The SEAL Museum: Tudor Submariners Through the Decades

Tudor partners with the new Navy SEAL Museum in San Diego, creating realistic displays of issued watches.

This weekend, I had the opportunity to visit the newly minted Navy SEAL Museum in San Diego, a short drive from the west coast Teams and Coronado, where generations of frogmen were forged in the crucible of BUD/S. The museum is what you would expect from arguably the most “famous” brand in SOF, complete with slick architecture and state-of-the-art displays, including an immersive virtual reality experience, making it a fun outing for even the most casual observer.

But what really makes it stand out is the lengths the museum went in curating extensive displays of genuine and period-correct equipment from the WWII era Frogmen to the Global War on Terror. The museum found an unlikely partner with Swiss luxury watch brand Tudor, as a “founding donor and exhibition contributor.” In addition to a large donation, Tudor provided three vintage US Navy-issued Submariners for display at the museum. While I like SEALs as much as the next guy, this was the real reason for my visit.

(Photo Credit: San Diego Union-Tribune)

“That watch belongs in a museum.”

We often talk about watches as talismans of a life well lived, and this is an understatement when it comes to the watches on display at the NSM. The collection consists of two reference 7928s, issued in the 1960s and most often associated with Vietnam era Frogmen, and one blue “Snowflake” reference 9401 from the mid-1970s. All three are from the Tudor archives and were originally US Navy-issued. Two of the watches are displayed on mannequins and paired with period-correct uniforms, reminding visitors how they were actually used during that timeframe.

Moki Martin's Submariner reference 7928 is now on display in the SEAL Museum.

The third Submariner displayed in the NSW Dive Equipment section is arguably the most important. The “full spec” 7928 was issued to and used by SEAL Lieutenant Philip “Moki” Martin, complete with its original Waltham wrist compass and fabric strap containing snaps to attach a leather watch cover used to block reflection and light emissions from the watch’s luminescent material. As much as I would love to have a piece like this in my collection, this watch belongs in a museum.

Tudor Submariner 7928 - Vietnam - Coronado Dial

Although several tool watches were issued to the SEALs and Underwater Demolition Teams (UDTs) in the lead-up to and during the Vietnam War, the prototypical Vietnam Frogman consisted of tiger stripe BDUs, jungle boots, and a Tudor Submariner 7928 on a black fabric strap.  

The first mannequin is outfitted with a tiger stripe shirt, Levi blue jeans, a jungle “flop” hat, and an M60 Machine Gun 7.62x51mm NATO (unfortunately, a replica because... California). The watch, an original issued 7928, is paired with a black fabric strap, as was the norm at the time. Details matter, and the museum has, with Tudor’s help, gone to great lengths to get this stuff right. This watch is particularly unique in that it has a “Coronado dial,” a reprinted dial believed to have been done by a local watchmaker.

The connection between Tudor and the Teams goes back to the very beginning, and even before the formal establishment of the SEAL Teams in January 1962. According to Tudor, records show deliveries from the New York office as early as 1958 and continuing throughout the war in Vietnam and beyond.  

The Tudor Submariner reference 7928 holds a special place in history with the early SEAL teams and featured heavily in the recent documentary Splashdown - The Little-Known Story Of Navy Frogmen & The Space Program. Issued during the 1960s, the 7928 was favored for its robust construction, legible dial, and dependable automatic movement, traits essential for combat divers operating in the open ocean and the humid jungles. 

Tudor 7928s on the wrists of SEALs in Vietnam (Photo Credit: US National Archives)

Tudor Submariner 9401 - Gulf War

The second watch on display is a SEAL-issued blue “Snowflake” Tudor Submariner ref. 9401, dating to the mid to late 1970s. The mannequin is complete with period-correct chocolate chip camo BDUs, a gas mask, an early M16 with an M203 40mm grenade launcher, and black Mechanix gloves that would become ubiquitous during the GWOT.

While in the 1980s and 1990s, Tudor Submariners were largely phased out in favor of Digital Tool Watches, first-hand accounts confirm Tudors remained in the supply system until the 1980s, and there are some instances of older watches being handed out to new SEALs into the 1990s, when they were destroyed or decommissioned. Images from the 1980s and early 1990s show Tudor Submariners on the wrists of SEALs during training and promotional events, including one very similar to the mannequin outfitted in the museum. 

