When and why Tudor pulled out of the North American Market?

[DougFNJ]

Hey guys, doing a little research and cannot seem to find it. Does anyone know exactly when and why Tudor stopped selling watches to the North America market before rereleasing in 2012?

Finding very limited information. Sounds like a rebranding, and it happened somewhere between the late 90’s and early 2000’s.

Any links that would provide further information would be appreciated.


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[fskywalker]

Originally Posted by DougFNJ

Hey guys, doing a little research and cannot seem to find it. Does anyone know exactly when and why Tudor stopped selling watches to the North America market?

Finding very limited information. Sounds like a rebranding, and it happened somewhere between the late 90’s and early 2000’s.

Any links that would provide further information would be appreciated.


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Are you referring to a specific line from Tudor ? Tudor as a whole is still sold in the USA


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[Stan Cooper]

Originally Posted by DougFNJ

Hey guys, doing a little research and cannot seem to find it. Does anyone know exactly when and why Tudor stopped selling watches to the North America market?

Finding very limited information. Sounds like a rebranding, and it happened somewhere between the late 90’s and early 2000’s.

Any links that would provide further information would be appreciated.

Doug, they're still selling Tudors at the Rolex ADs. He's a link on the Tudor website to ADs in my area (San Francisco Bay Area).

https://www.tudorwatch.com/en/retail...7715813784&z=7

[-dustin]

I'm thinking OP means prior to 2013's (re)introduction to the US market, following the mid-90s-ish exit.

[brandrea]

[ArtNouveau]

I don’t remember the exact dates but I think they withdrew around ‘97-‘98. Their Tiger labelled chronos and three handers were in full swing at that time and both dealers and resellers had some blow out prices at the time. I picked up a yellow dial Hydronaut and a yellow dial Tiger chrono on strap for around 50% off their MSRP. Sadly I sold off both of them, a friend still wears the Hydronaut, the chrono probably still collecting dust in a drawer of a Houston collector. I tried to buy it back from him a few years later and he declined.
A bit of irony here. Those collections had a wide range of brightly colored dials which unlike the recent OPs were not very popular. Now they are pretty rare and command a premium over the more traditional black, white, blue dials.

[dannyp]

I read (I think somewhere on here) that it was part of a deal struck with Swatch Group: ETA would continue supplying movements to Tudor as always, but Tudor would not sell in the U.S (avoiding competition w/Swatch brands like Omega or Longines in the territory).

I also had a Tudor dealer once say something to the effect of Rolex ADs were unhappy about the proximity of some Tudor ADs, since they were supposed to have some exclusive "territory" to sell Rolexes within their regions. No idea if that's a) true or b) had anything to do with the temporary withdrawal from the market.

[Tools]

Montres Tudor SA discontinued sales in the US and UK in the early 2000s, resuming in the US in 2013 and the UK in 2014.



(wiki)

[DougFNJ]

I’m sorry, I edited the post, I meant the few years they stopped selling them before rereleasing in 2012.


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[DougFNJ]

Great responses. Someone on another forum provided me a helpful quote from a NY Times article



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[cornerstore]

Swatch group announced in 2013 they would No longer be selling ETA movements to third parties by 2020. Tutor re-entered the North American market in 2013 with an ETA movement to be phased out in 2015. The rumour in the past was Tudor apparently had a deal with Swatch, to be able to get ETA movements, Tudor would stay out of North America and not compete with Omega. True or urban myth who knows. However Time frames and logic do seem to line up.

[jb335]

Very interesting subject, I never knew Tudor sat out of the US market for over a decade. Would love to read more.

Were Tudors selling at a premium in the US during this period?


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[dannyp]

Originally Posted by jb335

Very interesting subject, I never knew Tudor sat out of the US market for over a decade. Would love to read more.

Were Tudors selling at a premium in the US during this period?


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Well, seeing how few in the US probably knew they existed, and this period overlaps with the only time in history that even steel Rolexes went for below MSRP, my guess is not.

[JParm]

I remember being interested in a couple Tudors when I first started this journey and then realized that you couldn't get them here in the states.

Then the Black Bays started coming around when the gates reopened, and Tudor hasn't looked back. I do wish they would try and break out a bit out of the Black Bay brand / style, but they are definitely a force at the pricepoint.

[ArtNouveau]

Originally Posted by jb335

Very interesting subject, I never knew Tudor sat out of the US market for over a decade. Would love to read more.

Were Tudors selling at a premium in the US during this period?


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The Tudor Heritage Chrono came out during the period they were absent in the US, an homage to one of their popular vintage models. I wanted one badly and found a reseller in Malaysia who sourced one for me. There was some demand for that model since you couldn’t easily get one but not a premium over MSRP.

[Old Expat Beast]

There are literally dozens of models in the Prince and Princess line that are still not available in the USA and UK as they never made it back during the return in 2013/4, but never went away in places like Hong Kong and Japan. Some lesser known models like the Aeronaut were released and discontinued during the US absence as I recall. If you dig around in TRF there are probably quite a few old threads discussing the Tudor return to the US market around that time.

[Oystersteel92]

I remember the catalogs that Rolex AD's would give out would have a small Tudor section in the back, but I never saw one for sale at any AD in the midwest or south that I visited during the 90's. They almost seemed like a figment.

I had to import my Date-Day from Hong Kong. Great watch for less than $2500 all in.