Hands-On with the Tudor Heritage Ranger ref. 79910 – Live photos and price

We already told you that Tudor has been looking at their own past, for inspiration. In the past years they have introduced quite a few vintage-inspired models, and this year they surprised us with another version of the Tudor Heritage Black Bay, now in ‘Midnight Blue’. For too long, Tudor has been the little brother of ‘the Crown’, searching for their own identity. When we look at their novelties of the past years they have found their own identity and their latest model only confirms that. Here’s the new Tudor Heritage Ranger ref. 79910.

For a few years now, the Rose (Tudor’s historic emblem) has revealed some very iconic ‘toolwatches’, all linked to the history of the brand. Until now there was a balance between new models and the concept of revival. With the Heritage Black Bay for instance, we had a mix-and-match from historic elements. With their latest offering, the new Heritage Ranger, that is changed because the new Heritage Ranger is a pure re-edition of the 1967 Ranger. Let’s have a close look at the new Heritage Ranger ref. 79910.

History

Back in 1967, Tudor presented its version of the pioneer watch, which showed quite a resemblance to the Explorer from Rolex. Surprisingly, they didn’t use the same name (as they did for instance with the Submariner) but instead, the company choose to call it ‘Ranger’. The very first version, dating back to 1967, was a 34mm self-winding watch, without a date, and with the classical painted 3-6-9-12 indexes on a matte black dial.

The design was very close to the Rolex Explorer with, however, several differences: an Arabic 12 index instead of a triangular one, an arrow hour hand instead of a ‘Mercedes’ hour hand and a square second hand instead of a ‘lollypop’ hand on the Rolex. For the rest, what we had was a Rolex oyster case with an ETA movement inside. And a Rose as logo on the dial (an important detail to keep in mind).

The 2014 Tudor Heritage Ranger ref. 79910

When looking at the current collection of Tudor, we can easily see some vintage inspirations in nearly every model. And, clearly, it seems to please the watch enthusiast. The Heritage Black Bay uses the snowflake hands and the blue colour to remind the old Submariner made from the French navy. The Heritage Chronograph takes its inspiration from the Monte-Carlo presented in the 1970’s. But none of them is a one-on-one re-edition of a historic model. With the Ranger, Tudor goes a step further and offers us a pure modern reinterpretation of the old model, which pays tribute to it in every detail. One next to another, the resemblance is obvious.

First things that catches our attention are the dial and the hands. Same design, nearly same inscriptions, same hands and even same logo. On this model, Tudor uses the Rose as emblem instead of the simplified shield that you can find on the rest of the collection. A simple detail you might think, but for collectors and fans of the brand an important detail. The matte black dial finely textured and slightly domed. The 3-6-9-12 indexes are painted and not printed, which gives a similar look as the vintage Tritium that has gotten thicker over the years.

The case of the Tudor Heritage Ranger has been updated to a contemporary size – 41 mm in diameter – and features a full satin-brushed finish, even on the side of the case that are usually mirror polished on other models of the Tudor (and Rolex) collection. Two interesting details on that case: very thin lugs and holes in the lugs. These aspects could be seen as minor but will certainly be appreciated by collectors and Tudor fans. Where big brother Rolex moves in a different direction, Tudor seems to have found their position and listens to collectors and vintage lovers.

The Tudor Heritage Ranger comes on various bracelet options: a steel bracelet, a bund leather strap in light brown and a classical leather strap in brown. Whatever your choice of bracelet/strap, you’ll always find a camo nato strap in the box as well. The steel bracelet has something special, as it is build like old ones, meaning without end links but with open spring bars instead. That’s maybe the main criticism to make to the Ranger as it gives a a less ‘solid’ look to the watch – and it’s not even correct on an historical basis. The bund strap, with deployant clasp, is however a very good idea as it gives a unique look to the Ranger.

To maintain a reasonable price, the Ranger is equipped with an ETA 2824/2. What attracts us here is not the engine of course but the fact that the watch looks great and is clearly designed to appeal the vintage ‘nerds’ (and we are some of them). The ranger will be available before summer and is priced at CHF 2,800 on bracelet and CHF 2,700 on one of the leather strap options (price is including Swiss VAT).

More info: www.turdorwatch.com