Tudor celebrates its illustrious history with the Heritage Black Bay diving watch.
Swiss watchmaker Tudor’s latest Heritage Black Bay diving watch is as rich in history as it is in innovation and design. This extraordinary timepiece, which debuted in 2012 and won recognition from the jury of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie in Geneva, has been updated with a mechanical movement that was developed, manufactured and assembled in-house.
The Black Bay forms part of Tudor’s Heritage line that not only reintroduces a classic, but also reworks iconic pieces using modern designs and new techniques. This line began in 2010 with the Tudor Heritage Chrono, a free interpretation of the brand’s first chronograph dating from 1970. Since then, other models have been added to the series of nostalgic pieces, including the Ranger, Advisor and, this year, the Black Bay.
Tudor, as we know it today, was originally a trademark registered under The Tudor by the house of Veuve de Philippe Hüther — a watch dealer and maker — for Hans Wilsdorf. It was registered in Geneva in February 1926 and Wilsdorf acquired exclusive usage rights from the dealer. In October 1936, the house of Veuve de Philippe Hüther transferred the brand to Wilsdorf, who changed its name to Montres Tudor SA just after World War II. It specialised in watches for men and women.
The brand has an illustrious history in watchmaking and the Heritage line celebrates this. Its achievements are largely associated with its divers’ watches, the first of which, the Tudor Oyster Prince Submariner, was launched in 1954. The brand went on to introduce a long and successful line of ergonomic, legible, accurate and robust divers’ watches.
By revisiting the Black Bay, Tudor commemorates 60 years of diving watches, with a nod to a number of its predecessors. Hence, each element of this watch epitomises the extraordinary heritage of the original Black Bay, specifically, and the brand as a whole. It sports the general lines of the first Tudor diving watches, as well as the domed dial and crystal. Also present are the particularly prominent winding crown from the renowned Tudor 7924, known as the Big Crown, released in 1958, and the characteristic angular hands (known as “snowflake”) from the watches delivered in large quantities to the French navy in the 1970s. This model showcases a rivet-headed, stepped construction of its steel bracelet that was popular in the 1950s and1960s. Tudor combines these older elements of the riveted bracelet with the modern manufacturing method of a solid link. The result is a steel bracelet that is as aesthetically pleasing as it is sturdy and durable.
The guaranteed water depth — 200m — is engraved on the dial of the watch. Its beating heart is the calibre MT5602, featuring a self-winding mechanical movement with bidirectional rotor system. The Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute- certified movement is a high-performance calibre of excellent precision, offering a 70- hour power reserve. The movement is regulated by a variable inertia oscillator with silicon balance spring, held in place by a traversing bridge — a guarantee of its robustness.
The Black Bay’s unidirectional rotatable bezel with disc comes in three colour variations — matt burgundy, matt blue and matt black. Each of the three is available with either a steel bracelet or aged leather strap with folding clasp and safety catch. An additional fabric strap with buckle is included in the box, giving the wearer an alternative for more casual, relaxed days.
Each of the choices evokes different emotions and appeals to different personalities. The burgundy bezel, combined with a black dial, rose-gold hands and markers and cream luminescent coating, resembles an antique watch. The blue bezel contrasts sharply with the black face of the watch. The black bezel version, on the other hand, best captures the pioneering spirit of the early Tudor diving watches, owing to the new decorative detail — the famous red triangle on the bezel, an inspiration drawn from the Tudor models of the 1950s.
Shalini Yeap is a writer with the Options desk at The Edge Malaysia.
This article appeared in the Options of Issue 764 (Jan 30) of The Edge Singapore.
