Ever since Tudor made its comeback to the U.S. market in 2013 (after almost a decade of absence), the brand has made huge strides in establishing itself as a top-notch watchmaker that offers an appealing mix of solid designs, quality materials, in-house movements, and great value. Among Tudor’s wide range of watch collections, the Black Bay is one that stands out as the most diverse and popular. With Tudor regularly adding new models, there are now more than a dozen variations within the Black Bay lineup. As such, we’ve put together a handy Tudor Black Bay buying guide to outline the similarities and differences between these Tudor watches.
The Origins of the Tudor Black Bay
Launched in 2012, the Black Bay takes its inspiration from a mix of vintage Tudor diving watches. The case silhouette, dial execution, and domed crystal are reminiscent of the Oyster Prince Submariner 7922 from 1954, the large winding crown shape is taken from the “Big Crown” Submariner ref. 7924 from 1958, and its angular “snowflake” hands are a nod to the Tudor dive watches for the French Navy in the 1970s.
- 2012 – Black Bay ref. 79220R in burgundy
- 2014 – Black Bay ref. 79220B in blue
- 2015 – Black Bay ref. 79220N in black
- 2016 – Black Bay ref. 79230R/B/N with new in-house movement
Over the last eight years, Tudor has expended the Black Bay collection to not only house diving watches, but also simpler time-only models, practical dual time watches, and sporty chronographs – while still maintaining the Black Bay’s fundamental design blueprint. Additionally, since 2016, Tudor has fitted many Black Bay models with in-house made movements, replacing the ETA-based calibers the brand had initially relied on for the collection.
The Tudor Black Bay Collection
We’ve divided our Tudor Black Bay buying guide into three distinct sections according to their functions: Black Bay diving watches, Black Bay complications, and time-only Black Bay watches.
Black Bay Diving Watches
The bulk of the Tudor Black Bay collection is comprised of diving watches and at the core is the archetypal Black Bay ref. 79230. Introduced in 2016 (to replace the preceding ref. 79220), the Black Bay ref. 79230 came with a new in-house movement, a vintage-style rivet bracelet, and the Tudor shield logo on the dial replacing the Tudor rose emblem. The Black Bay ref. 79230 sports a 41mm steel case topped with a unidirectional bezel and a choice between a burgundy, blue, or black aluminum bezel insert. The snowflake hands, doming of the crystal, and winding crown shape are all nods to Tudor’s vintage dive watches. On the other hand, the 41mm size, the use of sapphire for the crystal, and the in-house COSC-certified automatic movement cover modern expectations of a contemporary dive watch. The Tudor Black Bay comes with a range of band options including steel bracelets, leather straps, or fabric straps.
Aptly named the Black Bay Dark, this version takes all the fundamentals of the original Black Bay but dressed in black PVD. There’s also the Black Bay Bronze, which not only has a bronze case and gray bezel, but it is also bigger measuring 43mm in diameter. While the above Black Bay dive watches are time-only, Tudor also makes date versions in the form of the Black Bay Steel and the Black Bay S&G models. Though both models include 41mm cases, the former is rendered in all steel including the bezel, while the latter pairs steel with yellow gold-capped details for a two-tone colorway. There’s also the Black Bay Fifty-Eight, which is a tribute to the vintage ref. 7924 “Big Crown” from 1958. With its smaller 39mm steel case and gilt dial and bezel, this Black Bay is the most retro-inspired of the lineup.
Lastly, there’s the new Black Bay P01, which was based on a prototype made for the US Navy and originally developed as a cross between a dive watch and a sailing watch. Rather than a standard dive bezel, the P01’s 42mm case features a 60-notch, 12-hour graduated steel bidirectional rotating bezel with a ‘stop system’ to lock it into place.
Black Bay
- Reference: 79230R, 79230N, 79230B
- Case: Stainless Steel; 41mm
- Bezel: Unidirectional; Burgundy, Black, Blue
- Functions/Movement: Cal. MT5602; Time-Only; 70hr Power Reserve
- Water Resistance: 200 meters
- Retail Price (MSRP): $3,800
Black Bay Dark
- Reference: 79230DK
- Case: Black PVD Stainless Steel; 41mm
- Bezel: Unidirectional; Black
- Functions/Movement: Cal. MT5602; Time-Only; 70hr Power Reserve
- Water Resistance: 200 meters
- Retail Price (MSRP): $4,625
Black Bay Bronze
- Reference: 79250BA
- Case: Bronze; 43mm
- Bezel: Unidirectional; Slate Gray
- Functions/Movement: Cal. MT5601; Time-Only; 70hr Power Reserve
- Water Resistance: 200 meters
- Retail Price (MSRP): $4,150
Black Bay Steel
- Reference: 79730
- Case: Stainless Steel; 41mm
- Bezel: Unidirectional; Steel
- Functions/Movement: Cal. MT5612; Time + Date; 70hr Power Reserve
- Water Resistance: 200 meters
- Retail Price (MSRP): $3,900
Black Bay S&G
- Reference: 79733N
- Case: Stainless Steel & Gold; 41mm
- Bezel: Unidirectional; Black
- Functions/Movement: Cal. MT5612; Time + Date; 70hr Power Reserve
- Water Resistance: 200 meters
- Retail Price (MSRP): $5,200
Black Bay Fifty-Eight
- Reference: 79030N
- Case: Stainless Steel; 39mm
- Bezel: Unidirectional; Black
- Functions/Movement: Cal. MT5402; Time-Only; 70hr Power Reserve
- Water Resistance: 200 meters
- Retail Price (MSRP): $3,700
Black Bay P01
- Reference: 70150
- Case: Stainless Steel; 42mm
- Bezel: Bidirectional with lock; Steel
- Functions/Movement: Cal. MT5612; Time + Date; 70hr Power Reserve
- Water Resistance: 200 meters
- Retail Price (MSRP): $4,000
Black Bay Complications
Strictly not dive watches but rather models that borrow the same basic design cues – like the Snowflake hands, domed dial and crystal, and 200m water resistance – but fitted with complications, Tudor offers Black Bay watches equipped with chronographs or GMT complications.
