The Tudor Heritage Chrono Blue (ref. 70330B) is among the Swiss brand’s new watch releases for 2013 at Baselworld. Released a few years ago as Tudor was re-imagining their place as a brand next to parent company Rolex, this is a blue and orange version of the quite popular Tudor Heritage Chrono timepiece that has gray and black color accents next to it. The Heritage Chrono Blue is actually a direct homage to a popular 1970s Tudor watch that helped inspire this overall collection. That is the Tudor ref. 7169, which is also known as the Tudor “Montecarlo chronograph.”
Below you can see a picture of the original 1970s Montecarlo chronograph that the new Heritage Chrono Blue was based on. By the way, that particular piece was sold via an Antiquorum auction for over $25,000. The new and old pieces from a design perspective are extremely similar, though differences exist. One of the most important differences is the size, as the Heritage Chrono Blue is 42mm wide in a polished and satin finished steel case (the original is smaller).
Original 1972 Tudor 7169 watch. Image credit to Antiquorum.
Rather than have a rotating diver’s bezel, the Heritage Chrono has a bi-directional bezel with the hour markers on it. This is used as a second timezone, and is a very rare type of rotating bezel to see on chronograph watches. Inside the Heritage Chrono Blue watch is a Swiss ETA 2892 automatic movement with a chronograph module built onto it. In staying true to the original, it measures up to 45 minutes, but compared to the original, the placement of the subsidiary seconds dial and chronograph counter subdial have been reversed. The movement has a power reserve of 42 hours.
Overall look and feel on the wrist is very fresh and fun. Detailing is fantastic as is typical of Rolex family products. As is the “naked” caseback with no markings. One of the more positive little touches is the perfect fit of the custom made NATO style strap, as well as the quality make buckle metal of the strap. For the money you get a lot. For those in the US eager to purchase a Tudor watch, the official world is that Tudor’s US return will be in September of 2013 in both select Rolex boutiques as well third-party watch retailers.
Tudor makes the Heritage Chrono water resistant to 150 meters and it has a sapphire crustal. The pushers and crown are all screw-down. Tudor lays on SuperLumiNova on the hands and hour markers thickly, but is able to retain that iconic 1970s look of the chronograph in this updated modern version of the classic. I personally like this color scheme more than the gray and orange, finding it to be more friendly and bright for the sporty endeavors Tudor has in mind. Tudor will ship each Heritage Chrono Blue with a steel bracelet as well as this three-color blue, orange, and white NATO-style strap. Price will be about 4,200 Swiss Francs. tudorwatch.com
TUDOR HERITAGE CHRONO BLUE
REFERENCE 70330B
• Ø 42 mm steel case with polished and satin finish
• Bidirectional rotatable 12-hour graduated (48 positions) steel bezel for second time-zone display, blue disc
• Self-winding mechanical movement, TUDOR calibre 2892 with additional mechanism for chronograph function
• Power reserve of approximately 42 hours
• Screw-down steel winding crown with triple waterproofness system and TUDOR logo
• Screw-down steel pushers at 2 o’clock and 4 o’clock
• 45-minute totalizer at 9 o’clock
• Small seconds hand at 3 o’clock
• Date at 6 o’clock
• Scratch-resistant sapphire crystal
• Waterproof to 150 m (500 ft)
• Steel bracelet with folding clasp and safety catch, additional fabric strap with buckle supplied with watch