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Introducing the Tudor Black Bay Dark in Black PVD

Tudor Black Bay Dark 1

Look at some classic dive watches from Tudor and you’re going to see where the “snowflake” hour hand and marker designs come from. This was from mostly the 1970s, I think, when Tudor was attempting to shoot Rolex’s signature dive watch dial layout and alter it a bit so there was less “model confusion.” Now watches like the Tudor Heritage Black Bay as well as the Pelagos prominently include the cube snowflake-style hour, and accompanying dial layout elements.Other case layout elements are borrowed from classic Tudor layouts, but largely in decorative ways. I say it to explain that Tudor wasn’t held back by the necessity to pay homage to its history while growing the Pelagos. Rather, when they had to figure out things like the design of their lugs, crown guards, hour markers, etc., they simply pulled from their history. All these arguably cosmetic elements (that can be made in a slew of ways) would be the skin on a really modern and strong tool watch.The first Pelagos watches had a limited lifespan because only a few decades later Tudor chose to replace the Swiss ETA-sourced automatic movements with those produced in-house by Tudor. In 2015, aBlogtoWatch reviewed the Tudor Pelagos 25600 TB watch in blue, that sported the in-house made caliber MT5612 automatic motion. In addition to this new movement, the situation was made a hair thicker, as well as the dial text changed a little bit. The cost of the Pelagos went up a few hundred dollars, but is still considered an excellent value compared to the competition.The Tudor Pelagos LHD was debuted (here on aBlogtoWatch) as a mid-cycle release toward the end of 2016. “LHD” stood for “left-handed,” meaning that the crown has been put on the left side of this case, versus the ideal side. Most left-handed watches are actually not worn to the right hand, but rather on the left hand (as right-handed watches are) because people either like the appearance of the crown facing the direction, or since it increases wearing comfort as the crown is not in a position to dig in to your wrist.

The Black Bay Dark is Tudor‘s signature dive watch with a major makeover. The case remains the same 41 mm as the Black Bay, but it’s been given a brushed satin finish on all surfaces, then coated in black via physical vapour deposition (PVD), resulting in a subdued, matte appearance meant to evoke military equipment. The only colour on the dial is the depth rating in red, another element of vintage dive watches.

In fact, the look brings to mind the mythical Rolex Submariner rumoured to have been made for the South African army during Apartheid, the same unicorn that inspired countless aftermarket all-black Rolex watches.

Tudor Black Bay Dark 1

But it’s not just a cosmetic makeover, the Black Bay Dark is powered by the MT5602. A variant of the in-house movement introduced last year in the North Flag and Pelagos, the COSC-certified MT5602 is automatic with a 70-hour power reserve. And it also features a silicon hairspring that’s both impervious to magnetism and temperature changes.

Tudor Black Bay Dark 2

The Black Bay Dark (ref. 79230DK) is available with two strap options. The first is a matching all-black steel bracelet – with the retro straight ends of the recording setting Black Bay One – priced at SFr4250.

And priced at SFr3950 is the version with a distressed grey leather strap. Both variants are also accompanied by a grey NATO-style fabric strap.

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