WATCH REVIEW Tudor Heritage Chrono

Foreword

There was an old commercial in the 1970’s that showed the particular care that rally car racing driver Tim Wheatley took in picking his watches: “Tim Wheatley, rally driver, chose his watch as carefully as he chose his lights”.

His watch was, of course, a Tudor Chronograph Oysterdate!

Now, in 2010, Tudor has relinked with this tradition by becoming the timing partner for Porsche Motorsport…

A chronograph with a strong personality

In the 70’s, the Oysterdate Tudor chronograph was already using the signature styles of its parent company, Rolex.
The Heritage Chronograph follows these footsteps with colors and shapes that set it apart.

First, let’s look at the colors.
The orange color of the chronograph‘s hand, along with the numbering for the minutes around the periphery, offer a contrast with the dial’s black background, and the grey background of the 45-minute counter and small seconds display.

Next, let’s examine the shapes.

The twelve applied hourmarkers are pentagonal, and the sub-counters are themselves in the shape of a trapezoid.
Finally, the hours and minutes hands, with their large facets, and generously coated with luminous material, are triangular.

These elements as a whole occupy a space delimited by the circular railroad track of the black chronograph on a white background.

These contrasts of shapes and colors give this Tudor Heritage Chrono a strong “racing car” look, and excellent readability, day or night.

The date display is itself quite discreet in its window at the 6 o’clock mark, but it stays easily readable, nevertheless.
It’s a shame, though, that the cyclops of its ancestors is now gone!
It gave this chronograph a very unique touch.

Conversely, the replacement of the tachymetric bezel with a black bi-directional pivoting one made of anodized aluminum is a great update.

The screwed-in push buttons and the crown get the same grid surface treatment than the bezel’s edge, making it easy to grip.
This contrast of treatment between the polished and brushed surfaces on the case and beveled lugs is part of the watch’s functional esthetics.

The Tudor logo, applied in shiny black on the crown and referenced by the black spots on the tip of the push buttons may be a little superfluous compared to the technical sobriety of this chronograph.

The Tudor Heritage Chrono positions itself comfortably on the wrist, despite – or rather because of – its weight: once it’s settled into place, it’s hard to dislodge it!

Once the push buttons are unscrewed, the use of the chronograph is stiff but easy. And the dial’s unusual lines along with the general strong colors don’t adversely affect the countdown of time, quite the opposite!

A Tudor chronograph which comes with
two straps for two personalities

This Tudor chronograph is sold with two straps, each giving it a very different personality.

The metallic and rather classic-looking Oyster strap, with folding clasp, gives it a sportswear look, almost like a diving watch.

The NATO-type nylon one, with its colors referencing those on the dial, is equipped with a steel pin buckle.
This second option is more original and summer-like: it lightens the overall piece, and gives this Tudor a nice look veered towards the world of car-racing.

Movement

The Tudor Heritage Chrono is equipped with an ETA 2892 automatic movement with a Dubois-Depraz 2054 chronograph module.

Let’s explain: above the standard movement, an additional level (the module) has been added with the chronograph function.

The motives that have caused Tudor to make this technological choice are not known.

In any case, while we are not in the realm of high-end watchmaking, the Dubois-Depraz module is reliable and the ETA on which it rests is a tested base.

A bonus point for Tudor: while this type of design usually creates an annoying shift in the height positioning of the push buttons (located on the extension of the module) relative to the crown (itself located on the movement’s level), this aspect is barely noticeable on the Heritage.