Tudor Oysterdate 79180 Big Block White Panda Dial

This Tudor chronograph is in overall great, vintage condition. The case is in good condition with normal signs of wear. The numbers are clearly visible and crisp between the lugs and the inside caseback is stamped, “79160.” The text on the caseback is clearly visible. The dial and hands are in excellent condition with light patina. The lume on the dial has developed patina and has aged to almost a slightly yellow chalk color. The white dial has almost a lavender hue to it depending on the lighting. The hands and hour markers have developed light patina. The lume in the hands is matching in color to the lume on the dial. This has a Tudor signed 78360 bracelet with 12 links and no. 583 end links. The clasp is stamped "R4" indicting it's from 1993.The bracelet is in overall great condition with normal signs of wear and light stretch between the links. 

The reference 79180 hails from Tudor's third generation of chronographs, first developed in the mid-1970s. These watches were among the first Tudors to operate on an automatic chronograph movement via the celebrated Valjoux caliber 7750. The case had to take on a thicker profile to accommodate the then-new movement, which is why it is now affectionately referred to as the "Big Block" Tudor. The first edition was produced under ref. 94300. However, reference 79180 followed a decade later in the late 1980s, featuring a stainless steel bezel and the distinction "OysterDate" below the Tudor logo. The watch we have here also features vertical chronograph registers and a date mechanism at 3 o'clock. The register at 6 o'clock is surrounded by the text Automatic - Chrono Time, a new feature introduced with the 79100 series.

This example has a fairly uncommon white dial with black sub-dials; we see the silver dial and black sub-dials more often. The white dial almost looks lavender in certain lights adding a whole new dimension to the watch. These Tudor chronographs offer extraordinary value because they resemble 4-digit Rolex Daytona ref. 6265s from the same era, complete with screw-down side pushers and a similar bezel, but for 1/10th of the price. 

The watch we have here is in overall lovely condition and comes complete with its box and punched papers. When looking at the box closely, we can see a little sticker on the side that says the reference number “79180” as well as the serial number hand written above it and the bracelet number below (78360); this looks like it was done by the sales people in the store back in the day – we love these little details!