What movement does the Tudor 79260 use?

It uses a Tudor-modified self-winding Valjoux 7750, listed as ETA 7750 or 7750-1 in many descriptions; these are the same movement family, not different calibres. It has 25 jewels, a bidirectional rotor, a 28,800 vph beat and a power reserve of about 42 to 44 hours, with central chronograph seconds, 30-minute and 12-hour counters and a date.

What is the difference between the Oysterdate and Prince Date 79260?

The difference is the dial signature. Earlier watches read OYSTERDATE and later ones read PRINCE DATE, a change Tudor notes in 1997. It is independent of dial color and does not signal a new case or movement. The reason for the rename is not documented.

Tudor 79260 vs 79280: what is the difference?

Both are steel Small Block chronographs with fixed tachymeter bezels. The 79260 has a black bezel, while the 79280 has a polished steel one. The 79270 uses a black rotating 12-hour bezel instead.

What is a Tudor Tiger 79260?

Tiger is a seller's label, most often applied to the yellow-dial 79260, though it also appears on other Prince Date chronographs. The name does not by itself establish rarity or a premium. The case, movement, dial and period documentation still need to be verified.

What is the Tudor Chronograph 79260 value?

Value depends mainly on dial, originality, completeness and condition, so there is no single fixed price. Recent listings run from the low thousands of dollars for worn or incomplete examples to roughly $9,000 in asking prices for exceptional, complete ones, and asking prices are not completed sales. The white panda dial is usually the most commercially desirable.

How big is the Tudor 79260?

The case is about 39.5 to 40 mm in diameter, excluding the crown, with 20 mm lugs, roughly 48 mm lug-to-lug and about 14 mm thick. It wears compact in diameter but noticeably tall.

Tudor Chronograph 79260

The steel Small Block Tudor chronograph whose reference number never moved while its dial name and colors kept changing.

Production: c. 1995–early 2000s
Case: Steel, ~40 mm, Small Block
Lug width: 20 mm
Lug-to-lug: ~48 mm
Thickness: ~14 mm
Bezel: Black tachymeter, fixed
Crystal: Sapphire, cyclops
Dial: Black, silver, white, yellow, blue
Movement: Modified Valjoux 7750
Power reserve: ~42–44h
Jewels: 25
Functions: Chrono, 12h counter, date

The Tudor Chronograph 79260 was produced from about 1995 to the early 2000s.

Production years: c. 1995–early 2000s
Movement: Modified Valjoux 7750
Price: Indicative median ≈ $3,800

The Tudor Chronograph 79260 is a watch whose reference number never changed while nearly everything printed on its dial did. Tudor's own historical material illustrates a 1996 example that still carries the Oysterdate name and a 2000 example that reads only TUDOR and PRINCE DATE: the same reference, the same steel case, four years apart. That is the argument of this watch. The 79260 is the steel, fixed-bezel member of the slimmer Small Block chronographs that began around 1995, and its identity lives in the dial rather than the case. Beneath it sits a Tudor-modified self-winding Valjoux 7750 that stayed constant throughout, so the movement offers no early-versus-late split to hold onto. What changed was the face: black Oysterdate dials, silver dials with cream counters, then Prince Date signatures, white panda layouts, yellow dials that sellers call Tiger, and blue. The black aluminium tachymeter insert on the fixed bezel is the one hardware change Tudor itself singles out, replacing the Plexiglas insert of the earlier Big Block chronographs. At about 40 mm across, 48 mm lug-to-lug and 14 mm thick, it wears compact but tall, a vintage-flavored automatic chronograph that is dated and valued by its dial.

“One reference number, one steel case, and a dial that changed its name and its colors faster than anything else about the watch.”

Production timeline

Tudor Chronograph 79260 production years: c. 1995–early 2000s

The 79260 arrived around 1995 as the steel, fixed-bezel version of the Small Block chronograph, and the one hardware change Tudor itself highlights is the move from a Plexiglas tachymeter insert to black anodised aluminium. Why Tudor made that swap is not documented. The same goes for the 1997 shift from Oysterdate to Prince Date and for the leather strap with a TUDOR-marked folding clasp, which Tudor says became available that year: the changes are recorded, the reasons are not. What the record does show is that the movement never forced a break. Tudor describes the 79260's calibre as a substantially improved self-winding Valjoux 7750, and no collector-recognized movement generation separates early watches from late ones, so the dial carries all the dating information. Even that is loose. Silver dials with cream counters are documented by 1996, but nobody has established the day they replaced the first black dials, and Prince Date dials come in more than one color. Taken together, the sequence shows a design still being worked out in public: within roughly five years the same reference moved from an Oyster-heritage signature to a Tudor-only one, and gained white, yellow and blue faces along the way. The end of the run is equally soft. Tudor illustrates a 2000 example, while dealer papers and listings reach 2002.

