which point they reach 100.000 and continue from there. In the late 1980's
the serials are prefixed by a letter. Starting with B. It appears that the B
was added before 999.999 was reached again. More details in our serial #
section.
Verification....
In general a M.N. Tudor is a ordinary Tudor
Submariner however there are a few fine points that make then unique.
- A M.N. produced in the 1960's and onwards
have caseback engravings
- All watches were delivered on NATO
straps. Therefore no bracelet markings between the lugs. However sometime
bracelets were retrofitted after end of service.
- Dial variations within their production
period should be correct (i.e. blue dials on 94010)
They can be verified by the following
means:
- Most newer (after 1960's) pieces were
decommissioned correctly and unlike the UK milsubs they were not stolen.
Therefore decommissioning papers were issued. These should be scrutinized in
detail. (as it is basically a piece of cardboard)
- If the decommissioning papers are lost or
does not exist certain watches can be verified by other means. Typically
military service records of maintenance performed on the watch.
Watches that does not meet these two
requirements will typically be impossible to verify unless special provenance
follow the watch or the serial # has been run by Rolex Geneva.