1969 Tudor Date + Day Jumbo ref. 7017/0 “Cotton Bowl Classic 1974” Award Watch

Nine years from 1967 to 1976 are an exciting period for fans of American Football who also happen to enjoy vintage Rolex and Tudor watches. The Rolex group began their involvement with the college football annual final in 1967 when Air King watches were given to the participants of the game. After four years the switch was made to Tudor.

The Cotton Bowl Classic, a college football game that was a championship game between two of the best teams of the season selected from across all the top college football conferences. There are many such ‘bowl’ games played each year, but the Cotton Bowl is special because from the first game onwards each year, the teams have been awarded watches instead of the much more common rings. The players, coaches and administrative staff all receive watches and the player watches have their names engraved on the caseback.

1967 was the first year that Rolex were involved and the presentation watch was an Air King reference 5501, with yellow gold crown and bezel. In 1968 the teams received a reference 1500 Date watch before a switch to Rolex Datejusts for 1969-1971 (although some Tudor Date models were maybe issued in 1971 too). The full switch to Tudor occurred in 1972 with the 34mm Oysterdate watch and then continued from 1974 to 1976 with the jumbo Date & Day watches reference 7017 (the smooth bezel version).

The 1974 Cotton Bowl Classic was played on January 1 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. It matched the Texas Longhorns and the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The Cornhuskers won the game 19-3 and therefore the watches were awarded to them.

Up for grabs here is a Tudor Date+Day version.

7017/0 reference so called “Jumbo” 38mm watch in steel resembling Rolex 1802 day-date with smooth bezel.

691,XXX serial number circa 1969 production

Excellent vintage condition watch without major dings or dents. No corrosion or pitting. Serial and reference numbers are legible.

Dial is in excellent and original vintage condition. It is signed 1974 Cotton Bowl Classic and has the cotton flower logo as well. The minute hand has been relumed in past it appears.

Bezel is in very nice condition and free of any notable dents or scratches.

Watch comes on a Rolex USA C&I Oyster rivet bracelet with 1-73 date on clasp.

Caseback is original with legible inner and outer engravings. It is also engraved with a name: “Chad Leonardi”. He played for the Nebraska team as an offensive guard according to records.

No box or papers. I don’t have any direct provenance and all the info above is copied from researched sources. No service history is known. The watch is losing about 2 minutes per day and shows ~220 amplitude on timegrapher, so a service is recommended.