BASELWORLD 2017:

Tudor Vintage Design + Breitling Base Caliber = New Tudor Black Bay Chronograph


Two of the watch world’s heavyweights have pooled their expertise to develop one of Baselworld 2017’s most buzzed-about new releases. The Tudor Heritage Black Bay Chronograph adds a new, sporty complication to the popular Black Bay collection, and does so with the aid of a new movement sourced not from big brother Rolex but from stopwatch specialist Breitling.

Tudor Black Bay Chronograph - bracelet - soldier
Tudor Black Bay Chronograph on riveted steel bracelet

 

Outwardly, the Tudor Black Bay Chronograph boasts all of the vintage-inspired features that Black Bay fans have most likely come to expect, plus some intriguing extras: the hallmark “Snowflake” hands, the domed dial and crystal, the large winding crown from the 1958 Tudor “Big Crown” dive watch. As it does on other Black Bay models, an engraved, black lacquered Tudor rose emblem appears on the case’s screw-down crown, here flanked by chronograph push-pieces. These characteristic elements are joined by two hollowed-out subdials at 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock for the 45-minute chronograph counter and running seconds indication, respectively, and a date window at 6 o’clock. The 41-mm, 200-meter water-resistant stainless steel case is topped by a fixed, circular satin-brushed bezel with an engraved tachymeter scale. The chronograph pushers are said to have been inspired by those used on early Tudor chronograph watches.

 

Tudor Black Bay Chronograph - leather strap - soldier
Tudor Black Bay Chronograph on brown leather strap

The real intrigue, for watch aficionados, lies on the inside of the timepiece: the high-performance Caliber MT5813 movement, based on Breitling’s automatic, integrated-chronograph Caliber B01. Introduced in 2009, on the occasion of Breitling’s 125th anniversary, as its in-house base movement of the future, Caliber B01 and its various descendants have served ably in many Breitling watch models since. The recent collaborative effort by the two brands — under a veil of secrecy right up until the eve of Baselworld — has yielded a two-fold result thus far. Tudor gets the B01 Caliber on which to build its first “independent” chronograph movement, while Breitling in turn acquires the use of Tudor’s own in-house base movement, Caliber MT5612, for its Superocean Heritage II model, which we will cover separately.

The good news for prospective owners of the Black Bay Chronograph is that the renamed (and revamped) Tudor Caliber MT5813 brings to the table all the considerable attributes of the B01: bidirectional winding, a column-wheel controlled chronograph mechanism with a vertical clutch, a 70-hour power reserve in a single mainspring barrel, a non-magnetic silicon balance spring, a speedy 28,800-vph frequency, and a COSC chronometer certification.

Tudor Caliber MT5813
Tudor Caliber MT5813, based on Breitling Caliber B01

The Tudor Black Bay Chronograph is available with either a brown leather strap or a steel bracelet whose design is inspired by the folding riveted bracelets on Tudor watches produced in the 1950s and 1960s. The visible rivet heads on the side of the bracelet for attaching the links, and the distinctive, stepped construction are nods to these bracelets of the past. Both versions of the watch also come with a special blue denim-style fabric strap, made specially for Tudor’s Heritage watches on 19th-century Jacquard looms by a 150-year-old family company based in Switzerland’s Saint-Etienne region. Tudor says that the watches will be available in July; prices are $4,725 on the leather strap and $5,050 on the bracelet.

Tudor Black Bay - Fabric Strap - soldier
Both versions of the watch come with an additional denim-style fabric strap.
No Responses to “Tudor Vintage Design + Breitling Base Caliber = New Tudor Black Bay Chronograph”

Show all responses
  1. Now one week on the wrist and love the timepiece . A great hybrid with style , and Daytonaesque . Thoughts to enhance further – slightly thicker minute hand – maybe touch more red ; marking/lume enhancement at 9 & 3 . I can also imagine a black ceramic bezel version per new Daytona . That apart , a lovely acquisition at a great price point . A future possible classic.

    Reply
  2. John Wilson

    Nice, but looks very very similar to one of the Omega ’57 chronographs and it is a very similar price. Tudor will struggle with this price point when the brand best known for chronos is already marketing something so similar.

    Reply
  3. Abraham

    It will be great if you could update the report by showing the correct movement, as we all want to see how the B-O1 looks after Tudor has reworked it a bit.

    Reply
  4. Rommel Alvarez

    Wer we can purchase thus model of Tudor here in the Philippines?

    Reply
  5. Andrew Hughes

    Add this to the Christmas list. I am so glad Tudor is enjoying such popularity. They deserve it.

    Reply
  6. Roy W Fell

    I love the Tudor, but I think the prices are a little to high that I could buy three watches that offer more for the price.

    Reply
  7. Roy W Fell

    I’ve always enjoyed the Tudor watch. The components that make up the Tudor watch are all of the finest parts. But the watch needs to have some new features on the watch. As far as chronograph and also like GMT and maybe a different look then a lot of other Tudors out there. There are a lot of things that you could do with watches and the way they look and run. Yes there’s automatics, but you either have to wind it or shake your hand to get it to work. I have ideas that would make a watch run without batteries that makes it a Quartz watch. Yes you have Automatics, but im working on a watch now that will work without batteries and whinding the watch or shaking your arm or moving it back and forth. When I get it pattened, you will be seeing it or maybe be asking how I done it one day. But I still love the Tudor. I little exspensive

    Reply
  8. Heinz Imhof

    The photo of the movement shown is the MT5612 without chronograph.

    Reply
  9. Bert Allen

    Isn’t a 45-minute chrono unsual? Is there a reason it’s not 60?

    Reply
    • Abraham

      The photo is not that of the actual movement used in the chronograph.

      Reply
Leave a Reply