c. 1995
Small Block debut
Black aluminium tachymeter insert, sapphire crystal
1996
Silver dial documented
Silver face, cream-coloured subdials
1997
Prince Date name
PRINCE DATE printed on the dial
1997
Leather strap option
Steel folding clasp marked TUDOR
2000
Prince Date example
No Oyster wording on dial
c. 2002
Late dealer-dated examples
Blue dial, 40 mm steel case

How to tell it apart

79260 against its neighbours

The 79260 is easiest to place against the thicker Big Block chronograph it replaced and the two Small Block siblings that share its case and movement but change the bezel.

	79160 Previous generation (Big Block) c. 1989–c. 1995	79270 Sibling (rotating bezel) From c. 1995	79280 Sibling (polished bezel) From c. 1995	This reference 79260 Tudor · focal c. 1995–early 2000s
Production	c. 1989–c. 1995	From c. 1995	From c. 1995	c. 1995–early 2000s
Case	Steel, thicker Big Block	Steel, Small Block	Steel, Small Block	Steel, ~40 mm, Small Block
Bezel	Black tachymeter, fixed	Black rotating 12-hour	Polished steel, fixed tachymeter	Black tachymeter, fixed

Dial and configuration variants

Seven dial and configuration variants across the run

The first 79260s pair a black dial with pale subsidiary registers and sign the face OYSTERDATE rather than Prince Date. The black aluminium insert on the fixed bezel gives the watch a darker, flatter bezel than the earlier Plexiglas chronographs. The window is approximate: the first-year cutoff is not firmly established, and Tudor's own 1996 example already shows the silver variation, so not every early black dial can be pinned to a bounded year.

Buying guide

What to check before buying a 79260

The risk in buying a 79260 is not the case or the movement, which are consistent across the run, but the dial: a genuine case fitted with a refinished or wrong dial can look convincing and is materially less desirable. Because dial color, signature and strap option all sit on separate timelines, a seller's year is a starting point, never proof. The watch rewards the buyer who wants a 40 mm steel automatic chronograph with a real mechanical story and is willing to inspect closely, since sound examples span a wide range and the gap between a tired daily watch and a complete, original set is mostly dial and condition.

Check dial printing and lume

Look for uneven or overly glossy printing, wrong Tudor shield proportions, lume that is too bright or too uniform for its age, and sub-register or date-window proportions that differ from known examples.

Do not date from the dial alone

Prince Date, Oysterdate and each dial color overlap and have no fixed year cutoffs. Weigh serial, dial signature, bezel insert, bracelet and provenance together.

Look at case geometry

Over-polishing softens the lugs, rounds the edges and thins the shoulders. Confirm that the reference and serial are cleanly stamped and that the case is the Small Block, not the thicker 791xx Big Block.

Inspect the bezel and crystal

The black aluminium insert can fade, scratch or be replaced with an incorrectly printed scale. Check the sapphire and cyclops for chips and incorrect magnification.

Test the chronograph

Confirm clean start, stop and reset, hands returning to zero, proper date change and no moisture or corrosion. An old chronograph should not be assumed water-resistant without a recent pressure test.

Weigh completeness

Boxes, warranty papers and a correct strap or bracelet add value. A replacement bracelet is not fraud, but it should be disclosed and priced accordingly.

Every watch sold on Grey Market goes through this kind of inspection, hands-on, before it ships to the buyer. More in our FAQ

Price and value

Tudor Chronograph 79260 price and value

A Tudor Chronograph 79260 sells for about $3,800 at the median, typically $3,500 to $5,400 across 11 comparable sales.

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Tudor Chronograph 79260 for sale

Indicative figures from recent dealer, auction, and Grey Market sales (updated this week). Every watch is verified before it sells here.

Median

≈ $3,800

Typical range

$3,500–$5,400

Comparables

Confidence

AuctionDealer

Each point is a recent dealer or auction sale, banded to an indicative figure. The range shown is not a valuation.

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Frequently asked

Common questions about the 79260

The Tudor Chronograph 79260 was produced from approximately 1995, with examples documented through at least the early 2000s; no final production year is universally established. Tudor's own historical material illustrates examples from 1996 and 2000, while dealer listings sometimes show earlier or later dates, including 1993 and 2002. Serial-number tables and retail dates are not fully consistent, so a watch's listed year does not by itself fix its production date.

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Reviewed by the Grey Market authentication team · Last verified 2026-10-26

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