Whenever I think of a watch brand that’s made a big splash over the last decade, my mind immediately goes to Tudor. While they are the sister company to Rolex, Tudor has paved its path as being the more fun, bold, and colourful brand. Tudor didn’t have the best start when moving the brand out of Europe to North America until 2012, with the birth of the Black Bay– a black dial dive watch with a distinctive burgundy bezel which would set the watchmaker on the path to being favoured by many. For Watches & Wonders 2023, Tudor unveiled a line-up of new Black Bay variants, and in that line-up, the burgundy bezel appeared again.

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The original Black Bay Burgundy is a grail of mine, and seeing Tudor implement the deep red bezel on a modern Black Bay made me smile. The new Burgundy is now METAS Master Chronometer Certified. The watch was tortured beyond belief to test how waterproof, magnetic resistant and accurate it was in order to gain a METAS certification, and it passed. The watch can handle anything you throw at it (regarding weather, climate conditions, environment, etc.)

While the watch features a 41mm stainless steel case and a domed sapphire crystal, it is slightly large but thinner than your standard Black Bay. The new Black Bay features three bracelet and or strap options: brushed three-link, five-link stainless steel bracelet with brushed outer links and polished inner links, or—for those who don’t like a bracelet—there is a rubber strap. All three variations come with the Tudor T-fit clasp, known for its easy micro-adjusting.

Powering the new Black Bay is the METAS-Certified, Manufacture Calibre MT5602-U. The self-winding movement features a 70-hour power reserve and anti-magnetic properties (resistant to a magnetic field of 15,000 gauss, as claimed by Tudor). It regulates within a tolerance range of 5 seconds thanks to the implementation of a silicon hairspring.

Bringing the burgundy bezel back in the Black Bay line is a fantastic call. While most Black Bay watches feature some colour—others have colourful dials and bezels–it’s great to see such a bold punch of red. Most of the colour available with Tudor is often subtle and partially muted, while the red stands loud and proud, of which I’m a fan. The watch looks fantastic, and since it features three bracelet/strap options, there is something for everyone.

Pricing for the Black Bay Burgundy starts at 4,050USD. For more information, please visit the brand website.

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About the Author

Born into a family obsessed with motorsport, Tyler Frederick became enamoured with speed and beautiful cars at a young age. His love of Formula 1–and all things mechanical–eventually lead him to horology. Tyler has also written for Montres Publiques. You can follow him on Instagram.

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