With nearly 100 years under its belt, TUDOR knows a thing or two about watchmaking. Since its creation in 1926, the Swiss brand has stayed true to its creator Hans Wilsdorf's pioneering vision of the ideal timepiece, producing watches that are robust, durable and precise.
This robustness, combined with affordability, means they have long been chosen by the boldest adventurers on land, sea, ice and underwater. It's no wonder then that it's the watch of choice for professional cyclist and Olympic champion Fabian Cancellara. Widely regarded as one the greatest riders of all time, Cancellara is known as a time trial specialist – meaning durability and precision are imperative. He's had victories at some of the world’s biggest races, winning the Milan-San Remo, Paris Roubaix and Tour of Flanders three times and the opening stages of the Tour de France five times (leading the race for a record-breaking five days in total), as well as taking home gold for the men's road time trial at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Though he retired that same year, he’s not hung up his clipless shoes just yet. In fact this year he announced he was forming a new Swiss pro cycling team for 2023, in partnership with TUDOR – a fitting collaboration borne out of a shared desire to explore, learn and push boundaries. (Not for nothing is TUDOR's motto 'Born to dare'.)
The official team watch is the impressive Black Bay Chrono. “I have a special connection to it,” Cancellara explains. Featuring an oversized crown inspired by the 1958 Oyster Prince Submariner and iconic ‘snowflake’ hands (handed down from models worn by the French Navy in the 1970s), it also includes a thoroughly modern COSC-certified chronometer movement inside, complete with a 70-hour power reserve. It perfectly encapsulates TUDOR's approach of drawing inspiration from the past while embracing modernity.
Cancellara also loves the Black Bay Fifty-Eight in navy blue, his favourite colour. “It’s just so comfortable and versatile on my wrist,” he says, adding that any watch he wears “needs to be a companion for my everyday life.”
To make watches this reliable means field-testing them in the extreme. Thankfully, due to their robust design and 'born to dare' philosophy, many adventurers have been happy to do so over the years. In fact it was TUDOR watches that the British North Greenland Expedition team chose to accompany them on a two-year scientific mission led by Commander James Simpson in 1952.
The watches have also been issued to pararescue teams of the US Air Force, accompanied land races through tough alpine roads and been put through their paces on the wrists of frogmen in the French Navy. Through it all, they have perpetuated a spirit of supreme dependability, going above and beyond industry standards.
The wearers of TUDOR today – like Cancellara – are not so different to those of the past. For him, the meaning of living a daring life is “among other things, assessing situations correctly,” as well as being the right balance of “courageous but not headless.” He adds that although “some situations require a bit of courage, that doesn’t mean I go headlong into the wall and take senseless risks”.
And his advice to others wishing to live a more daring life? “Be yourself," he says. "Live a life in which you feel good about and be true to yourself. Give the maximum you can personally give, regardless of what society expects.”
Shop the TUDOR Watches collection at Goldsmiths.co.uk, part of the Watches of Switzerland Group, the UK's largest luxury watch retailer. Shop in their showrooms, online or in a selection of TUDOR mono-brand boutiques
