Heritage Black Bay

The TUDOR Heritage Black Bay derives its overall lines and its domed crystal from the brand’s first divers’ watch, the TUDOR Submariner reference 7922, launched in 1954. It also owes to its ancestor its domed dial, a feature shared by the first TUDOR Submariner models, but which had since vanished. Its imposing winding crown is a nod to a model presented in 1958 under  reference 7924 and dubbed “Big Crown” by collectors. Its characteristic angular hands, known  by connoisseurs as “Snowflakes”, were seen from 1969 to the early 1980s. These multiple references to the brand’s aesthetic heritage, combined with contemporary design elements such as the robust 41 mm steel case with a refined finish, a coloured, anodized aluminium crown tube, as well as superbly crafted interchangeable bracelets make the TUDOR Heritage Black Bay a watch with a powerful identity that vividly embodies the brand’s renewal process.

The 2012 TUDOR Heritage Black Bay, with its black-chocolate dial,its pink-gold hands and hour markers, its creamy luminescent material and its burgundy bezel, is reminiscent of the gentle  warm patina of an antique watch. It tells of the nostalgia for objects whose appeal increases over time and plays on the charm of its attractive aura. For this second version, TUDOR’s Style Workshop sought to convey through design details the intention governing the creation of the  brand’s first divers’ watch: namely, to produce a technical and reliable divers’ tool-watch. The result is an antithetic and yet complementary TUDOR Heritage Black Bay, presented in cool colours accentuating this model’s inherent virtues of fine workmanship, finishing and precision. While the first version radiated gentle, soft warmth, the face of the second is icy with sharp lines infusing it with a decidedly tech allure. Its deep-black dial strikes a cold, marked contrast with  the silvery hour markers and their white luminescent material. The silver-coloured, luminescent hands feature the same contrast as they cut across the dial with surgical precision. Finally, the bezel in midnight-blue, matching the colour of the crown tube, tempers the vibrancy of the steel case, while lending an aquatic and highly functional dimension that echoes the military past of certain brand references. During the second half of the 20th century, the Marine nationale  française was equipped with TUDOR divers’ watches, which were generally blue. Like all  models in the Heritage line, the TUDOR Heritage Black Bay comes with two bracelets or straps: an adjustable blue fabric strap with a sophisticated weave; and the other a choice of either a midnight-blue distressed leather strap matching the bezel, or a satin-finished and polished steel bracelet. Both come with a folding clasp.