Tudor Launches The Brand-New Tudor Black Bay Chrono "Blue"

Tudor has gotten into a habit of engaging in surprise releases lately. Today is no exception – well, I suppose it’s a bit of an exception considering the brand has just launched a watch right in the middle of Geneva Watch Days, even though it isn’t technically a participant in the event. So what’s the watch? 

As the sun rose in the U.S., Tudor launched a new variant of the Black Bay Chrono – a follow-up to its shocking (and very popular) pink edition earlier this year. This new model is very appropriately called the Tudor Black Bay “Blue” for its – well – blue color. The blue is being touted as a boutique-only edition.

It carries over all that we already know about this reference from the launch of the Pink a few months back, but uses a color that has become emblematic of the Tudor collection in a historical sense. Think of the Tudor Snowflake and its ties to the French Navy and blue has really permeated so many popular model lines in the Tudor range from the Black Bay (divers) to the Pelagos. It was only a matter of time before it made its way to the Chrono.

In fact, Tudor is referring to this as “Tudor Blue,” not so much for its specific shade, but rather the idea that blue is such a foundationally significant color to the brand itself. Here, we are getting a blue-on-blue motif between bezel and dial.

The dial is a domed blue color which is contrasted by the white of the two sub-registers. Further visual intrigue is added by the red flourishes on the tip of the chronograph seconds hand and the depth rating text.

From a technical standpoint, we are dealing with effectively the same Black Bay Chrono we know in this format. That means a brushed and polished 41mm case,  fixed steel bezel with aluminum insert, Snowflake hands, and the aforementioned domed dial.

The watch is affixed to a five-link bracelet complete with Tudor’s T-Fit clasp adjustment system allowing 8mm of adjustment for the wearer. We saw this bracelet on the pink edition and it works just as well in blue.

Inside beats the same manufacture Chronograph Caliber MT5813 (derived from the Breitling B01 caliber) which is COSC-certified and offers 70 hours of power reserve. So basically, this is a dial and bezel color change, offered in an exclusive fashion through boutiques only. What’s to get excited about?

Well, in my opinion, two Black Bay Chrono launches in one year indicates that the watch is important to the future of Tudor, and the popularity of the pink edition tells me that the watch enthusiast market is also really warming up to this model range. Is this a Daytona? No it is not. In fact, it is sort of the anti-Daytona. It is bigger, thicker, and sportier, and just evokes more of that tool-watch energy that Tudor always brings to the table. 

The Black Bay Chrono had largely been playing off the design cues of the Daytona until the pink was released. And now the blue brings Tudor's color heritage into this line, giving the chronograph its own distinct look and feel – one that very much belongs to the Tudor brand. While I am sure some will look at this as a boring release, I think it may act as a precursor for things to come from Tudor in the (hopefully near) future. What that means exactly, we will just have to wait and see.

The Tudor Black Bay Chrono "Blue" Ref. 79360B is priced at $5,675.