Tudor Serial Numbers

Tudor Serial Number Chart (1940s–2000s)

Approximate, compiled from collector serial charts — Tudor published no official table. Note the mid-1980s reset: around 1984 Tudor restarted the numeric block at low five-digit numbers, so a low serial can read as either the 1950s or the late 1980s. From ~2002 serials are randomized and not date-decodable.

Where to Find Your Tudor Serial Number

Because vintage Tudor uses Rolex-made cases, the serial is engraved between the lugs at the 6 o'clock side of the case — you remove the bracelet to read it, exactly as on a vintage Rolex. The 4-digit reference number sits between the lugs at 12 o'clock.

On more contemporary Tudor cases the serial may instead appear on the underside of the lugs or the caseback edge, so if it isn't at 6 o'clock, check there next. It's also printed on the guarantee card.

For modern Tudor, the warranty card or Tudor's digital Watch ID is the only reliable date reference — the serial itself won't decode.

Where to look, line by line:

• Oyster Prince, Submariner and Monte Carlo, 1950s to 1990s: serial between the lugs at 6, reference between the lugs at 12, both under the bracelet end links. The screw-down caseback is Rolex's, and most are engraved ORIGINAL OYSTER CASE BY ROLEX GENEVA on the outside; the crown is Rolex-signed on the vintage Submariners.
• Prince Date, Hydronaut and the other 1990s and 2000s lines: same two positions between the lugs, with the B or H prefix through 2001 and random serials after that.
• Heritage Black Bay (2012 on), Pelagos, Black Bay 58, 1926, Royal and the current catalogue: reference and serial still on the case between the lugs, the serial at 6; on some references they are cut into the underside of the lug instead. The number is repeated on the guarantee card, and since 2020 the card carries an NFC chip that opens Tudor Watch ID, the brand's online record of the watch.

How to Read a Tudor Serial Number

Tudor's serial format changed across four eras, and the format alone narrows the period before you reach the chart:

• 1940s–early 1980s: pure numeric serials, broadly sequential like Rolex case numbers — roughly datable from collector charts.
• ~1984: Tudor reset the numeric sequence to low five-digit numbers, so a small serial can collide with a 1950s number. Use the reference and card to disambiguate.
• Late 1980s–1990s: a letter prefix (B, then H) followed by up to six digits — e.g. B330000 ≈ 1990, H100000 ≈ 1999.
• ~2002–present: randomized serials mixing letters and numbers with no date logic. These need the warranty card or Tudor's records to date.

Tudor Reference Numbers

Vintage Tudor uses 4-digit reference numbers (with later 5-digit evolutions), engraved between the lugs at 12 o'clock — opposite the serial. The reference identifies the model family, case type, and sometimes the bezel or dial variant. Well-known examples include the 7928 and 79090 Submariners and the 7031/7032 Monte Carlo chronographs.

Modern Tudor uses longer alphanumeric references that encode the model line (Black Bay, Pelagos, and so on) and variant. They're catalogue codes, not date codes — production timing still comes from documentation rather than the reference or serial alone.

Is Your Tudor Real? What the Serial Can and Cannot Tell You

Tudor publishes no serial database, and neither Tudor nor Rolex will confirm a number for a member of the public; a serial that "checks out" on a third-party site has only been matched against another listing, and counterfeiters copy real numbers. What the serial gives you is a consistency check, and on a Tudor the check has more parts than usual because so much of the watch is shared with Rolex.

Start between the lugs. The serial and the reference should be machine-engraved, sharp and evenly spaced, in the same hand as each other, and the serial should fall inside the window for the reference (the tables above): a 7928 in the 300,000 to 620,000 band, a Big Block in the 800,000s or the reset block, a 79190 with a B or H prefix. A serial outside the window means the case is not original to the watch. Then the case itself: a vintage Tudor Oyster case is a Rolex case, so it carries the ORIGINAL OYSTER CASE BY ROLEX GENEVA engraving on the back, Rolex-pattern lugs, and on the Submariners a Rolex-signed crown. A vintage Submariner in a case with no Rolex marks, or a Tudor-signed crown on a 1960s reference, is a marriage of parts or worse.

Then the movement, which is the conclusive check. Vintage Tudor ran on ETA (Fleurier) and Valjoux calibers, not Rolex movements: Fleurier ETA 390 in the Submariners through the 7928, ETA 2483 and then 2776 in the 7016 and 7021, ETA 2784 in the 9411, ETA 2824-2 in the 79090 and 79190, Valjoux 7734 and 234 in the Monte Carlos and Valjoux 7750 in the Big Blocks and 79xxx chronographs. Those movements are common, which is exactly why frankens are: a real ETA in a real Rolex case behind a redialed or reprinted Tudor dial is the typical problem, more than an outright fake. The dial, hands and bezel insert must be right for the reference and the serial's year, and our frankenwatch guide covers what to look for. From 2015 the Black Bay, Pelagos and their siblings carry Tudor's own MT56xx and MT54xx calibers (the early 79220 Black Bays of 2012 to 2016 used the ETA 2824), and a modern Tudor with the wrong caliber for its reference is a fail on its own.

The card should carry the same serial as the case. Since 2020 the card holds an NFC chip that opens Tudor Watch ID, which shows the watch's details from Tudor's own records and is the closest thing to a factory confirmation a modern Tudor offers; a card that will not open a matching record has answered the question. Every Tudor sold on Grey Market is opened and inspected by an independent verifier before the seller is paid.

What the Serial Says About Value

The serial's year sorts a Tudor into its generation, and on the Submariners and chronographs the generation is most of the price. A 7928 from the early 1960s with a pointed-crown-guard case and a gilt dial is a different market from a late 7928 with a matte dial; a 9411 with the snowflake hands and blue dial carries a premium over a Mercedes-hand example of the same years; a first-series Monte Carlo 7031 with the Valjoux 7734 and the home-plate dial is worth several times a 1990s 79260. Within the modern catalogue, the serial does less, but the card and Watch ID record that go with it are what separate a full-set Black Bay 58 from a head-only one.

Where the serial matters most is originality, because Tudor is the most frankened brand at its price point: the cases are Rolex, the movements are ETA and Valjoux, and both are easy to source. A serial that sits inside the window for the reference, a caseback with the Rolex engraving, the correct caliber and a dial and insert right for the year are what a full-provenance vintage Tudor is priced on. The reference guides on this site show what each Submariner and Black Bay reference has actually sold for, banded from recent dealer, auction and Grey Market results; if the watch is one you might sell, the reference, the serial's year and whether the papers match are the three things a buyer will ask first.

Frequently asked questions