Rolex introduced Tudor to the market in 1945 with the objective of selling high quality watches at a reasonable price. Throughout its history, Rolex used the Tudor line to experiment with different designs and concepts, later to be used in Rolex’s own watches, and the Submariner line was no exception. Its durability and legibility made it an ideal choice for one of the world’s elite naval forces: the French Marine Nationale, established in 1624 as la Marine Royale by Cardinal Richelieu.

The reference 9401/0, without date function, replaced the reference 7016/0 in 1975, bringing a more robust movement with hacking seconds but retaining the unusual square-shaped hour markers and “snowflake”-style handset introduced in the 7016/0. Both references, and their sister references with date, were commissioned by the Marine Nationale until the 1980s for use by their divers, and these “issued” “MN” Submariners are among the most coveted of any Tudor Submariners, though Tudor did provide watches to other fighting forces such as Canada, the United States, South Africa, and Argentina. With its crisp and prominent military engravings of “M.N. 1975” on the caseback, according to research, the present lot was originally issued to the Marine Nationale’s diving school.

With a beautifully faded bezel, rich azure colored dial, and crisp case, this reference 9401/0’s collectability is bolstered by both its history and fantastic aesthetics.