Back in Black Bay
With a slew of objectively cool Black Bay novelties, Tudor might be in danger of becoming a brand defined by one collection
AT WATCHES & WONDERS 2022, Tudor’s new Black Bay watches are so undeniably appealing that the brand might be in danger of being led by its flagship icon. The watchmaker introduced the Tudor Black Bay Pro and the Black Bay GMT S&G (steel and gold).
The Vintage-Inspired Tudor Black Bay Pro
Though the actor was never photographed wearing the Rolex Explorer II ref. 1655 launched in 1971 until 1984, the watch was known to collectors as the ‘Steve McQueen’. Historically, McQueen was more often seen with his Submariner, and legend has it that the Reference 1655 Rolex Explorer II was so nicknamed due to a Rolex advertising campaign in the 1970s. It was likely a combination of pop cultural zeitgeisten, where the unexpected ‘Freccione’ or ‘Orange hand’ was cool at the time, and the actor was enjoying the status of a style icon right when the watch was being produced. Hence the birth of a mythos that would build upon itself, perpetuated by growing auction prices in the 21st century.
On a parallel track, we are seeing Tudor adopt a classic icon and inject it with new vigour in the Black Bay Pro. The Black Bay has been an immense success for Tudor, with countless iterations since its debut in 2012. What started as a handsome retro-diver grown into a full collection of timepieces from casual yet elegant daily watches (in the Black Bay 36) to chronographs. Now the brand is moving the Black Bay in the direction of a professional tool watch with the new Black Bay Pro.
With a 39-millimetre diameter, a fixed steel bezel and a Manufacture Calibre with built-in GMT function, the Black Bay Pro is a technical model with a whole new, if somewhat classic-inspired aesthetic: from the brushed steel bezel to that yellow GMT snowflake hand, the touches reminiscent of those much beloved McQueen Explorer IIs are quite apparent. The nod to the 1970s extends to the hour markers that no longer feature the gilt rims. Instead, Tudor has opted to apply grade A Swiss Super-LumiNova hour indices onto the dial itself.
Black Bay Pro is an entirely new model with a dual time zone feature, a technical complication that establishes local time without losing sight of the time in another time zone powered by the Manufacture Calibre MT5652, COSC-certified with a silicon balance spring, 70-hour power reserve. Beginning in 2015, the brand began producing a line of “Manufacture Tudor” movements for certain models, beginning with Cal. MT5621. These were based on Rolex technology that included silicon hairspring technology, full balance bridge and free-sprung Microstella balance wheel. In 2016, however, Tudor founded a new movement producer in Geneva
known as Kenissi managed by head of Tudor Eric Yvon Pirson, JeanPaul Girardin (formerly of Breitling), and Philippe Jacques Dalloz. Today, Kenissi produces movements for Tudor, Chanel, Breitling and Norqain. The Manufacture Calibre MT5652 that debuted in the original Black Bay GMT and now found in the latest Black Bay Pro represents a further step away from big brother’s shadow. It was a technical development process unique to Tudor, drawing on adaptable architecture capable of including new functions into its manufactured movements rather than resorting to additional modules pointing to Tudor’s nascent rise as a potentially independent albeit historically linked brand. Yet, the vintage touches like domed crystals and a dial lacquered in matte black as well as the iconic combination of applied roundels and triangles in light beige or “fauxtina” (portmanteau of faux patina) retains some of the last links to its early heritage when Hans Wilsdorf founded Tudor as a more approachable brand and yet is a highly qualitative offering comparable to Rolex.
Displaying remarkable user friendliness, this new movement has an integrated GMT function that allows you to jump the central hour hand (for local time) forward or backwards in one-hour increments through the crown. When running, the local central hour hand jumps on the full hour. The date is coupled to jump forward or backwards in accordance with the local hour hand.
The new Tudor Black Bay Pro is available with three strap options: The fabric strap woven in France using a traditional method on 19th century Jacquard looms by the Julien Faure company in the St-Etienne region, a stainless steel bracelet inspired by the folding riveted bracelets from the 1950s and 1960s and finally, a hybrid strap in black rubber and leather with a folding clasp.
Tudor’s Very Own “Root beer” Black Bay GMT S&G
The iconic Black Bay GMT model that launched with a “Pepsi” bezel, so named for its blue and red (aka Pepsi) colourway is now also available in a S&G (Steel & Gold) version, featuring “Root beer” aka brown and black colour palette. Furthermore, the metal of our beloved steel Black Bay GMT now gets Tudor’s steel and gold treatment.
Similar to the Black Bay Pro, the Black Bay GMT S&G model sees reference time indicated by an angular “Snowflake” hand, a signature hallmark of Tudor, which completes a lap of the dial every 24 hours. Local time is indicated by another, shorter “Snowflake” hand set by a jumping hour, which can be moved either backwards or forwards. The date, displayed through an aperture positioned at three o’clock, is connected to the local time hand so that when setting the time and passing midnight in retrograde, it instantly jumps to the previous day. A very practical and technical detail for the user. The 24-hour graduated bidirectional rotating bezel and “24-hour” hand mean you can also keep track of a third time zone. On the anodised aluminium disc of the bezel, the graduations for the 12 daylight hours are gold-coloured on the brown section with the night-time hours on the black section.
Adopting the 41mm diameter sizing from its steel predecessor, gold accents are also found on the Black Bay GMT S&G’s domed grained matte black dial by way of gilt minute rail and applied markers featuring gold rims. In addition to the 48-click gold framed bezel, the watch has a gold crown and gold centre links on the vintage-inspired riveted bracelet.
The release of the “root beer” GMT follows in a similar vintageinspired direction of the Black Bay Pro, but more importantly, it is representative of an industry if not the world’s collective recognition that as we leave the global pandemic in the rearview mirror, we are returning to the age of crossing international time zones once again.
Designed for robustness, longevity, reliability and precision, the same technical calibre with adaptable architecture drives the new Tudor Black Bay GMT S&G. Together with its non-magnetic silicon balance spring, the Manufacture Calibre MT5652 is certified as a chronometer by the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute (COSC), with its performance going beyond the standards set by the independent institute. In fact, where COSC allows an average variation in the daily running of a watch of between -4 and +6 seconds in relation to absolute time in a single movement, Tudor insists on a tighter variation of between -2 and +4 seconds in its running when completely assembled.