MN Submariner with decom papers

Tudor

MN Blue Triangle

94010

Circa 1982

947***

Stainless steel 38mm. case with original screw-down winding button. Reference and serial numbers correctly stamped between the lugs. Case back engraved outside MN82 Original Oyster Case by Rolex Geneva inside 9411 Montres Tudor SA Geneva Switzerland Patented Stainless steel.

Original slightly faded bidirectional rotating bezel.

Superb original finish with original lume hour markers, signed Tudor Oyster Prince 200m=660ft Submariner T Swiss T

Original Mercedes hands and original sweep seconds lollipop hand

Original Calibre 2776

NATO blue strap

PROVENANCE This watch has retained the original Decommission papers assigned to it when it left the French Naval service in 1999. It is particularly rare because it retains both of the original tickets that came with it when it was sold. The papers state that the last vessel that this watch was assigned to was the French Nuclear submarine Foudroyant (Lightning). SNLE Foudroyant was one of 5 subs from the Redoubtable class of nuclear submarines; it was built in Cherbourg, launched in 1971, armed in 1974 and saw service up until 1998. It had a crew of 135 men including 15 officers - one of whom would have worn this watch. It carried 16 nuclear warheads, 17 wire-guided torpedoes and 39 Exocet missiles. The Tudor MN Marine Nationale 1950's – 1983. The French navy use of Tudor is perhaps the closest cooperation between a country's armed forces and Rolex, except for the Panerai and UK Milsub connection. The very first French “Marine Nationale” watches seen date back to the mid 1950's with the Tudor Reference 7922 Submariner. The French navy employed Rolex military issued Submariners from the early 1960's till around 1968. At this time Tudor took over. It should be noted that the French navy also used other brands – including Doxa. Because of this, it is hard to ascertain how many Tudor Submariners were issued all together. However considering the rarity in the market, it is realistic to believe that the amount is similar to that of the UK Military Rolex equivalent. TIMELINE Early 1950's. Reference 7922 is developed. Introduced circa 1953. Some say for prototype use at the M.N. French navy and Rolex has always been close and it is fair to assume that Rolex developed military watches together with the M.N. in similar fashion to the Comex / Rolex association. Circa 1957. Reference 7924 turns up They all run in a specific serial number range. No engravings known. Tudor Reference 7928 Submariner, from 1959 till 1968. 1968 till 1975 (approx.) the M.N issued Tudor Reference 7016 and 7016/0 Submariners. These had black dials and these dial variations were very prone to dial rot. Few good examples exist today. This is not a problem specific for M.N issued versions though. The same issue exist on civilian versions. Snowflake configuration ran from 1974-1975 1976 till 1980 (approx.) the M.N issued Tudor Reference 94010 Snowflake submariners. These had blue dials and blue bezels. The dials were the “new” generation and not AS prone to dial discoloration. The snowflake design is classic with the square minute hand and square markers. 1980 till 1983 (approx.) the M.N issued Reference 94010 with Triangle markers and regular Mercedes hands. DECOMMMISSION PAPERS Ideally all collectors would like to have decom papers with their Tudor Marine Nationale – but in truth many don't have them, either because the papers got separated, or because they're not proper M.N.'s. So what are ‘decom papers'? They were the official hang-tag papers that the Marine Nationale watch received upon being retired from service. The reference and serial number shown on the papers must match that on the watch in question. Some in the past have rumoured that counterfeit decommission papers, or blank decommission papers were found at one point, but this seems to be something of folklore. With that said, still check that the printing and details on a set of decommission papers are consistent with other examples you might've seen online, just as you would with any other vintage or modern watch. The Tudor ”94” series had the following categories 9401/0 – was produced from 1975-76. It had no Date and either Blue or black dial with “snowflake” markers and hands. 9411/0 – was Produced from 1975-76. It had a date aperture and either blue or black dial with “snowflake” markers and hands. 94010 – the present example – this was Produced from 1976-83. All of them had the Snowflake design up until 1980 and then from 1980-83 some had triangle marker dials. 94110 – was Produced between 1976-83. It had date aperture and until 1980 it had the “Snowflake” design. From 1980-83 the dial had triangle markers.

Papers