Black Dial 7032 Tudor Monte Carlo ‘Home Plate’

In the same way that the 250 GTO represents a zenith of modern Italian car collecting, this particular 7032 represents the height in Tudor chronographs. This analogy is made more direct by the 7032’s design, known as the racing or exotic dial Tudor produced. The funky, playful orange accents paved the way for a multitude Tudor pieces we’ve all come to love since. The working man’s Paul Newman, if you will. This one does all those historic things, but with a little extra ‘look closer’ baked in. Those with a discerning eye will have noticed by now, this dial is not the usual grey slate with black registers.

Tudor is a traditionally a toe-in path to Wilsdorf ownership that doesn’t require loans. This is no longer the case in vintage. Much in the same way that modern Tudor is what Rolex used to be (ie producing no-frills bulletproof watches at a reasonable ask), vintage Tudor today is what vintage Rolex used to be in the mid 2000s (that is to say a developing market). So where does the Home Plate stand in that market?

The home plate significant in Tudor’s history in any guise. However, this 7032 sports an onyx-black dial with grey subs. Most will be accustomed to the reverse. The history is rarely discussed, but there is contention as to the origin of these. Make no mistake, this is a genuine example and dial. But no one knows exactly where these black dials come from. Some say that these dials come from a prototype phase where Tudor experimented with each before deciding on grey. Some say these were only given to preferred clients. Some say these are in-period service dials, though some on forums adamantly repute this. Whatever the case, these are legitimate Tudor dials and exceedingly rare. It is estimated that fewer than ten to fifteen of these exist, depending on who you ask. What is clearly is that its likely in the single or low double digits. For any bit of Wilsdorf steel, that is an uber-low production volume. This is a Tudor chronograph that stands as antithesis to the classic Tudor value proposition. It is rare in the extreme, collected, and astronomic in value.

I am shaking my head as I write this. Not only is the piece a one of ten-to-fifteen, it’s very well-preserved. I do not believe the dial has seen a relume or touch up. Its baseball-adjacently-shaped luminous plots from which the nickname is derived have evenly aged to a deep yellow matched in its handset. The orange accents are still bold. The case (39mm, just realized I haven’t mentioned yet that these are slightly oversized for period) may have seen just a touch of polish as was common by a caring owner in period, but the lugs are still very strong with pull proportion. It comes as a naked watch from a very well-regarded retailer.

Find this 7032 Home Plate here from The Keystone for 135K USD.