What is the Tudor?

[bmpregler]

I see it come up fairly often and I am pretty new to the world of watches. Is it an early Rolex or there "off" line? Are they still produced?

Thanks

[Alcan]

Tudor is a second line manufactured by Rolex for a slightly downscale market. No longer marketed in the U.S. but still available in most countries.

[Spark]

As Al correctly says Tudor is a Rolex Brand, which was originally aimed at a lower price bracket than Rolex itself.
They were and still are made in the Rolex factory, but were quite tightly tied to Rolex as a selling tool and the oyster cases used on the steel watches were marked Rolex and they had Rolex crowns fitted and Rolex signed bracelets.
Now they have moved away from this and are trying to make the brand more stand alone.
Hans Wilsdorf had many, many brand names over the years as well as Rolex, but Tudor was the only one that lasted.
Although Wilsdorf was German by birth he was a British citizen and was until the day he died.
A lot of the brands and models registered to Rolex had royal connections, which has been attributed to his fondness for the British monarchy like Prince, Princess, Royal and Tudor.
Other brands of Rolex include Unicorn, Marconi, Oyster watch company, Rolco, Genex, Lonex and Elvira.