The Tudor Home Plate was first produced in 1970 and was the first ever chronographs made by the manufacture. Produced for less than two years, before being succeeded by the 7100 Series Monte Carlos, the Tudor Home Plate is one of the rarest and most sought after vintage Tudor pieces.
Much like the Rolex Daytonas, the Home Plates were produced in a pair of references- the 7032, with a stainless steel bezel, and the 7031, which is what you see here today, fitted with a black acrylic bezel. While they were priced the same back then, the acrylic bezels were much more fragile the the stainless steel one, often getting damaged. As a result, in today’s market, the 7031 is rarer and more desired than the 7032.
While Rolex was much more austere in its design language, its younger sibling Tudor has a much more liberal approach to watches, as demonstrated by this Home Plate. Featuring square crown guards, screw down pushers and housed in a 40mm stainless steel case, which at the time was a whole 4mm larger than the Daytona, this Tudor features orange accents on the dial and hour markers shaped like a home plate on a baseball field- which explains the nickname. The dial is finished off with a matte grey background and two black angular subdials and outer track.
There is no denying that the Home Plate is one of the most desired vintage Tudor pieces to collect, but this example is made complete with its box, guarantee and original receipt, detailing its sale in July 1971 by the then Tudor retailer Paul Wagner OHG in Vienna, Austria. Furthermore, it is very common to see spotting and tarnishing to these grey Tudor dials, but this example has been kept in excellent condition, with a nearly flawless dial.
Example like this are hard to come by and while the hype is all about the Daytona today, do not forget about its younger and just as special sibling as it will surely be a great investment for any collection.