The Black Bay Chrono includes a 41mm stainless steel case with a pair of screw-down chronograph pushers flanking a screw-down winding crown. There’s also the tachymeter scale engraved into the fixed steel bezel while the black dial is home to a pair of registers at 3:00 and 9:00 along with a date window at 6:00. Tudor recently added the Black Bay Chrono Dark, which benefits from black-PVD treatment on the case and bracelet. Furthermore, for fans of the two-tone color scheme, there’s also the Black Bay Chrono S&G, which includes yellow gold-capped details on the case accompanied by golden accents on the dial and bezel.
Aside from chronographs, Tudor also makes the stainless Black Bay GMT with a red and blue “Pepsi” style bezel similar in tone to the ones found on Rolex GMT-Master II watches. Like Rolex’s version, Tudor’s GMT watch is fitted with an additional 24-hour hand to allow the wearer to read local time and home time simultaneously, while also allowing for the display of a third time zone if the bezel is rotated accordingly.
Black Bay Chrono
- Reference: 79350
- Case: Stainless Steel; 41mm
- Bezel: Fixed; Stainless Steel; Tachymeter
- Functions/Movement: Cal. MT5813; Time + Date Chronograph; 70hr Power Reserve
- Water Resistance: 200 meters
- Retail Price (MSRP): $5,225
Black Bay Chrono Dark
- Reference: 79360DK
- Case: Black PVD Stainless Steel; 41mm
- Bezel: Fixed; Black; Tachymeter
- Functions/Movement: Cal. MT5813; Time + Date Chronograph; 70hr Power Reserve
- Water Resistance: 200 meters
- Retail Price (MSRP): $6,075
Black Bay Chrono S&G
- Reference: 79363N
- Case: Stainless Steel & Gold; 41mm
- Bezel: Fixed; Black & Gold; Tachymeter
- Functions/Movement: Cal. MT5813; Time + Date Chronograph; 70hr Power Reserve
- Water Resistance: 200 meters
- Retail Price (MSRP): $7,000
Black Bay GMT
- Reference: 79830RB
- Case: Stainless Steel; 41mm
- Bezel: Bidirectional; Burgundy & Blue; 24-hour
- Functions/Movement: Cal. MT5652; Dual Time + Date; 70hr Power Reserve
- Water Resistance: 200 meters
- Retail Price (MSRP): $4,050
Black Bay Time Only
Rounding out the Tudor Black Bay collection are the time-only models that offer the type of versatile casual sports watch that can be worn all day, every day. Available in all-steel variants or two-tone steel and gold-capped editions, size options include 32mm, 36mm, and 41mm. Unlike the diving and complications versions of the Black Bay, these models run on ETA-based automatic movements and offer a slightly reduced water resistance rating of 150 meters. The details that do carry over to the Black Bay 32/36/41 editions are the essential Snowflake hands, large lume plots, and case shape.
Black Bay 32
- Reference: 79580
- Case: Stainless Steel; 32mm
- Bezel: Fixed; Steel; Smooth
- Functions/Movement: Cal. 2824; Time-Only; 38hr Power Reserve
- Water Resistance: 150 meters
- Retail Price (MSRP): $2,850
Black Bay 32 S&G
- Reference: 79583
- Case: Stainless Steel & Gold; 32mm
- Bezel: Fixed; Gold-Capped Steel; Smooth
- Functions/Movement: Cal. 2824; Time-Only; 38hr Power Reserve
- Water Resistance: 150 meters
- Retail Price (MSRP): $4,000
Black Bay 36
- Reference: 79500
- Case: Stainless Steel; 36mm
- Bezel: Fixed; Steel; Smooth
- Functions/Movement: Cal. 2824; Time-Only; 38hr Power Reserve
- Water Resistance: 150 meters
- Retail Price (MSRP): $2,950
Black Bay 36 S&G
- Reference: 79503
- Case: Stainless Steel & Gold; 36mm
- Bezel: Fixed; Gold-Capped Steel; Smooth
- Functions/Movement: Cal. 2824; Time-Only; 38hr Power Reserve
- Water Resistance: 150 meters
- Retail Price (MSRP): $4,100
Black Bay 41
- Reference: 79540
- Case: Stainless Steel; 41mm
- Bezel: Fixed; Steel; Smooth
- Functions/Movement: Cal. 2824; Time-Only; 38hr Power Reserve
- Water Resistance: 150 meters
- Retail Price (MSRP): $3,050
Black Bay 41 S&G
- Reference: 79543
- Case: Stainless Steel & Gold; 41mm
- Bezel: Fixed; Gold-Capped Steel; Smooth
- Functions/Movement: Cal. 2824; Time-Only; 38hr Power Reserve
- Water Resistance: 150 meters
- Retail Price (MSRP): $4,200
From straightforward three-handers to complex chronographs to robust dive watches, the Tudor Black Bay collection provides a solid assortment of sporty vintage-inspired watches for different tastes and budgets. It’s no wonder that the Black Bay watch lineup has driven Tudor’s impressive growth and popularity in the current market for premium watches.
