The story of the Tudor Black Bay
The Black Bay is not a copy of one old watch. Tudor blended its own dive watches from 1954 onward, including the snowflake hands drawn for French Navy divers, into a single new design.
Chapters
- 2025 to 2026Bigger 68, slimmer 58
In 2025 Tudor went against the downsizing trend with the 43mm Black Bay 68, named after 1968, the year it designed the snowflake hand. In 2026 the Black Bay 58 was reworked as a Master Chronometer with calibre MT5400-U, an 11.7mm case and, for the first time, a five-link bracelet.
- 2021 to 2023Master Chronometer arrives
The 2021 Black Bay Ceramic was the first in the line certified by METAS as a Master Chronometer. In 2023 the 41mm burgundy model followed with calibre MT5602-U, a case cut to 13.6mm, a bubble-style caseback, a crown without the coloured tube and a new five-link bracelet. aBlogtoWatch calls it the third generation of the Black Bay.
- 2018The Fifty-Eight shrinks it
At Baselworld 2018 Tudor added the Black Bay Fifty-Eight, ref. 79030N: 39mm wide, 11.9mm thick and named after the 200m ref. 7924 'Big Crown' of 1958. A thinner calibre, the MT5402, made the slimmer case possible, and the lugs narrowed from 22mm to 20mm.
- 2016 to 2022A movement of its own
From 2016 the 79230 series carried Tudor's manufacture calibre MT5602, made with Kenissi, with a silicon balance spring, COSC certification and about 70 hours of reserve. The case kept 41mm but grew to 14.8mm tall, and the dial swapped the rose for the shield. The same year brought a 43mm bronze Black Bay with Arabic numerals at 3, 6 and 9.
- 2014 to 2015Midnight blue, then all black
In 2014 a navy blue bezel and silver hands and markers produced the 79220B. A black-bezel 79220N with a red triangle followed in 2015, and its short run before the in-house movement arrived has made it one of the rarest Black Bays.
- 2012 to 2015Three old divers, one watch
The first Heritage Black Bay, ref. 79220R, measured 41mm and paired a burgundy aluminium bezel with a gilt dial, a domed sapphire crystal and the snowflake hands Tudor first used in 1969. It drew on the ref. 7922 of 1954, the 200m ref. 7924 of 1958 and the ref. 7016, and ran on an ETA 2824 with a rose logo and a curved 'smiley' line of text above 6 o'clock. The GPHG jury gave it the 2013 Revival prize.
- 2023 to todayThinner, smaller, all black
In 2023 the 41 mm Black Bay became a Master Chronometer and slimmed from 14.8 to 13.6 mm, and the 37 mm, 11.2 mm-thick Black Bay 54 arrived on calibre MT5400. In 2024 came the all-black Monochrome and a 39 mm Black Bay 58 GMT.
- 2021 to 2022Ceramic, silver and gold
The Black Bay Ceramic of 2021 was certified Master Chronometer by METAS, held to 0 to +5 seconds a day and resistant to 15,000 gauss. The Fifty-Eight came in bronze, 925 silver and 18k gold, and the Black Bay Pro GMT joined in 2022.
- 2018 to 2020Fifty-Eight and a GMT
2018 brought two hits: the red and blue Black Bay GMT on calibre MT5652, and the 39 mm, 11.9 mm-thick Black Bay Fifty-Eight. A navy blue Fifty-Eight followed in 2020.
- 2015 to 2017A manufacture heart
A black-bezel version with a red triangle was made for only about six months in 2015. In 2016 the in-house MT5602 arrived, COSC-certified with 70 hours of reserve, together with the 43 mm Black Bay Bronze; a steel-bezel model with a date followed in 2017.
- 2012 to 2014Burgundy bezel, big crown
The first Black Bay, ref. 79220R, measured 41 mm with a burgundy bezel, a domed crystal and an ETA 2824 movement with 38 hours of reserve. It won the Revival prize at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Geneve and led Tudor's return to the US market. A blue-bezel version, water-resistant to 200 m, followed in 2014 at US$3,100 on leather.
- 1954 to 1969The divers it remembers
Tudor's first Submariner, ref. 7922, arrived in 1954, a year after Rolex's. The 1958 ref. 7924 doubled water resistance to 200 m with a screw-down crown, and the 1969 ref. 7016 brought snowflake hands, shaped partly by the French Navy's need for legibility.
