BLACK MAGIC

Talented magician turned King of Mandopop Jay Chou joins forces with Swiss watch brand Tudor for a tongue-incheek short film celebrating the new Black Bay Chrono

Taiwanese singer, songwriter, rapper, actor, producer and film director Jay Chou is one of the best-selling artists in greater China. The so- called King of Mandopop, who’s sold more than 30 million records, is also quite the talented magician. So when award-winning Swiss-made watch brand Tudor tapped him to showcase its collectors’ favourite sports watch, it was only natural that Chou would combine his many talents into an original – and utterly unique – commercial.

Inspired by Tudor’s aquatic heritage as well as its professional motorsports racing involvement in the 1970s, the new Black Bay Chrono was announced earlier this year. The classically styled timepiece comes in two colourways, a black dial with silver counters or an opaline dial with black counters sometimes nicknamed “panda” by watch enthusiasts.

It’s the “panda” that features in the second commercial Chou entirely directed and starred in for Tudor. In the opening scene we see him park his black classic car in front of a Tudor boutique. He enters and finds the Black Bay Chrono in one of the displays, but is unable to get a sales associate to help him. So, like the skilled magician he is, Chou puts his hand through the glass and takes the watch – leaving the display seemingly untouched.

The “magic hand” trick gets the attention of the staff, who rush over just as the watch somehow ends up on the wrist of a bewildered sales associate. But Chou, having made his purchase, has one last trick up his sleeve before saying goodbye and leaving the boutique.

In true magician fashion, Chou’s method was so top secret that the entire production crew except for a single cameraman was asked to leave the set when he performed the counter display trick. If anything, the commercial exemplifies the entertainer’s love for his many crafts as well as Tudor’s much-lauded #BornToDare spirit. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what magic is all about.