Larger, more modern looking, and milder than the Rolex Submariner, the Tudor Pelagos is significantly less of a replacement as much as it is an alternate. You could easily have both and find lots of times if the Rolex makes sense to wear, and cases when the Pelagos makes more sense. Men who enjoy the wrist presence of bigger timepieces having a more contemporary feel will prefer the Pelagos, while the Submariner wins in regards to classiness and timeless appeal. Though it’s natural to compare the Submariner into the Pelagos, they are quite different watches. Honestly, if you can afford to, I would suggest having one of each.The Tudor Pelagos LHD is currently on top of my list to get Tudor watches to have. Tudor is already tugging at the heartstrings of collectors by creating this version a little more difficult to find and thus more exclusive than the normal Pelagos. That said, I really do appreciate that they decided to maintain the price between the various Pelagos models exactly the same. The mention M25610TNL-0001 (aka 25610TNL) Tudor Pelagos LHD watch has a retail cost of $4,400 USD.At this year’s Baselworld, Tudor introduced another addition to their constantly climbing Heritage Black Bay series. The new Tudor Heritage Black Bay Steel is a mostly cosmetic upgrade to the range with a stainless steel bezel add in addition to a polarizing date function on an otherwise familiar looking dial. Among Tudor’s very prosperous collections, which can be exemplary of the current design sense is your Tudor Black Bay, a diver’s watch which tips its hat to Tudor’s own historic dive watches.

Last year Tudor took the covers off its most affordable Black Bay variant, a compact 36mm model without an elapsed time diving bezel. Now that’s been enlarged, proportionately it has to be said, and turned into the Black Bay 41 that’s just as affordably priced.

The case is now 41mm in diameter, making it the same size as the Black Bay and even the new Black Bay Chrono. The 5mm extra it has over the Black Bay 36 is significant, giving it significantly greater presence on the wrist. Its size is magnified by the plain dial and smooth bezel.

Despite the current fad for smallish vintage watches, 36mm is too small for most men, though it worked well as a ladies’ watch with a military bent. So the Black Bay 41 is a strong proposition, especially since it’s been upsized correctly.

The dial and hands similarly resized to suit the new case. The snowflake hour hand, for instance, is longer, with a larger snowflake at its end.

All the key characteristics of the smaller model remain: glossy black dial with silver print, flat bezel, and the Oyster-esque case with polished bevels along the edges. The case is rated to 150m, with a screw-down case and back.

Inside is the still the ETA 2824, the movement found in Tudor’s entry-level models. Robust and economical, it’ll run reliably for a long, long time, but has the downside of a shortish 38-hour power reserve.

Like all of Tudor’s other retro style Heritage models, the Black Bay 41 is sold with either a steel bracelet or leather strap, both of which are accompanied by a spare fabric NATO-style strap woven with a grey camouflage pattern.

The steel bracelet is an Oyster-style affair, which is standard for Heritage watches with ETA movements; models powered by in-house movements get the riveted link bracelet as found on the second generation Black Bay.

Price and availability

The Black Bay 41 will be available starting April 2017, priced at just SFr100 over the 36mm model. That means it’ll cost SFr2500 (about US$2600) on a leather strap and SFr2800 (about US$2900) on a steel bracelet.

Addition March 25, 2017: Type of steel bracelet added.

Addition March 27, 2017: Photos updated.