BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
With Watches & Wonders Geneva just around the corner it makes sense for lots of brands to start rolling out their new releases ahead of time. This ‘phased’ approach to marketing the new collection is especially good for brands that aren’t attending any of the various events around Geneva next week, but are aware of the significance of it all. The Swatch Group, for example, has had its brands release some of their new pieces to make sure they’re muscling in at the right time; the same goes for Breitling, which we’ve covered a bit so far. Tudor is one of the largest exhibitors at the show, but they too have been showing us some of their new pieces.
We start with an odd-looking entry, a pink-dialled version of the Black Bay Chrono. The Black Bay is one of Tudor’s most recognisable watches, a professional’s watch to be sure but one with a casual air about it. It signals to me that it doesn’t care if it’s used as a professional tool, it’s here for the adventure. It’s nice to have watches in that category, more sporty than formal yet with a hint of sporting potential on show.
There doesn’t seem to be a specific reason for this watch being pink, it’s not in aid of raising awareness of something. However, Tudor is quick to point out that lots of their ambassadors, such as football superstar David Beckham, utilise the colour. Another ambassador of theirs, Taiwanese singer Jay Chou, purportedly owns the colour, I’m assuming they mean he owns it as in he’s made it his own and made it work, rather than he somehow owns a colour. Perhaps he does own a very specific tone of pink, but I’m not going to speculate on that.
The watch itself is a 41mm 316L stainless steel affair with a domed sapphire crystal over the dial. The deal isn’t too cluttered; sure, there are some applied markers here and a smattering of text there, but it’s clean and good-looking. That’s probably down to the twin-subdial layout for the chronograph. A date window is also in place, and it’s not too jarring.
Inside the [200m water-resistant] case is a Breitling-made calibre MT5813. In fact, the MT5813 began life as a Breitling calibre B01 before being edited a bit to fit the Black Bay Chrono. If it works, it works, and it really does work here; the B01 is an excellent calibre with a column wheel and vertical clutch chronograph, which have made their way across to the Tudor. It also has a 4Hz beat rate and 70-hour power reserve.
Tudor won’t be making many of these, but they’ve been imprecise on how many are being made. It comes with a Jubilee-style bracelet, though. It also costs $5,675. I know they like to “dare” with everything, but couldn’t they be a bit more specific in some areas? And who cares if it has a pink dial? If it works it works. I saw someone on another blog calling this the Black Bay Chrono ‘Pepto Bismol’, I think that works.
