TUDOR reaches an important milestone in 2026. One hundred years have passed since “The TUDOR” trademark was registered for Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf in February 1926, beginning the story of a brand that would eventually develop its own identity across diving watches, chronographs, expedition models and more refined everyday designs.
The centenary has not been marked by one predictable anniversary watch. Instead, TUDOR has used 2026 to show several different sides of the modern brand. The Monarch looks back to early dial design and traditional finishing. The Northflag revives one of TUDOR’s most individual modern watches. The Black Bay Chrono 39 brings smaller proportions and a striking yellow dial, while the Black Bay Chrono “Carbon 26” continues the brand’s Formula One connection through lightweight materials and a limited production run.
These are not every TUDOR reference introduced during 2026. They are four of the releases that best explain how the brand is approaching its hundredth year.
The beginning of TUDOR requires a little precision. In February 1926, the Geneva watch dealer and maker Veuve de Philippe Hüther registered “The TUDOR” trademark for Hans Wilsdorf. Wilsdorf later acquired the exclusive rights to the name, but Montres Tudor SA was not established until 1946.
His objective was clear: to create watches offering the dependability associated with Rolex at a more accessible price. That relationship shaped early TUDOR watches, but the brand gradually built a recognisable history of its own.
The Oyster Prince arrived in 1952, followed by the first TUDOR Oyster Prince Submariner in 1954. Purpose-built watches supplied to professional and military divers strengthened the brand’s tool-watch credentials, while the launch of its first chronograph in 1970 added a more colourful and experimental side.
Modern TUDOR still draws heavily from that history, particularly through the Black Bay and Pelagos collections. However, the most interesting 2026 releases show that the centenary is not limited to recreating familiar dive watches.
Buyers can explore the current selection of pre-owned TUDOR watches held by MVS Watches, including current references and earlier models from across the brand’s modern catalogue.
The TUDOR Monarch is the release most directly connected to the centenary. Rather than producing another vintage-inspired sports watch, TUDOR has returned to a more formal name and an unusual design language drawn from its earlier watches.
Its dark champagne-coloured dial combines Roman numerals across the upper half with Arabic numerals across the lower half. This mixed layout is sometimes described more broadly as a California dial, although TUDOR refers to it as an “Error-Proof-style” design. The papyrus-like tone and vertical brushing give it a warmer appearance than the black, blue and burgundy dials more commonly associated with the brand today.
The faceted stainless steel case measures 39mm across and 11.9mm thick. It is paired with a two-link integrated bracelet and TUDOR’s T-fit rapid-adjustment clasp. Water resistance is rated to 100 metres, keeping the Monarch practical despite its more refined appearance.
The movement is particularly important. Calibre MT5662-2U is both COSC and METAS Master Chronometer certified, offers a 65-hour power reserve and is visible through a sapphire caseback. Its finishing includes perlage, Côtes de Genève and an 18ct gold inlay on the rotor.
Display casebacks remain relatively unusual within TUDOR’s wider catalogue. Here it makes sense. The Monarch is intended to show a more traditional and decorative side of the manufacturer, rather than hiding the movement inside another closed sports-watch case.
The Northflag returned in September 2026, and it may be the most interesting release of the four for existing TUDOR collectors.
The first-generation North Flag appeared in 2015 and stood apart from the increasingly dominant Black Bay collection. Its angular case, integrated bracelet, black dial and yellow details gave it a modern tool-watch identity. It was also technically significant as the first production TUDOR to use the brand’s own manufacture movement.
The new model officially adopts the single-word Northflag name and remains recognisably connected to both its predecessor and the 1973 TUDOR Ranger II that originally influenced the design. It retains the integrated bracelet, large Arabic numerals and yellow accents, but it is not simply a reissue.
The 40mm stainless steel case is 12.7mm thick and now contains the METAS-certified Manufacture Calibre MT5652-U. The movement provides an integrated GMT function and approximately 65 hours of power reserve. Local time is read conventionally, while the yellow arrow-shaped hand points to a 24-hour scale on the angled inner flange.
The black dial includes monobloc luminous ceramic hour markers, a date at three o’clock and a mixture of distinctive hand shapes inherited from the model’s unconventional design language. A domed sapphire caseback reveals the movement, while the two-link steel bracelet includes the T-fit rapid-adjustment clasp. Water resistance is 100 metres.
TUDOR has made the Northflag available exclusively through its boutiques at new retail. That restricted distribution adds another layer of interest to an already distinctive return.
The TUDOR Northflag GMT M9140G1A0U-0001 currently held by MVS Watches is an unworn 2026 example supplied as a complete set.
The Black Bay Chrono 39 takes a different approach. Its immediate talking point is the bright yellow dial with contrasting black sub-counters, which has led to the watch becoming widely known as the “Bumblebee”. The more important change, however, is the case.
