On my wrist right now is a Tudor Black Bay with a black bezel and the vintage of 2015. In a way, this is the pinnacle of Black Bay, or at least the pinnacle of Black Bay of a certain era. As Ben Clymer pointed out in 2012, this watch is not a replica of any particular vintage Tudor watch. Instead, it combines the best design cues from vintage Tudor dive watches, including Tudor’s snowflake hands first used on the Tudor Submariner in 1968. the snowflake hands were first used on the Tudor Submariner in 1968 (7016/0), and the large crown first used on the Tudor Submariner in 1954. the large crown on the 7922, first used in 1954, and its slab case design and gilt dial.
And the movement is also the pinnacle of Tudor – at some point in time. It is a modified ETA 2824. TUDOR gave its own touches to the main plate, bridges, ratchets and screw heads, used the Kif anti-vibration system for the balance pivots, and modified the escapement teeth and pallet forks to produce greater rate stability (even after six years, my movement is still keeping good time). All of this means that while the basic movement is supplied by ETA, additional measures have been taken to ensure that the movement keeps replica Rolex standard time even if it is not a Rolex movement.
While the watch is a new direction for Tudor as far as design is concerned – and caused controversy among some enthusiasts when it was launched because it’s not actually a copy-and-paste of the Tudor Sub – it has, and still has, its vintage, nostalgic appeal. Tudor fans are still waiting for a straightforward reboot of the Tudor Submariner (and I suspect we can keep waiting), but, then and now, the Black Bay has a lot of charm if you’re into that sort of thing. Today’s model replaces the rose on the dial with a shield (full disclosure, I miss the rose), but it’s still a good value for money. The movement is the in-house MT5602 with silicon hairspring, and the price has barely gone up – just $50 with a strap for $3,475, compared to $3,425 in 2015.
I say all this because that watch shows an interesting arc of product development and the evolution of Tudor design compared to the new Black Bay Ceramic.
For starters, the Black Bay Ceramic is clearly and immediately a Black Bay. Sure, it’s now in ceramic, but it’s still the familiar slab case with tank-like proportions (and I mean an armoured fighting vehicle, not a Cartier watch). The watch is lighter thanks to the change in case material, but at its core, it’s still the chunky, vintage sports watch we know and love.
Or is it? While the original Black Bay (and BB 58) made no secret of its vintage quest, the Black Bay Ceramic is, in some ways, a new Black Bay. There’s no hint of a slightly older vintage replica watch here. Instead, we have an exercise in smooth gloss and matte black textures, with no splashes of colour anywhere. The gilt is gone, the dial legend is now a soft grayscale font, and the ceramic bezel is uncompromising in its devotion to the dark side – even without the luminescent dots on the bezel.
If you’re used to the Black Bay before the ceramic debuted, it’s actually shocking. It’s also eerily beautiful. The luminescent markers and hands seem to float in the air, glowing through their own light like landing lights on the deck of an aircraft carrier at night.
It’s a thought-provoking copy watch, and it does smack of deliberate provocation (which is nothing new for Rolex or Tudor – think of the 2013 platinum commemorative Daytona, or more recently Tudor’s 2019 P01 – both of which have left many enthusiasts chomping at the bit). Yes, this is the Black Bay, but in its sleek, icy modernity, it also seems to reject everything we thought the Black Bay stood for. The fact that there’s no luminescent tube means you’d be shirking your responsibilities to even call it a “dive watch”.
I’m not going to lie; this fake watch is also breathtakingly handsome. Both the back and the front – the back of the METAS-certified MT5602-IU is almost as beautiful as the front of the watch – it has that dark allure of the SR-71 Blackbird.
And, it’s a damn – no, ma’am, a damn beautiful watch. It’s not what we’re used to thinking of when we think of the Black Bay, but as the Tudor lineup continues to evolve, it’s both possible and necessary. I don’t know if I’m cool enough to wear it – but someone can.
