Tudor Royal Guide: Specs, References, Prices, 2026 Relaunch | Ultimate Watch

The piece of Royal lore worth knowing is the launch itself. When Tudor first released the Royal in mid-2020, it did not go global. The initial run, including the 41mm Royal Day-Date reference M28600-0005 in blue, was restricted to four Asian markets: Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, and the Philippines. That regional-first rollout is why some collectors treat the very earliest Day-Date Royals as slightly more special than the later global-release pieces, even though the watches are mechanically identical. The second thread of lore is the movement debate that followed the Royal for its entire first generation. Because the original used bought-in Sellita and ETA calibers rather than Tudor's own MT movements, it became a lightning rod on enthusiast forums, the watch people used to argue about whether a bought-in movement in a beautifully finished case is a compromise or just smart value engineering. The 2026 relaunch effectively ended that argument by dropping in-house COSC-certified MT calibers across the line, which means the original generation now stands as a distinct chapter: the Royal before Tudor put its own engine inside. That before-and-after line is what gives the first-generation Royals their small but real collector identity.