Back in 2017, Tudor dropped something that was wholly unexpected: a new chronograph called the Tudor Heritage Black Bay Chronograph. (Back then, the brand wasn’t so entirely focused on the Black Bay line and bothered to differentiate it with the “Heritage” modifier.) The watch was a hit, and has since spawned a number of iterations, in addition to a few Pelagos FXD chrono models. A few years after its introduction, for example, it got a makeover with a ceramic bezel and a panda option. In all that time, though, we hadn’t seen what might be the most predictable color: blue. Nowadays, if a watch is debuted in black, then the smart money would be on the second iteration being blue. But anyone making that wager would’ve been waiting through a two-tone model and a pink model, until now. Tudor has just announced the Tudor Black Bay Chrono “Blue” Boutique Edition M79360B.
If you’re wondering what’s really new, you can skip below to the dial, because everything else remains unchanged. The Black Bay Chrono “Blue” Boutique Edition features the same 41mm stainless steel case as its siblings, with a sapphire crystal and 200m water resistance. It’s 14.4mm thick with a lug-to-lug of 49.8mm, meaning it should wear just as well as the other Black Bay Chronos. The case features a circular brushed finish on the top, slim polished chamfers, and polished sides. The screw-down chronograph pushers and crown are also polished. A note that when unscrewed, the pushers have a long sleeve that surrounds the pusher that gives a bit of a Grand Seiko chronograph vibe that isn’t exactly attractive. (Here’s a bit about me: I don’t like screw-down pushers, so I usually leave them unscrewed on watches like this, which gives it a fun pump pusher look.)
Surrounding the dial, and the first thing that something is new, is the anodized aluminum “Tudor blue” insert. This is a generic tachymeter insert at a glance, the same as previous BB Chrono inserts, but examining it closely, it’s quite different in execution. The font strikes a balance between vintage and modern, and the spacing allows for excellent legibility. The watch is finished off with a 5-link 22mm Jubilee-style bracelet featuring Tudor’s toolless T-Fit adjusting clasp for 8mm of quick sizing.
The dial is where all the action is, and Tudor has used the same blue in the bezel on this new two-tone dial. The main dial is a satin sunburst blue, with a subtle dome as it lowers around the edges. The applied indices and classic Black Bay handset are all polished with Super-LumiNova, and which we know well to glow brightly and evenly. A beveled date window sits at 6, providing visual balance and, even though the wheel is white, it coordinates well with the white of the hands and the markers. As we’ve seen on other Tudors (like the P01 or the Pelagos LHD), we get a pop of red on the dial, here in the form of the depth rating and the chronograph seconds hand.
The chronograph counters are offered in silver, and have a pie pan form as they sink below the plane of the dial. At 3 o’clock and inspired by the 1970 Oysterdate (Tudor’s first chrono) sits a 45-minute chronograph counter, an uncommon sight in modern watches that adds a bit of charm to the BB Chrono collection. At 9 o’clock, you get a standard running seconds display. All in all, the dial appears well balanced and attractive, though personally, I think I would have liked to see an all-blue execution. This is not the first silver and blue chrono — I’m reminded of the Tokyo 2020 and Chronoscope Speedmasters from Omega, among others — and it wouldn’t be the first all-blue chrono, but that’s still what my heart desires.
The watch sports the same chrono that can be found in other Black Bay Chronos and in the Pelagos FXD chronograph models, the Cal. MT5813. This automatic movement is based on the Breitling Caliber 01 (which Tudor states explicitly), but with enhancements specific to Tudor, like a 70-hour power reserve at 28,800vph, a silicon balance spring, and a variable inertia balance. The chronograph mechanism features a column wheel and a vertical clutch, and the movement is COSC-certified, providing accuracy -4/+6 second per day. This movement has demonstrated its value in a number of Tudor chronographs since the Black Bay Chrono introduced in 2017. The partnership between Tudor and Breitling emerged in 2011, and this particular exchange involved a swap for Tudor’s three-hand MT5612 caliber. In 2016, of course, Kenissi was established to handle all the MT- movements and also provide third-party production.
This is a blue chronograph from Tudor, so people are going to love it even while they complain that it’s just a blue chronograph from Tudor. There’s really nothing to get upset about here, except for the fact that it’s just a boutique edition and maybe the fact that Tudor put blue in quotes. My greater hope is that this boutique edition signals a more widely available all-blue version of the Black Bay Chrono. The Tudor Black Bay Chrono “Blue” Boutique Edition M79360B is priced at $5,675 USD and available exclusively at Tudor boutiques but is not limited in production. For more information, please visit the Tudor website.
