Welcome back dear friends of IWS, today we are here to make a brief analysis and comparison of two watches inspired by nature and its deepest exploration. We are talking about two timepieces that we can call in a way “cousins,” namely, the Rolex Explorer and the Tudor Ranger. We will talk about their history, the context in which they were born, and their design.
Many people to this day are wondering which one to buy between the two, and the choice is clearly difficult. Both are two of the most emblazoned, widely distributed maisons, but their two timepieces have totally different price lists. The features, materials and missions are similar, if not the same. But let’s begin to clarify, starting with their origins.
The Origins of the Rolex Explorer
The Rolex Explorer is the progenitor of the technical (Professional) watches developed by the maison over time, the first on which they focused and carried out all the tests to make it indestructible. The goal of the house is to create a watch with excellent technical and resistance characteristics, suitable for professional use, and therefore began by modifying a well-known model of the brand, namely the infamous Ovettone.
It is the 1950s, and this watch had already proven to be of excellent workmanship and durability, so it was used as a guinea pig.
Presenting a very sturdy case, Ref. 6098, it presents immediate legibility, thanks to its clear and bright dial, hardened hour markers at 3, 6 and 9 o’clock, and mixed “leaf” and “gladius” style spheres, thick enough to be read easily and clearly. It also has the numerical minute scale at the end of the applied hour markers and the Arabic numeral at 12 o’clock.
In addition to the above reference, there is nor another that turns out to be the direct progenitor of the Explorer I, namely ref. 6150.
It features a magnificent black dial that gives enormous prominence and contrast to the tritium hour markers, with Arabic numerals at 3, 6 and 9 o’clock, “Mercedes” hour sphere and “Lollipop” seconds sphere. Not yet called in the catalog by the name “Explorer” but simply by the name Oyster Perpetual, it presents only an identifying inscription with said name, purely for identification purposes, to denote the changes made in order to make it a super professional.
The year is 1953 when the British colonel, John Hunt, organizes an expedition to attempt the ascent of Mount Everest, the highest peak on the planet at 8,842 meters (8,842 feet). What better occasion to test and publicize the professional from the house of Rolex?
Well, the maison decides to equip the entire expedition with several “pre-Explorer” Rolexes in order to test their reliability in extreme situations. The expedition consists of at least 350 porters, about 20 Sherpas (the Nepalese climbing guides) and quite a lot of equipment. In short, it looks like a military undertaking!
On May 29, 1953, two men made it to the summit: New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepali Sherpa Tenzing Norgay. It is a great feat that has enormous resonance throughout the world, after a dozen or so attempts to climb Everest, had failed.
After the feat, Sir. John Hunt, wrote the following letter to the Swiss maison: “The Rolex Oyster Perpetuals, watches with which the members of the British team were equipped, proved their reliability on Everest. We are admired that they measured time so accurately…. Your Rolex Oyster watches were completely waterproof, impervious to immersion in snow and resistant to extreme temperature changes from the warm humidities of the low hills to the big freeze of the base camps. Last but not least, the automatic mechanism exempted the team from the hassle of winding their watches.” This letter will later be published in the Horological Journal.
The design
During the same year, Rolex decided to replace ref. 6150 in the catalog with the new ref. 6350 now assuming, the iconic name “Explorer”.
The new reference presents two new dials: “glossy” or with “Honeycomb” processing, keeping the same indexes present in the previous reference and carrying in plain sight, the new gold coloring of the maison and the “Explorer” designation. An important detail, are the minute markings, joined by a ring (continuous minute track). The spheres may be “Pencil” or “Mercedes” style, the bracelet is riveted Oyster type while the case is 36mm in size.
It mounts a house Rolex caliber named A.296 (created in 1950), automatic with a frequency of 18,000 vibrations per hour and a diameter of 29.50mm. In later references, the caliber will be replaced with the 1030.
