Tudor Black Bay Chrono Dark

Oct 10, 2019

12 minutes read

Limited edition: An ode to collectors

Since the presentation of TUDOR’s first chronograph in 1970, the Oysterdate, the brand has always produced watches closely tied to the world of motorsports. Since 1954, TUDOR has been also constantly improving its professional divers' watches. The hybrid Black Bay Chrono Dark combines the brand’s aquatic heritage, represented by the Black Bay family, with the queen of the racetrack – the chronograph – resulting in a sporty-chic watch with a distinctive touch of nostalgia.

The Black Bay Chrono Dark is a new limited-edition version of the Black Bay chronograph, celebrating TUDOR's partnerships with the Rugby World Cup 2019™ and New Zealand’s national rugby team.

The colour choice of the Black Bay Chrono Dark is a reference to the All Blacks rugby team that TUDOR has been supporting since 2017, reinforced by the presence of a special engraving on the case back indicating the limited-edition serial number of each timepiece.

One player, one watch

To celebrate the All Blacks’ legacy and mark the Rugby World Cup 2019, as the team will defend its back-to-back champions title, TUDOR launched the Black Bay Chrono Dark model. This new black version of its chronograph – matching the All Blacks’ famous jersey – is fitted with a Manufacture Calibre MT5813.

TUDOR, in a rare departure, is releasing the Black Bay Chrono Dark in limited edition: a watch to pay tribute to every player who has been selected for New Zealand’s national rugby team from its creation in 1884 to the RWC 2019, or 1181 timepieces to date.

The number will be adjusted according to the final composition of the World Cup team. The series will grow over the coming years as new players join the ranks of the All Blacks.

Preserving heritage

With a history extending back more than a century, the All Blacks are not only the most successful international rugby team of all time but also one of the most successful and legendary teams in world sport. The All Blacks are named after the color of their team kit, with the All Blacks jersey one of the most famous pieces of sports apparel in the world.

An icon of national pride, the black jersey with the silver fern emblem was formally adopted by the New Zealand national rugby team in 1893. An everlasting symbol of the All Blacks’ heritage and culture, the players don’t see themselves as owners of the jersey, but guardians, and they adhere to the mantra of “leaving it in a better position than you found it”.

Black coating: Tudor atelier symbolically celebrate its partnership with New Zealand’s national rugby team with darker tones

The Black Bay Chrono Dark model features a characteristic satin-brushed steel bracelet for a matt effect, finished with a black PVD-treated coating.

Directly derived from the thin-film technology originally developed by NASA for its space programmes, PVD, or Physical Vapour Deposition, enables practically any inorganic material to be bonded with metals.

The colour choice for this timepiece is a reference to the All Blacks team that TUDOR has been supporting since 2017, reinforced by the presence of a special engraving on the case back indicating the serial number of each timepiece. As you can see on the dial, the Tudor Black Bay Chrono Dark is water-resistant to 200 meters (660 feet).

MT5813 - The high precision movement

Boasting a 70-hour power reserve, a silicon balance spring and certification by the Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute, the Manufacture chronograph Calibre MT5813 that drives the Black Bay Chrono Dark model is a high-performance movement.

The caseback will be engraved with the production number of the watch, and the closed steel case back is also finished in black PVD. With a sapphire crystal, and a dive-watch worthy 200 meters of water resistance presented in red, the Black Bay Chrono Dark feels monolithic in its presence

Crafted in the purest watchmaking tradition, it features a column wheel mechanism and vertical clutch. In keeping with the TUDOR philosophy of quality, it presents extraordinary robustness and reliability, guaranteed by an array of extreme tests applied to all TUDOR products.