The value of double stamped watches is no secret. Most famously Tiffany & Co. stamped dials have notably elevated the prices of Rolex and Patek Philippe references. But these watches, while not released in heavy quantities, are rather widespread on the secondhand market. If you really want to discover co-stamped dials in even more limited numbers, Tudor is the brand to dig into. The watches are rather hush hush as they are not meant to be sold. In fact, they are commissioned by entities in limited quantities to be gifted to those within their inner circles – with usually no more than 100 pieces produced. So when one pops up for sale, they can command quite a premium. Recently an Ed Sheeran Tudor Black Bay emerged for sale, but before we reveal the asking price it sold for let’s recap some of the known custom Tudor watches.
The Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Eight took the watch world by storm upon its release, with many lauding Tudor’s decision to release a scaled-back and slimmed-down version of the beloved Black Bay diver. The watch definitely got a ton of air time from our friends over at Hodinkee, but lesser known to the public is the fact they actually commissioned a co-branded run to gift to “friends” of the brand.
Undefeated, a hot streetwear brand based in Los Angeles, California, commissioned a set of Tudor Black Bay Blue watches to give to their most ardent supporters and ambassadors. The customized watch made waves due to iconic watch enthusiast and musician John Mayer sharing his on his Instagram stories. As if he needed yet another awesome and rare watch in his collection (just teasing John).
We have seen State of Qatar watches from other brands as well, but it was still a surprise to see Tudor produced such a watch as well. According to Revolution Watch, who still has the watch pictured available for purchase, “It is believed that only an extremely low number of these watches were produced, and these “State of Qatar” limited editions were only available from Qatar dealers, or given to the friends and family of the State.”
Air France’s Black Bay Fifty-Eight Navy Blue and Tudor Black Bay GMT
Air France arguably picked the two best references to commission for their special edition run, opting for the Black Bay Fifty-Eight Navy Blue and Black Bay GMT. The GMT clearly ties into their aviation business and the Fifty-Eight in blue is just a straight up gorgeous watch. Each watch had the airlines logo co branded above the 6′ marker with an engraved caseback to commemorate Air France and Marcel Dupont.
To call this watch co-branded is a bit of a stretch, because if you look too quickly you may miss the subtle customization to the dial. Flanking the Swiss Made text are colored squares that take on the color scheme of Google’s logo. The watch was commissioned by the non-profit “Watches for Good”, a group of watch collectors within the Google organization who raffle off their commissions to raise money for charity. They have even collaborated with Nomos, leveraging the same design above on a Tangente watch.
Del Ray Watch somehow managed to snag not one, but two Tudor Black Bay “Divide” watches. Quite incredible sourcing considering only 80 were made. This watch features the Divide Tour logo on the dial with a blue division symbol above 6′, and features a thoughtful engraving on the back from Ed to his crew members (who the watches were issued to). The caseback reads, “Thank you for all your hard work on the tour, Love Ed X”.
So, what was the asking price? If you go to the website you will see the watch has already sold, but it was listed at an asking price of $50,000 USD. I honestly could not imagine paying that much for a Black Bay watch. It is by no means the most expensive Black Bay ever, the ceramic Black Bay fabricated for OnlyWatch went for a whopping 350,000 CHF. But this may be the second most expensive modern Tudor watch ever sold, especially if Del Ray Watch received every cent of their asking price.