According to US Government records, Tudor maintained an NSN, or NATO Stock Number, until 2004, although there are no records of the US Navy orders in the 1990s. Of note, while the majority of issued Tudors were equipped with a black dial and bezel, there are examples of blue Snowflakes being issued, with some indications that they were allocated to officers graduating BUD/s, although this fact is often disputed.

Early 1990s photo of SEAL Team 5 with a Tudor Submariner on the wrist. (Photo Credit: US National Archives)

Tudor Submariner 7928 - Moki Martin

Arguably, the most iconic watch contributed by Tudor to the museum is a period-correct 7928, complete with a Waltham “W.C.C.” wrist compass and the original modified strap fastened with brass snaps to attach a leather watch cover used to block reflection and light from the watch’s lume. The watch is to be displayed in the diving equipment display, alongside fins, rebreathers, and other period-correct equipment. The Submariner was originally issued to and worn by Philip “Moki” Martin during the Vietnam War and beyond, and is one of the few remaining original straps we have seen.  

Moki Martin wearing his Tudor Submariner in the Mekong Delta in 1968; the watch displayed in the museum.

“Moki” grew up in Maui, where his skill in the water set the stage for a career in Naval Special Warfare. He entered the Underwater Demolition Teams in 1965 and later joined SEAL Team 1, deploying to Vietnam and taking part in combat dives, HALO insertions, and Operation Thunderhead, an action that left him badly wounded but earned him the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Valor. 

Martin in the Mekong Delta, the Tudor Submariner 7928 clearly displayed on his wrist. (Photo Credit: Moki Martin)

Following Vietnam, Martin trained the next generation of SEALs, launched the SUPERFROG Triathlon in San Diego, and eventually turned to painting and drawing, carrying forward a lifelong connection to both the sea and the watches that marked his journey. Martin is well known within the military watch community as the subject of a Talking Watches episode with our friend James Stacey. It appears as though Tudor found his story compelling enough to acquire at least one of his watches for the brand’s archives in Geneva.

Tudor Submariner - Fort Pierce, Florida

At the original Navy SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce, Florida, a fourth Tudor Submariner is on display, reportedly a 7016 issued to and worn by Captain Norman H. Olson, the commanding officer of UDT 11. This watch was not loaned from the Tudor collection but instead occurred organically, reportedly as a donation from Olson before his death in 2020. 

“The Tudor Submariner, Model 7016, dive watch was issued to UDTs and SEALs through the 1960s and early 1970s. Captain Normon H. Olson, USN (Ret), Commanding Officer UDT 11, was presented with this watch by his teammates.” Navy SEAL Museum Fort Pierce (Photo Credit: Instagram/@Lumeraiders)

While the exhibit lists the watch as a 7016, at a minimum, it has a reprinted dial. With this configuration (chapter rings, with two lines of text at 6 o’clock), and based on the timeline, it could be a 7928. But for military-issued watches, it was not uncommon to replace parts to keep them running. Many of the West Coast UDT/SEAL teams even went as far as to locally reprint dials in California.

Tudor & Modern Naval Special Warfare

Tudor's genuine relationship with NSW stretches back over six decades and continues to this day. While the brand will not officially acknowledge it, Tudor is a leader in custom commemorative unit watches, having produced several for both East and West Coast SEAL Teams, with more in the pipeline. While Tudor officials did not directly make the connection between the modern NSW unit watch programs and the support for the museum, I am under the impression that this relationship, combined with the historical connections, played a part.  

How much money did Tudor donate? The officials I spoke with would not confirm, but according to the museum, Tudor Watches is a “Trident Member,” having donated somewhere between $100k and a million. In the business, we call that real money. 

Tudor Black Bay 58 unit watch produced for a West Coast-based SEAL Team in 2024.

Final Thoughts - San Diego, California

Walking out of the new Navy SEAL Museum in San Diego, it’s hard not to be impressed by the scale of the exhibits and the effort to nail the details. While the museum is meant to be entertaining, it also effectively captures the commitment and sacrifice made by this community, from the early Frogmen of WWII to the modern SEAL Teams. Like many of the stories we tell, the watches themselves are just the entrée to the human element. The Tudor Submariners on display serve as a reminder that a watch can be more than the sum of its parts; it can be a witness to history, carried through deployments, dives, and the unforgiving chaos of war.

I have a strong feeling that these watches will continue to inspire the next generation of frogmen. At W.O.E., we often say “it’s never just a watch.” In the halls of the SEAL Museum, that sentiment is on full display.

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