Tudor revives a classic chronograph

IT’S THE FORMULA 1 WEEKEND in Singapore and the spotlight is on chronographs – or stopwatches for the wrist.

One of the most talked-about chronographs these days has to be the Tudor Prince Chronograph One. (Prince was Tudor’s code word for an automatic movement.) A one-off production made for the Only Watch 2023 charity auction in November, the model is a recreation of Tudor’s first automatic chronograph launched in 1976.

In its rebirth, the watch is fitted with a new prototype chronograph movement developed for the first time by Tudor from scratch. It comes in a 42 mm yellow gold case matched with a solid yellow gold bracelet – not the usual stainless steel or titanium associated with the robust tool watches Tudor is known for. The case of the revived chronograph frames a unique black lacquered dial with sunken gold counters, with “Prince Chronograph” printed above the 6 o’clock counter.

Tudor’s first automatic chronograph had a thicker middle case, made to provide room for the addition of a self-winding rotor. The blocky case had led collectors to call the watch the “Big Block”. While it was dropped in the early 1990s, the distinct design of Tudor’s first automatic chronograph had made an impression on collectors.

The Prince Chronograph One may be conceived as a comeback of the vintage Big Block chronograph, but it’s totally forward-looking in its execution. It shows Tudor is capable of producing cutting-edge movements on its own.

The heart-pumping Prince Chronograph One is the MT59XX, the prototype of the movement Tudor developed to pave the way for its modern chronograph calibre. It has a column-wheel construction, including a traversing bridge fixed on both sides. These anchor a silicon balance spring and inertia oscillator that ensure the mechanism meets all of Tudor’s performance standards. With a weekend-proof 70-hour power reserve, the Prince Chronograph One has an accuracy rate of minus two and plus four seconds per day.

Black Bay Chrono

A more contemporary Tudor chronograph is the Black Bay Chrono, which comes in stainless steel and yellow gold as well as full steel. Reflecting not just Tudor’s motorsports heritage, it harks back to 1970 when it rolled out its first chronograph. The Oysterdate, as it was called, was a sporty-chic timepiece with contrasting sub-counters. It also had the DNA of Tudor’s Black Bay diving watches, which originated in 1954.

The Black Bay Chrono has the “snowflake” hands of a Black Bay model, which makes easy reading of the time against a domed dial. The dial comes in matte black or a satin finish champagne. The circular grain-finished sub-counters and date aperture at 6 o’clock recall Tudor’s first generation chronographs. The yellow gold pushers on the 41 mm case, ringed by a fixed bezel in yellow gold with a tachymetric scale, also date back to the early chronographs.

The Black Bay Chrono is powered by calibre MT5813, with a power reserve of 70 hours. The high-performance, self-winding movement is fitted with a column wheel and vertical clutch (supposedly superior to the horizontal construction).

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A product of a Tudor-Breitling collaboration, it performs at higher standards than those set by the Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute (COSC). MT5813 boasts, for instance, an accuracy rate of minus two and plus four seconds daily, against COSC’s minus four and plus six seconds.

The Black Bay Chrono S&G may be paired with a steel and gold bracelet or a fabric strap woven in France on 19th-century jacquard looms (which are more complex than handlooms). The Black Bay Chrono steel model may also be paired with a steel bracelet or jacquard-woven strap.

The latter also has a third option: a bund in aged leather with ecru topstitching and folding clasp that’s in keeping with the spirit of “1970s racing”.

Price: S$7,620 (Black Chrono steel), S$10,630 (Black Chrono S&G steel and gold)