Royal Blue 76200 Tudor Prince Day-Date

If you’ve always dreamt of a steel Day-Date, and many of us have, they do exist. Just perhaps not where you might expect. Arguably, Tudor’s Day-Date is just as attractive if a little less historic, something of a vice-president. The 76200 Prince Day-Date debuted in the early 1990s only to be shortly discontinued in many markets . . .then continued only the US after the big brand relaunch in around 2013. The result is a relatively uncommon 36mm steel Day-Date with a non-fluted bezel smooth as a Gigi Hadid’s forehead. However, this example is made substantially less ubiquitous by its royal blue dial, a rarely seen variant.

The Oyster Prince Date+Day, colloquially known as the Tudor Day-Date, began as usual Tudor value take on the popular president in 1969 with the ref. 7017/0. The line has always had an appeal all its own, continued in this neo/modern reference. First, there’s the case: smaller, thinner, and in steel, the Prince case wears supremely well. Value optimization for the shield has led to folded end links, a non-locking clasp, and no AR crystal. In addition, as if more charm were needed, the lugs are drilled. These could be seen as detractors by some, but do lend a bit of vintage feel to those of us used to that sort of thing.

The 76200 is underpinned by an ETA 2834, which, in addition to steel construction, meant that its original ask was about 1/10th of the equivalent Day-Date proper. These blue dials pop up in the market about once a month and have been slowly climbing in value, a rather quiet corner of watch appreciation that is steadily growing. There’s a lot to be said for Tudor, even in the lesser appreciated ‘pre-US’ neo-vintage era that many disparage. This 76200 is a solid offering in value, beauty, and light exclusivity. Oh, and this one’s got an Italian day wheel. All for less than a Tudor Royal . . .which never stood a chance.

This example has a strong case as far as I can tell from the images. Full lugs, light surface wear evenly distributed across its exterior. The dial is clear of damage, all luminova pips still there. It comes as a naked watch from a small retailer out of Italy on Chrono.

Find this royal blue 76200 here on Chrono24 for 3150 EUR.