Lady Gaga and Tudor...Caught in a Bad Romance?
In life there are things that obviously go together - these are often two ordinary things that when combined make something extraordinary. Think about peanut butter and jelly, oreos and milk, spaghetti and meatballs, cheese and crackers, Rolex and tennis. Alone each item is perfectly fine, but together...well that’s where the magic happens.
But, then there are things that seem diametrically opposed. Oil and water, democrats and republicans, sunshine and rain, sweet and salty, Lady Gaga and Tudor.
No matter how you look at it, these things just don’t really go together. Or, do they? Mixing sweet and salty can actually be a tasty treat when done right, and sunshine and rain does on occasion produce a rainbow.
But, what about Lady Gaga and Tudor? Their connection certainly does not fall within the “things that are meant to be together” category. They are certainly not cookies and milk or love and marriage. In fact, they seem to fall into the category of being polar opposites.
Are Lady Gaga and Tudor a mismatched pair that will turn out to be a unique surprise? Are they the prosciutto melone of the watch world, or is their connection more like oil and water?
We dug deep to try to find out what connection the two may have (if any) and tried to wrap our heads around why a classic, deeply-rooted-in-tradition brand like Tudor reached out to an iconic and eclectic, push-the-envelope type of pop superstar like Lady Gaga.
A Classical Connection?
Tudor is a well-known classically-designed watch brand, created by Rolex in 1926. Often considered the baby brother of Rolex, Tudor has been known to create slightly more rebellious and flamboyant designs than Rolex. They have pushed the envelope a teeny bit by creating some more colorful and more daring dials than Rolex. There are many creative ways to customize your Tudor watch strap, but overall Tudor watches remain pretty deeply rooted in tradition with a relatively low shock value.
Rolex is known for their slow and subtle changes, and we love that about them. We love a brand that takes its time to make things absolutely perfect instead of rushing to follow the next big trend. Tudor isn’t much different in this regard. Their new styles tend to be a slight variation on an existing style, and the aesthetic of Tudor watches is almost always subtle, upscale, and understated.
Lady Gaga, mega pop superstar and eclectic fashion icon, is nothing like this. She lives life in the fast lane, she is producing new creative content constantly and is always pushing the boundaries of the status-quo. Her fashion choices are almost never subtle, and she’s worn everything from dresses made entirely of raw meat, to being covered head to toe in glittery spikes, to feathers, white paint, elaborate headpieces, 10 inch heels, and more. She literally oozes creativity and eccentricity and has never once been described as subtle.
But before Lady Gaga became the ultra-creative, high shock-value superstar she now is, she was a classically trained musician in New York City. She can play all of the classic Mozart and Beethoven concertos with incredible accuracy and power, and in addition to performing cutting edge pop music, she can also sing opera. She started playing piano by age 4 and got accepted into Julliard at age 11 (but attended a Catholic private school instead). She wrote her first piano ballad at 13 and had her first big performance at age 14. Lady Gaga is at her roots, a classically trained musician.
So, maybe, just maybe, Tudor felt a connection with the idea that both Lady Gaga and Tudor had some classical or traditional roots? It seems like a stretch, but maybe.
A Heritage Connection?
We wondered if Lady Gaga and Tudor maybe had a heritage connection. Afterall, “heritage” is an important concept to Tudor as they named their popular Black Bay watch line The Tudor Heritage Black Bay. When we looked into this connection, we learned that of course, Hans Wilsdorf, the founder of Rolex, has German heritage, and Lady Gaga’s heritage is almost entirely Italian with a teeny bit of distant French.
Rolex and Tudor are Swiss-Made watch brands. Sure, all parties involved have European roots, but again so do millions of other people. Try as we did, we couldn’t find a legit connection in this area.
A “Mission” or Lifestyle Connection?
With Tudor’s decision to add Lady Gaga as a brand ambassador, they also created the new mission slogan called #BornToDare. On the Tudor website, they describe Lady Gaga:
When you try and think of a daring individual in today’s popular culture, it is hard to find anyone more fitting the description than Lady Gaga. Behind the glitter and glam, her provocative style and political statements, she is about total showmanship. A singer. A composer. A performer. A dancer. She stages herself, crafting a revolutionary image as a way to reach the public through a comprehensive approach to art. Writing her own lyrics, playing the guitar, the piano, dancing, asserting her unconventionality, she raises awe, attention and awareness. (source)
We totally agree with this assessment of Lady Gaga. She is truly amazing, iconic, edgy, and awe-inspiring. She is unequivocally #BornToDare, and she stands out in a crowd like no other.
We also LOVE Tudor watches. They are impeccably designed, classic, comfortable, reliable, and valuable. But is Tudor #BornToDare? Has Tudor really pushed the status quo and developed shocking and controversial designs? Has Tudor stunned the watch world and “broke the internet” with their daring, unusual, and loud watches? Is Tudor known for their extremely eclectic design elements and their unwavering dedication to social justice issues in the world? In this area, we simply cannot find the connection.
While Lady Gaga is certainly #BornToDare, we really struggle to see how Tudor could imagine themselves performing in the same arena as Lady Gaga when it comes to being daring, unconventional, and edgy.
Again, nothing against Tudor. We adore them, and we love and own several of their watches. But, is the brand ambassadorship with Lady Gaga the reason we all of a sudden are craving a new Tudor? That answer is no. Will we continue buying Tudor watches? Absolutely. As British YouTuber The Urban Gentry once said, “We choose to buy watches because we love them regardless of who is wearing them.”
A Different Kind of Connection?
After much research and squinting as hard as we could to try to see any semblance of a connection between Lady Gaga and Tudor, we thought that maybe the reason for their partnership was less about connection and more about outreach.
Lady Gaga’s “monsters” as she lovingly refers to them, are probably not people who previously knew about a prestigious watch brand like Tudor. With her ambassadorship now they do, and that could open the door to an entire new population of future watch lovers and collectors. Just the other day, 18-year old Billie Eilish (5-time Grammy Award Winner) was seen wearing both Cartier and Rolex watches.
It is refreshing to see young pop stars wearing classic luxury watches, and it gives hope for future generations of watch enthusiasts. It’s also awesome to see more women enter the world of watches which has been predominantly male-dominated since forever.
(image) @vekiss_2 on Instagram wearing a Tudor with Everest Band
If Tudor’s intention for appointing Lady Gaga as their brand ambassador was to reach a new and diverse audience, and to raise awareness of the brand, then they probably chose wisely. With just under 43 million followers on instagram, Lady Gaga certainly has a huge audience at her disposal. Her most recent picture wearing a Tudor Black Bay 58 Navy Blue was liked by approximately 1.4 million people. In comparison, the most recent picture of the BB58 Navy Blue posted on the official Tudor Watch Instagram page is sitting around 21,000 likes. Talk about outreach!
Is the Whole Greater than the Sum of its Parts?
Whether Lady Gaga and Tudor are a great match or simply caught in a bad romance is hard to say. Our research has led to more questions than answers. On one hand, she models Tudor watches impeccably and looks phenomenal in all of their advertisements and press releases. On the other hand, Lady Gaga isn’t a watch gal and never wears a watch out in public or when she is not working.
Additionally, Tudor is endorsing Lady Gaga’s daring lifestyle, while at the same time not being very daring themselves. This brings up the question of authenticity on both accounts. Are the brands authentically connected in a way that mutually benefits, respects, and enhances both parties? Is this a partnership that will stand the test of time, or is it more shallow?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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