Many are the references that followed until we arrive at ref. 1016, a lucky reference we can say, as it remained on the list for over 40 years until 1990; it presents some novelties such as the open minute track (cross-reference to the old reference), a new matte black dial, a new graphic font for the denomination and the introduction of the machine stop in 1972.
The origins of the Tudor Ranger
A watch with similar characteristics in terms of strength, water resistance and reliability; the beloved cousin of the Rolex Explorer, has much older origins. It was exactly 1926, when Hans Wilsdorf (the founder of Rolex), registered the brand name Tudor and only a few months later the name Ranger, with the sole purpose of making their wristwatches eye-catching.
Hans, a visionary like few, soon made headlines by providing swimmer Mercedes Gielze with a cushion Oyster case wristwatch with which to make the English Channel crossing. Well, needless to say, it worked as a publicity stunt but more importantly as a “watch” placed under conditions of enormous stress.
It was only in the early 1950s that people began to think of expeditions as a new test bed for Hans Wilsdorf’s reliable and durable watches, but before they got to the famous ascent of Mount Everest, which featured Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary, they aimed in England to organize an expedition to explore the Greenland ice sheet.
It is July 8, 1952, when from the banks of the Thames, precisely from Deptford, the scholarly expedition (consisting of 30 members) sets out for the Big Icy Island with the purpose of conducting research in glaciology and seismology, accompanied by their Tudor house wristwatches.
Obviously, the secondary task was to collect data on the functioning of Oyster case timepieces. This is the occasion when the watch gets the appellation Ranger! The reference used by the British North Greenland Expedition, is 7808, with a clear dial, Arabic numeral hour markers in the four cardinal points, and Dauphine-style hands. An important detail is the rose as the logo of the Geneva-based house; it is a traditional heraldic emblem of England that draws its origin and name from the Tudor family that united the Houses of York and Lancaster. Only from 1969 with ref. 9050 will dials feature the iconic shield as the house’s logo.
The design
Well yes, those looking for quality and robustness at an affordable price can certainly count on the reliability of the Tudor Ranger. The look is similar to the Rolex Explorer i.e. that of a “field watch,” after all, it is an “instrument” watch with a clear and immediate reading.
Starting with ref. 7995, which saw the light of day in 1965, it features a black dial with tritium hour markers and “arrow” style hands (a gentler arrow than those found on the dials of other watches). The minute scale is open, giving the dial more space and cleanliness, while the hour markers with Arabic numerals 3, 6, 9 and 12 are large and dominate the dial. The Swiss watchmaker’s logo and the watch name, are in a barely visible font while the 316L steel Oyster-style bracelet has riveted links. The caliber fitted, is an automatic ETA 2483.
Put crudely, Tudor is the younger brother of Rolex and therefore, it uses some components such as the crown, case back, case and bracelet of the crowned house until 1969, when some details will change with the introduction of ref. 9050. One example that immediately jumps out at you is the new logo of the house (a shield), the crown with an engraved rose, and the option of having it with or without a date window.
Final thoughts
In conclusion, we took a plunge into the past to rediscover the genesis of two professional wristwatches that have accompanied man in exploration, braving the freezing temperatures of Greenland and Mount Everest. There is neither a winner nor a loser, this is quite blatant since they belong to the same Geneva family, so it’s like shooting the same watch at zero!
Currently the two watches are quite different both stylistically and mechanically but still share that common call to adventure.
The differences are quite clear; the Rolex Explorer has a case diameter of only 36mm while the Tudor Ranger a diameter of 39mm. The Arabic numerals on the dial have a style reminiscent of the past for the Ranger, while the Explorer, wanted to keep up with the times by using a less “soft,” somewhat more futuristic font. The caliber that mounts the Tudor Ranger is an automatic MT5402, while, the Rolex Explorer, mounts an in-house automatic, namely the 3230.
Quality-price obviously tips the scales toward the Tudor Ranger, but there are those who want to remain loyal to the crowned brand and wear on their wrist a watch that has made it all the way to the roof of the world.
I’m pretty clear on the choice, and you? With which of the two watches, would you set off on a journey to the ends of the world?
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