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Insider: Tudor Heritage Chrono ref. 70330N. As Good as it Gets for the Price.

Mirroring the original shape and proportions of the original Tudor Chronograph Monte Carlo 1970s model —references 7149, 7159/0, 7169/0 and the 7031/0 —the Tudor Heritage Chrono ref. 70330N launched five years ago in 2010, brings the best of the vintage world into modern times with a flawless execution that will captivate those watchlifestylers wanting to avoid the headaches that vintage shopping can bring. The Tudor Heritage Chrono ref. 70330N really brings that vintage feel without the headaches or budget issues that purchasing a vintage Tudor Monte Carlo might bring, especially considering all the fakes and redone dials out there. If you like vintage Tudors as much as we do, this is the way to go. Fitted with a generous 42 mm case that wears slightly smaller, the Tudor Heritage Chrono is a robust sporty looking timepiece that can be worn in any setting or with any outfit —even better when wearing your fancy orange Hermès ties.

The Dial

Fitted with either a black/grey dial or grey/black matte dial, the dial is fitted with three-dimensional home plate shaped hour markers filled with superuminova, two multi-level trapeze-shaped registers and a date indicator at 6 o'clock, that unlike its predecessor Tudor Monte Carlo is not fitted with a cyclops. The register at 3 o’clock is a running seconds indicator while the one at 9 o’clock is a 45-minute chrono register —perfectly suited to time soccer matches with their 45 minute periods. The orange chrono seconds hand along with the minute chapter ring also in orange and the orange accent between the 5 and 10 minute mark on the chrono register really bring this dial to life. Something we discovered under the loupe and while taking these macro pictures, is that the orange chrono seconds hand has a very nice grainy texture. Overall, the dial is very nicely finished and the lume is nice and bright.

The Case & Bezel

One of our favorite features on this watch and on all other modern Tudor timepieces are the beautiful 'chamfers' that you can still find where the satin brushed lugs meet the mirror polished edges of the caseband. 'Chamfers' or bevelled egdes as many like to refer to, are one of the most iconic features of vintage Tudor & Rolex timepieces. Unfortunately, for those of us that loved the iconic Rolex 'chamfers', we know have to strictly stick to vintage examples as the 'chamfers' disappeared after Rolex changed their case design to the maxi case. The Tudor Heritage Chrono ref. 70330N not only features stunning bevelled edges —when compared to its Monte Carlo predecessors—, but also more rounded crown guards and knurled edges on the bezel, winding crown and pushers in order to ease their use. The watch is water resistant to a depth of 150 meters.

The knurled finish on the crown and pushers allows for better grip, however, it is not our favorite touch on the Tudor Heritage Chrono ref. 70330N. The pushers and crown are capped with a black enamel touch on their ends and the screw-down crown features the Tudor shield logo. To operate the chronograph, one just needs to unscrew their knurled edges in order to be able to press the pump pushers.

The bidirectional rotating bezel with black aluminum insert —just like on vintage Rolex and Tudor watches, allows for you to keep a second time zone up to 12 hours behind or ahead of you. For example, let's say you are in Chicago and it's 4:38 AM and you want to keep track of the time in London. All you'll have to do is rotate the bezel counterclockwise to have the 6 on the bezel —as London is 6 hours ahead of the Central Timezone in the U.S.— right at the 12 o'clock marker. Now you know that London time is 10:48 AM and Chicago is 4:38 AM. 

The Movement

Nothing fancy under the hood, just a generic ETA 2892 automatic chronograph movement with 55 jewels which provides a power reserve of 42 hours when fully wound while beating at a frequency of 28,800 vph. The movement is a true work horse and for the price you shouldn't be expecting anything fancier or an in-house chronograph. The movement is protected by a solid case back in the usual Tudor & Rolex fashion.

The Bracelet

The Tudor Heritage Chrono comes with a nicely finished satin brushed bracelet with mirror polished edges and a reinforced nylon fabric strap —NATO style— with a shield shaped buckle. The fabric strap echoes the characteristic colors of the dial —in this case black, orange, white and gray— and provides exceptional wearing comfort. The bracelet features a folding clasp with fliplock safety catch with the Tudor word engraved on it.

On The Wrist & Pricing

On the wrist the watch wears slightly smaller than its actual size and more like a Rolex Submariner or any other sports watch measuring 40 to 41 mm in diameter, granted that you have a 7.25" or larger wrist size. A watch with a lot of presence and a lot of bang for the buck.

Sticker Price $4,430 USD. For more info on Tudor Watches click here.