Tudor’s Black Bay line curves and sparkles

IN TUDOR’S WORLD, BLACK BAY speaks instantly of masculinity and ruggedness, and diving watches marketed as tool watches. But its latest Black Bay 31/36/39/41 presents a softer profile with curved cases in various finishes and four sizes, polished with domed sides and a fixed bezel.

The Swiss watch brand aims for a different feel from its iconic tool watch to embrace a “sophisticated, versatile, unisex look and feel”.

That easily describes a formal dress timepiece. Yet, whether in cases of 41 mm large, 36 and 39 mm medium, or 31 mm small, the three-hand Black Bay 31/36/39/41 timepieces are also robust enough to dive up to 100 metres deep underwater.

After all, it’s still a Black Bay. The snowflake hands, one of its markers, are still there in the latest collection, together with the applied indices glowing in the dark lit by the Grade A SuperLumiNova.The snowflake style, however, has given way to a lollipop shape for the minute and seconds hands.

While not seen as major, the revamp of Black Bay 31/36/39/41, made in Tudor’s new state-of-the-art factory in the Swiss municipality Le Locle, has also produced an array of attractive sun-ray dials in blue, anthracite (chalk with dark tone of grey) and light champagne. Depending on the colours, the minute track in the refreshed lineup is rendered in a contrasting hue that lends warmth to the design.

The large crown borrowed from Tudor’s 1958 submariner is now replaced by a curved screw-down crown with the Tudor rose carved on it, playing up the watch’s soft outline. This and the polished bezel first appeared in the two-tone steel and gold Black Bay 31/36/39 S&G models rolled out last year.

The biggest change lies inside the watches, where the new in-house self-winding movement built for longevity and precision – certified by the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute (COSC) – has been installed.

Except for the 31 model, the movements fixed with non-magnetic silicon balance have a power reserve of 70 hours, making the watches “weekend-proof”. You can take the watch off on a Friday evening and put it back on again on Monday morning without having to reset it. The 31 watch’s small size caps its power reserve at 50 hours.

For real day-to-day impact, the new adjustable five-link Jubilee-style bracelet makes a bigger difference. Its quick-and-easy T-fit clasp enables size changes on the fly.

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The Black Bay 31/36/39/41 watches come in stainless steel as well as in a two-tone steel and yellow gold (S&G) bezel and crown, with optional diamond hour markers, diamond-set bezels for the 31, 36 and 39 models.

The precious metals of previous Black Bay S&G lineups were satin-brushed for a matt finish. The yellow gold is polished in the refreshed series.

Price: From S$6,220 to S$11,650