When bronze is gold

THE Tudor “Heritage Black Bay Bronze” diving watch was a standout at the Baselworld 2016 fair in Switzerland. Taking its cues from Tudor’s early dive models, the “Black Bay” has previously been available only in steel, with bronze offered as a fresh case option this year.

The choice of metal, says the brand, is “a tribute to the longstanding relationship between Tudor and some of the world’s largest navies... which all extensively made use of Tudor diving watches.”

It’s a genuine backstory that traces its beginnings to soon after the launch of Tudor’s firstever diving watch, in 1954. The case of the “Black Bay Bronze” is made from aluminium bronze, a corrosion-resistant alloy used in maritime environments for components subjected to lengthy periods of immersion.

While your timepiece won’t endure the same exposure as, say, a bronze propeller, it will change in appearance, patinating or darkening over time. Tudor says it took three years to develop an alloy the company was satisfied with – one that stabilises to a dark chocolate tone with differences that make each watch unique.

What they have in common – as do all “Black Bay” variants – is the movement: a variation of Tudor’s very first in-house calibre launched in 2015. It’s chronometer-certified, with a high-precision silicon balance spring, boasts a 70-hour power reserve – quite an improvement on the cog-work found in early pieces – and is worthy, in our eyes, of a gold star. It’s $4750.