Tudor Oyster 'Elegante' Ref. 7960

The Tudor Oyster Elegante, not so familiar with this name? That is because this watch ran for a very short period of time and is considered a grail to some Tudor collectors. The difference between the Oyster Elegante and the normal Tudor Oyster is that the Elegante is a much slimmer watch. The slimmest watch Tudor has ever created in fact at only 6mm thick. The 7960 is an interesting piece that ran under two separate names, the ‘Oysterthin’ or the ‘Elegante’. The legendary Rolex Oyster made its debut all the way back in 1926 as the world’s first reliably waterproof wristwatch, but was initially released in two case shapes that we don’t see too much of today, octagonal and cushion. The more familiar Rolex Oyster outline was introduced in 1932 and has remained essentially unchanged to this day. Rolex has resisted the urge to change the proportions of the Oyster case for the last 90 years, which is why the Elegante, reduced in thickness by approximately 25%, is such a rare bird.