The year 1976 saw the launch of the third family of Tudor chronographs, known as “Big Block”. With the Prince Oysterdate models, the brand presented its first chronographs equipped with a self-winding mechanical movement and confirmed what the Oysterdate family had begun. Tudor offered immediately recognizable chronographs with excellent technical qualities just like the bigger brother Rolex Daytona line of chronographs. The movement uses the Valjoux caliber 7750. Having the same diameter as the manually wound Valjoux 234, 30.4 mm or 13 lines, it was 1.5 mm thicker than the latter and had a frequency of 28,800 beats per hour. Its chronograph mechanism was a highly reliable cam and oscillating pinion system.
The architecture of this new movement leveraged by Tudor at the time brought about a reorganization of the dial with the addition of an hour counter, the transfer of the group of counters towards the left of the dial, and the relocation of the date aperture to 3 o’clock. The early Tudor Chronograph references do share a lot of common traits with the big brother Rolex Daytona references including a Rolex Oyster bracelet, and 589 end-links, as well as the Rolex Trip-Lock crown and screw down pushers. The dial on this specific Tudor reference 79170 is also very similar to the Rolex Daytona's of this era.
This 1989 Tudor Chrono Ref. 79170 is a true collector's piece and is in stunning original condition. The early Tudor Chronograph references are commonly referred to as the Tudor "Big Blocks" as the mid-case size is thicker and heavier than the big brother Rolex Daytona references.
| Stock # |
|
TBBC79170-89 |
| Brand |
|
Tudor |
| Style |
|
Big Block Chrono |
| Model |
|
79170 |
| Serial |
|
301XXX |
| Size |
|
Men's |
| Material |
|
SS |
| Dial |
|
" Reverse Panda" Black With White Sub Dials |
| Millimeters |
|
40 |
| Bracelet |
|
Tudor Oyster 78360 With 589 End Links |
The case of this 1989 Tudor Ref. 79170 chronograph aka "Big Block" has a sharp case and remains in sharp unpolished condition. The original 78360 oyster bracelet retains all of its original links and shows very minimal stretch and is unpolished like the case of the watch. The rotating bezel is in excellent vintage condition and has taken on a beautiful slight blue color hue patina.
The dial of this 1989 Tudor Big Block Ref. 79170 is in pristine and original condition. The " Reverse Panda" dial is wonderful and flawless original condition. The white subdials also give this watch a stunning contrast on the wrist. The hands are free of any corrosion and the tritium lume dots are in full and intact condition showing zero lume degradation when viewed under U.V. light.
The watch also just received a full service and comes backed by a 1-year warranty on accurate timekeeping.
