A watch I was curious to discover hands-on at Watches & Wonders Geneva 2024 is the Tudor Black Bay Chrono Pink, which was introduced just a week or so before the show. Tudor surprised us all with this pink-dialed Black Bay chronograph watch and then did it again when in Geneva it told us that this watch was not, strictly speaking, a Watches & Wonders novelty, just a “novelty in general,” and so they did not have it on hand. These entirely self-inflicted and arbitrary rules can drive me up the wall of even the tallest Palexpo booth, but before that could happen, I spotted this exact watch lying on a distant table. The duo meeting there allowed me to borrow it to wear and photograph — and all was well in the world again, because it meant that I could return to you with a photo report and in-the-metal impressions.
Getting colors right remains among the more challenging aspects of modern watchmaking. While the various surface treatments, paints, platings, coatings, and even the dexterity of craftspeople are as good as ever, the end result is still very much hit or miss, not to mention that brands and journalists often struggle with conveying how color actually appears on a watch and how it affects its wearing and ownership experience. Then there is a subjective element to it all, too. It is a true fact that a poorly chosen or executed color is all it takes to break an otherwise superb watch. Rolex’s Tudor acts as “the shield that protects the crown,” and it does so not just by being one of the best value propositions just below Rolex’s price point, but also by testing the waters with new materials and executions.
Retailers in a non-representative survey tell us that the 41mm-wide Tudor Black Bay Chrono is a watch favored by men and that customers rarely, if ever, proactively ask for a pink-dialed watch. This, the Tudor Black Bay Chrono Pink, then, is another experimental Tudor, following other cool projects in bronze, gold-wrapped steel, fixed-lug titanium, and more. To its credit, the Chrono Pink acts very differently than many other Tudor novelties in recent memory, as product updates have often been incremental in terms of size and color changes in the Black Bay range — which is normal operating procedure for any brand of this size. Those incremental variations were, let’s be honest, not the easiest to spot from across the room unless you were a true die-hard Tudor enthusiast. The Black Bay Chrono Pink on the other hand… I did not have to look twice to find it across the room.
The first surprise was that we were not looking at a highly saturated or extremely vibrant pink. A large portion of the dial is pink, so it is far from discreet, but it is not your Barbie or chewing gum-inspired crazy-pink, either. If anything, it is rather more lavender, as someone pointed out. An important factor here is that the dial is not reflective or thickly lacquered; instead, the microscopic black spots in its grainy texture play an important role in toning the saturation and brightness down. None of this was apparent from Tudor’s official pictures, which made us expect a glossy-pink lacquered dial.
In direct light, as you see in the picture above, the pink-lavender hues come out to play, and the dial is as vibrant as it could ever get — but it still isn’t as burn-your-eyes-out pink as it could be. Whether that is a positive surprise or a negative development is more a matter of taste than anything else. Generally speaking, a matte dial with glossy furniture (hands and indices) is a strong combination to improve contrast and, therefore, legibility, plus, you could argue that it also lends a somewhat more serious and less cartoonish appearance to the face of the Tudor Black Bay Chrono watch.
At the other end of the spectrum is how you see the Tudor Chrono Pink just here, photographed under yellow lights without a flash: Rather subdued, though we can’t quite stretch to calling it serious. The takeaway here is that upon first impression the Tudor Black Bay Chrono Pink was nowhere near as brash and as pink as we expected it to be and that official photos (and unofficial ones, for that matter) should be consumed with a pinch of salt, and you should always try to reserve judgment until you see a watch in the metal.
Speaking of encountering one of these in the wild, multiple people at Tudor have independently confirmed with us that the Tudor Black Bay Chrono Pink watch will have just one production run, and then no more will be made. This is a bit of a shame, although Tudor is yet to be in the crosshairs of scalpers and flippers, so you might just have a chance to pick one of these up from a boutique and live happily ever after.
The five-piece link bracelet is a strong match and apparently the only option to have on this watch. As we said in the news release article: “Tudor does not specify this, but I do believe it is the first time that the Black Bay Chrono is fitted with this Jubilee-inspired bracelet and, frankly, it suits it beautifully. It is a supple, comfortable bracelet, made all the more comfortable by including a Tudor »T-fit« rapid adjustment clasp that we know and love.” It matches the alternating brushed and polished surfaces of the case, with the top of the wide lugs being brushed while their beveled edge and the entire case profiles are polished to a point where they act as mirrors that reflect your arm hair and sleeve.
An uninspired solid-steel caseback hides the Manufacture Calibre MT5813, which is a reworked version of Breitling’s revered B01 manufacture chronograph caliber. Tudor gives you this fantastic movement at a considerably lower price than the brand that actually developed and produced it, which remains an interesting little phenomenon in the luxury watch industry. It is a great movement, with three days of power reserve supporting a 4Hz operating frequency, and Tudor even adds a silicon hairspring that is resistant to magnetism, and temperature variations. The only trade-off is its 7.23mm thickness, which results in a relatively thick case, although a 200m water resistance rating and a cool domed sapphire crystal justify some of that.
Perhaps the most surprising takeaway from our hands-on time with the Tudor Black Bay Chrono Pink watch is that the watch itself is not all that surprising or shocking, really. Maybe it is the week of horological excess that is Watches & Wonders Geneva 2024 that is altering our perception, but in truth, the Tudor Chrono Pink impressed us as a very natural and likable extension of the collection. How well it integrates into your wardrobe and daily wearing habits, or how well it performs as a watch you only take out on special occasions, will be your call to make. Overall, it is a complete package with a strong movement, a nice enough exterior — the aluminum bezel and its cheap-looking markings are easily the most compromised elements — and a refreshing new color, to boot.
Again, Tudor does not specify how many pink-dialed Black Bay Chrono watches it will produce, but allegedly it will be one run of production and nothing more. The Tudor Black Bay Chrono Pink watch is priced at $5,675 USD. You can learn more at the brand’s website.
