Tudor’s CEO: ‘We decided to put some money on the table’

In a high-ceilinged, bare function room at a swanky Miami hotel, a floor-to-ceiling video projection swirls with immersive footage of Formula 1 cars and energetic visual effects. To centre stage walk racing drivers Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson, wearing Tudor’s first carbon fibre-cased chronograph in its Black Bay line.

While last weekend’s Black Bay Chrono Carbon 25 launch was all about building on the brand’s partnership with the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls Formula 1 team, the announcement also represented new ground for a rapidly evolving brand. It is evidence not only of how far Tudor has come since it relaunched into the US market in 2013, but of how different it is becoming in comparison to Rolex, its parent company.

Despite frequent comparisons between their products, Tudor chief executive Eric Pirson says the two are more separate than people realise, and that Tudor’s evolution began in earnest almost a decade ago.

“If you compare now with eight years ago, the brand has completely changed,” he says. “Before 2016 we had nothing, just the product. Now, in just eight years, we have increased the visibility of the brand, adding something every year. In the past we didn’t really have partnerships. Then we decided to do something and we put some money on the table.”

If we can’t see ourselves with a partner in 10 years’ time, it’s probably not the right one’

Today, in addition to its work with Racing Bulls, Tudor’s partnerships include sailing, cycling, surfing, rugby and rallying — largely coming to fruition in the past three years and transforming the brand into one of the most visible watch companies in sport.

“It’s not about just putting the logo on the car,” says Pirson. “We want to have more contact.” He won’t say how long the brand is committed to the deal but that “if we can’t see ourselves with a partner in 10 years’ time, it’s probably not the right one”.

The decision to invest heavily in sporting partnerships, Pirson says, was taken as part of a wider strategic move at the same time Tudor was constructing its own manufacturing facility, which was finished in 2021 and opened in 2023. Previously Tudor’s watches were assembled at Rolex’s vast campus in Geneva.

“In 2016, we began a large programme of change for the brand, taking internal control of many services that in the past were covered by Rolex,” says Pirson. “We’re not independent, because we’re part of a group, but we’re very autonomous.”

Pirson, who trained as a watchmaker and began his career with Rolex more than 30 years ago, is excited, if tight-lipped, about the potential the new manufacturing plant offers. The chief executive, who will mark 10 years in the role next year, says he has been proudest of the increases in quality Tudor has been able to make during that time, and its adoption of Metas-certified Master Chronometer status in particular. “At one point our whole collection could be Master Chronometers,” he says “It won’t be in the next five years, but maybe at one stage.”

Tudor was established by Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf in 1926 and for decades shared components, points of sale and even some model names — such as the Submariner — with Rolex. But today Pirson is eager for Tudor not to be defined solely by its relationship with the world’s biggest watch brand. “We don’t promote Tudor by comparing it with Rolex,” he says. “It’s very different compared with the past. The commercial strategy is very separate.”

The Black Bay Chrono Carbon 25 is, excluding watches cased in precious metals, one of Tudor’s more expensive models, at £6,260, but Pirson says it does not represent a desire to raise the brand’s average price point — the one area in which direct comparison to Rolex still applies. “Tudor has one price segment and Rolex has one price segment. It’s not [the plan] to increase the price and change Tudor’s segment,” he says.

Figures compiled by secondary market analyst WatchCharts show that, historically, watches with limited availability have performed better for Tudor, notably its Black Bay model produced exclusively for London department store Harrods and the Pelagos FXD Alinghi Red Bull Racing edition, also cased in carbon composite. Both traded hands for more than their original retail price for more than a year after their release, but other models — including the Pelagos FXD Chrono models produced in conjunction with sailing and cycling partnerships — fared less well on the secondary market.

Overall, WatchCharts’ figures show Tudor’s performance as comparable to that of IWC, Vacheron Constantin and Grand Seiko, trading at an average of 39 per cent less than retail. Only Rolex, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet still command any premium at all in the second-hand market.

However, the decision to limit production of the latest watch is not simply a question of marketing appeal. “The watch is a limited edition because it’s very difficult to produce,” says Pirson, who already has had to contend with VCARB chief executive Peter Bayer changing the colour of the F1 team’s racing car once ahead of this season.

“I said, ‘Oh no, Peter, no, I’ve prepared all the dials to be blue, all blue.’ He says, ‘Yes, but now it’s white.’ That was at the beginning of December. Maybe next year they’ll change it again.” Pirson does not rule out a future non-limited carbon model.

Pirson says the reaction to Tudor’s recent releases at Watches and Wonders was very strong, calling out an “incredible” response to the burgundy-dialled Black Bay in particular. At the same time, he is realistic in his assessment of the challenges facing the entire industry, including the introduction of tariffs on imports to the US, which has been the safe-haven market for watchmakers since Chinese demand started to decline in 2023.

“It’s hard to know what the future will hold there,” he says. “We increased prices on May 1 by 3 per cent, just in the US. I don’t want the customer to pay more in the US in the short term just [to make more] money.”

In 2024, Swiss watch exports to China fell more than 25 per cent year on year, contributing to a drop in global exports of 2.8 per cent. A report by Morgan Stanley and Swiss company LuxeConsult estimated that Tudor’s sales had fallen dramatically in 2024 and attributed the drop to an over-dependence on the Chinese market.

While Pirson disputes those estimates, Tudor does not disclose any official sales figures. A spokesperson said: “The Morgan Stanley report is not at all an accurate reflection of Tudor’s performance for the 2024 fiscal year. We do not share figures or key insights with any company or organisation.”

In addition, Pirson denies Tudor was overexposed to falling demand in China, adding that “20 years ago the brand was a really China-focused brand. But 12 years ago we opened the US market, then the UK market [2014] and the Japanese market [2018], and we changed the emotion of our brand. We don’t depend on China now. It’s not just luck, it’s a good strategic decision.”