BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
With the 2026 Formula One season underway and Watches & Wonders Geneva fading in the rear view mirror, Tudor brings out the brand new Black Bay Chrono “Carbon 26” Ref. M79377KN-0003, with its colouration inspired by the livery of the cars racing for Visa Cash App Racing Bulls. Previously known for a while as AlphaTauri, and before that as Toro Rosso, Visa Cash App Racing Bulls (or Racing Bulls for short) is one of the two constructors owned by Red Bull, the other teal being Oracle Red Bull Racing. Its main racing drivers are Liam Lawson (AUS) and Arvid Linblad (GBR), and they seem to be doing fairly well at the time of writing.
You might recall that last year, Tudor released a very similar-looking watch with blue colourations. The new piece for 2026 features white and yellow colours inspired by the 2026 Formula One car: VCARB 03. Interestingly, these cars and those used by the other Red Bull team feature engines manufactured by Ford, marking the brand’s return to the sport after its last race as manufacturer in 2004. Presumably, the cars aren’t powered by Ford’s notoriously disastrous 1L three-cylinder Ecoboost engines, which are sometimes nicknamed “Ecoboom” on this side of the pond. I don’t know much about Formula One. I do know, however, that this is the return of Ferrari’s arch nemesis when it comes to racing – Ford and Ferrari are notorious adversaries, so we’ll see what happens next.
Anyway, back to the watch: it features a 42mm x 14.3mm case made from carbon fibre, with a fixed carbon fibre bezel. Water resistance is 200m (660 ft) and, to quote Henry Ford (probably), you can have the carbon case in any colour you want, as long as it’s black. The screw-down crown on the watch is PVD-coated titanium, and so are the screw-down pushes for the chronograph. The case is paired with a hybrid leather and rubber strap featuring a tread pattern reminiscent of a racing tyre.
Inside the watch is the self-winding calibre MT5813, which is not an in-house-made movement but rather a COSC-certified chronometer movement made for Tudor based on Breitling’s B-01 calibre. It features a date and a 70-hour power reserve, which are practical, as well as a vertical clutch and a column wheel for the chronograph, which ensures precision and an engaging feel when starting, stopping, and resetting the chronograph.
In fact, the only thing this watch really lacks is a flyback function for the seconds, which could truly make it the perfect daily chronograph, but would probably increase the price a bit. Speaking of the price, it’s USD8,625 pre-tax, EUR7,980 (VAT depending), GBP6,750 (including VAT), or CHF7,050 (including VAT). The Tudor Black Bay Chrono “Carbon 26” is available now, but is limited to just 2,026 pieces.
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