Previous steel Black Bay Chronographs used a 41mm case. This version reduces the diameter to 39mm and the thickness to 13.1mm, answering one of the most persistent criticisms of the existing model. The 20mm lug width and three-link bracelet should also make the watch feel more compact than the headline measurements alone suggest.
The dial retains the familiar bicompax arrangement with a date at six o’clock. A fixed steel bezel carries a black anodised aluminium tachymeter insert, while screw-down pushers and 200 metres of water resistance maintain the practical specification associated with the Black Bay range.
Inside is the Manufacture Calibre MT5813, a COSC-certified automatic chronograph movement with a column wheel and approximately 70 hours of power reserve. TUDOR has therefore changed the proportions and appearance without stripping away the specification that made the larger Black Bay Chrono successful.
The yellow and black combination will not suit everyone, but neutrality is clearly not the objective. Alongside the earlier Pink and Flamingo Blue versions, the Chrono 39 shows TUDOR becoming more comfortable using colour and smaller production models to reach beyond the standard Black Bay palette.
The Black Bay Chrono “Carbon 26” is the most overtly technical and motorsport-focused release in this group. It was developed around TUDOR’s partnership with the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls Formula One team and takes its visual cues from the 2026 VCARB 03 race car.
Its 42mm case is made from black carbon composite, with a one-piece carbon-fibre tachymeter bezel and carbon end links connecting the case to the hybrid leather and rubber strap. The strap itself carries a tyre-pattern texture. PVD-coated titanium is used for the screw-down chronograph pushers and caseback.
The racing-white dial uses black sub-counters and yellow details drawn from the team’s 2026 car. Alternating layers of brass and carbon fibre create depth around the chronograph registers and date aperture, making the material part of the dial construction rather than limiting it to the case.
At 14.3mm thick, this is not a small watch. The extensive use of carbon does, however, reduce its weight and gives the 42mm case a different wearing character from a similarly sized steel chronograph.
The Manufacture Calibre MT5813 provides a column-wheel chronograph, COSC certification and approximately 70 hours of power reserve. Despite the carbon construction and motorsport theme, water resistance remains a useful 200 metres.
Production is limited to 2,026 pieces, directly referencing the year of TUDOR’s centenary. Each watch carries its individual edition number on the PVD-coated titanium caseback.
MVS Watches currently holds an unworn, complete-set TUDOR Black Bay Chrono “Carbon 26” M79377KN-0003.
These four watches do not follow one design formula, which is precisely why they work as a centenary group.
The Monarch reaches back towards TUDOR’s early aesthetic history while using a modern Master Chronometer movement and unusually detailed finishing. The Northflag brings back a model that never relied on conventional dive-watch nostalgia and gives it a useful GMT complication. The Black Bay Chrono 39 responds to demand for more restrained proportions, but pairs them with one of the boldest dials in the range. The Carbon 26 uses modern materials and motorsport engineering to produce something far removed from a traditional anniversary watch.
There is still plenty of heritage in the collection, but TUDOR is not treating 100 years as an excuse to remain fixed in the past. Smaller cases, integrated designs, brighter colours, METAS certification and carbon construction all have a place in the same year.
For collectors, the strongest release will depend on what is already in the watch box. The Monarch offers the biggest departure from TUDOR’s established sports-watch image. The Northflag is likely to appeal most strongly to those who remember the original. The Chrono 39 improves a familiar formula through proportion, while the Carbon 26 provides the clearest link between TUDOR’s watchmaking and its current Formula One programme.
It has been a varied centenary so far, and that feels more appropriate than one safe commemorative model.
“The TUDOR” trademark was registered for Hans Wilsdorf in February 1926. Wilsdorf later acquired the exclusive rights to the name, while Montres Tudor SA was established in 1946. TUDOR therefore marks the centenary of the original trademark in 2026.
TUDOR has introduced several watches during its centenary year rather than relying on one anniversary model. Four of the most significant are the TUDOR Monarch, TUDOR Northflag, Black Bay Chrono 39 and limited Black Bay Chrono “Carbon 26”.
No. The new Northflag retains design cues associated with the first generation and the 1973 Ranger II, but adds a GMT function, METAS Master Chronometer certification, an updated manufacture movement and a display caseback.
Yes. The Black Bay Chrono “Carbon 26” is limited to 2,026 individually numbered pieces, referencing both its production year and TUDOR’s centenary.
At the time of publication, MVS Watches holds unworn 2026 complete-set examples of the TUDOR Northflag GMT M9140G1A0U-0001 and TUDOR Black Bay Chrono “Carbon 26” M79377KN-0003. Availability can change as watches are sold.
TUDOR celebrates its centenary in 2026 with a varied group of new watches. We look at four of the most significant releases so far, including the returning Northflag and the limited Black Bay Chrono “Carbon 26”.
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