Tudor Date Day review

Today we are looking at the Tudor reference 76200-62480 Prince Date-Day. I have no idea when this watch (with this dial design) was introduced into the market but this example was purchased in 2012. I have seen a couple of this watch  about and first saw one in 2009. I do know that there are a number of these models with this dial design ‘floating’ in Taiwan.

The watch is a basic Tudor offering time, day and date complication. But the most interesting aspect of the watch is the dial and the hands. The dial is of the California design and the hands, Mercedes.

Case.

As with all watches in the Tudor range, the case is made from 316L stainless steel. The case is well made and is of the 3-piece design, i.e. bezel, case and case back. The watch is small at 36 mm in diameter and 11 mm thick (at extreme and 10 mm without the Cyclops).

The case has the traditional Tudor/ Rolex trademark polished sides and brushed top. I like the older case design with the drill lugs that this watch has. The bezel is a steel polished bezel.

Closer view.

This watch no longer carries the old made by Rolex markings. It is now marked Tudor, Geneva and Prince. This is alternate with the Tudor logo. The case back has a brushed finish; the center having a vertical brushing while the lip has the circular brushing.

The crown, as is the case back is now a Tudor signed crown. The crown measures 5.5 mm in diameter and is 2.5 mm thick. It is a nice size and using it is a breeze. Nice size crown for the watch. The crown is of the Twin-lock design (line under the crown), which means the watch is water resistant to 10ATM.

As with other Tudor and Rolex, the model number and serial numbers are engraved between the lugs, which are 20 mm apart.

Dial.

The watch has an interesting dial design. It has the California type dial with the combination Roman and Arabic hour markers. The top half of the dial is marked with Roman numerals as hour markers, while the lower half uses the Arabic numerals. I understand that this dial design makes telling time easy and fast and also helps the user with the orientation of the dial while in the dark. For me, I just like the design of the dial. The other markings on the dial are the minute markers and some legends.

At the 12 o’clock position we find the Tudor crest and signature. Under it we find the legend ‘Prince Date-Day’ telling us this is a men’s model and it has the date and day complication (at the 3 o’clock position). Below the 6 o’clock hour marker we find the legend ‘Swiss Made’ which tells us the watch is Swiss made. Jut above the 6 o’clock hour marker, we find the legend ‘Rotor, Self Winding”, telling us the watch is fitted with an automatic movement.

The date is displayed via a window at the 3 o’clock position while the day is presented at the 12 o’clock position. The date wheel is black on silver, as is the day and it is very easy to read. I like the fact that the day is present in full.

Hands.

The watch has the Mercedes type hands. I believe this unique for the Date day model as most comes with the stick type hands. I believe this watch comes with the Mercedes type hands to match the dial. Makes the watch a tad sporty.

The hands are well made and I believe it is made of white gold as with its elder brother. The sweep seconds hand extends all the way to the minute markers. Sadly the minute hand does not.

The hands are Luminova filled as are the hours markers.

Crystal.

The watch is fitted with a sapphire crystal and has the Cyclops over the date window. The Cyclops is 1 mm thick. The crystal itself is 30 mm in diameter. The crystal does extend beyond the bezel by about 1 mm but this is not an issue as the crystal is sapphire and is scratch resistant.

The cyclops. 

Bracelet.

Basically I am not sure of the design of the steel bracelet, but I was told that it is of the Jubilee design. The bracelet (cross section) is made up of 5 links, with the center 3 polished. The side links are brushed. The sides of the links are polished. I believe the links are solid. A very well made bracelet indeed.

The end links, reference 630 also has the same brushed and polished finish and is well made. It sits well between the lugs and has a ‘closed’ design, i.e. no gaps to facilitate the spring bars removal. Removal of the spring bars is via the drilled lugholes on the lugs.

The end links....

Closer view.

Closer view.

The clasp, reference 62480 is made of steel inox and is also well made. I like the older type clasp and bracelets and this clasp has that design. There is no twin lock on the clasp. The clasp is signed with the Tudor shield and has a brushed finish.

Adjustment is via adjustment holes on the folding buckle. There are 6 adjustment holes and allows the bracelet to be adjusted by 17 mm in length. If there is a need to adjust the bracelet longer or shorter, there is a need to physically alter the length of the bracelet by removing or adding links. And this can easily be done with the provided 6 links with screwed attachments.

The folded part of the clasp is polished and is signed 'Tudor Watch Co. Ltd. Geneva Switzerland'. It is thin but does the job and does it well.

Conclusion.

It is a very comfortable watch, not heavy but with enough heft. When I was wearing it, I found the watch very comfortable. The watch is easy to read and to tell time, day and date. It is not flashy and at 36 mm it does go against the current trend of large watches. But since it is all dial, it does not look small at all on the wrist.