Worn by
Tudor's first brand ambassador wears the Black Bay Chrono and Black Bay S&G, and was photographed in 2020 with the blue Black Bay Fifty-Eight.
As face of the 2017 Born To Dare campaign she wore the Black Bay Heritage Red on a red fabric strap, and the black and blue Black Bay 36.
The Australian Formula 1 driver appeared in early 2024 wearing a new Black Bay Ceramic with the blue dial of his Visa Cash App RB team, as Tudor entered Formula 1.
The Japanese Formula 1 driver wore the Black Bay Ceramic Blue made for the Visa Cash App RB team, and a one-off green-blue Black Bay Ceramic at the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
The New Zealand Formula 1 driver received one of the two one-off Black Bay Ceramic watches Tudor made for the Visa Cash App RB drivers at the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
The Australian actor wore a Black Bay as Hugh Knight, the title character of Channel 9's Doctor Doctor, a choice tied to his grandfather's own Tudor.
Time and Tide featured the actor wearing a Black Bay Blue with a green top and khaki outfit, citing it as proof of the watch's versatility.
At the end of his Divide tour he had about 80 custom-engraved Black Bays made for his touring crew, with the tour's blue division logo on the dial and a thank-you note from him on the caseback. He said one was his everyday watch while off tour.
In December 2020 he posted a Black Bay 41 with a blue bezel and the Undefeated logo on the dial, a gift from the Los Angeles boutique. Rescapement also notes he had earlier reviewed the Black Bay Black over a week on the wrist.
The Crazy Rich Asians actor showed GQ a first-generation Black Bay Black with the gilt rose logo and smiley text, alongside his Cartier and Omega pieces.
Moments
2024. Tudor released a pink-dial Black Bay Chrono, first made with ambassador Jay Chou, a day after becoming official timekeeper of Inter Miami CF; David Beckham modelled the watch.
2024. Tudor's arrival in Formula 1 with the Visa Cash App RB team produced the Black Bay Ceramic Blue, a 41mm black ceramic Master Chronometer with a dial matching the car's livery.
2024. For the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Tudor made a pair of one-off green-blue Black Bay Ceramic watches for the team's two drivers.
2021. Tudor made the Black Bay Fifty-Eight in solid 18k gold: over US$32,000 on its gold bracelet, a long way from the US$3,100 of the 2014 steel model.
2017. When Tudor began sponsoring New Zealand's All Blacks in 2017, the Black Bay Dark became the watch worn by the rugby team.
2015. The black-bezel Black Bay with a red triangle, ref. 79220N, was produced for only about six months, which made it a short-lived variant.
2012. The first Black Bay won the Revival prize at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Geneve, recognition for a design that looked back without copying.
Tudor's one-off Black Bay One, a reworked Black Bay Black evoking the ref. 7923, had an estimate of a few thousand francs and sold for CHF 375,000 at the 2015 Only Watch charity auction.
Tudor returned to Only Watch with the Black Bay Bronze One in 2017 and the Black Bay Ceramic One in 2019; each sold for CHF 350,000, the Ceramic One against an estimate of CHF 4,500 to 5,500.
Ed Sheeran's Divide tour Black Bays were gifts to his crew, and Time and Tide notes such co-branded Tudors are not meant to be sold. When one surfaced at Delray Watch in 2021 it was listed at USD 50,000.
Tudor's angular snowflake hour hand was drawn up in 1968 and entered the catalogue in 1969 on the ref. 7016, to meet the French Navy's need for legibility underwater. Every Black Bay carries it.
(2021) Delray Watch listed one of Ed Sheeran's roughly 80 Divide tour Black Bays at an asking price of US$50,000, and it sold.
Generations and strap changes
- 2023Black Bay 54
A 37mm diver with calibre MT5400, on bracelet or rubber strap with T-fit clasp.
20mm lug width; T-fit clasp with 8mm tool-free adjustment.
- 2023Third-gen 41mm Black Bay
The 41mm Black Bay moved to calibre MT5602-U, with three-link, five-link or rubber options.
A five-link steel bracelet was added.
- 2016In-house MT5602
Ref. 79230 swapped the ETA 2824 for Tudor's MT5602 with 70 hours of reserve and a shield logo.
New riveted-look steel bracelet; case stayed 41mm.