Tudor Black Bay

As a brand, Tudor needs no introduction.  Although for years the company had labored under Rolex’s shadow, since its relaunch in the U.S. roughly a decade ago, it has attained an identity all its own. Part of the appeal lies in watches like this one, the Black Bay, which bridges the gap between vintage and contemporary in a way that’s hard to argue with — even for purists like us. The Black Bay is, along with the Pelagos, the brand’s take on classic Rolex and Tudor dive watches. In creating it, Tudor started at the very beginning of Tudor and Rolex dive watch history: It incorporates the ‘big crown’ of the first reference of Tudor Sub, the 7922, which had an 8mm crown like that of its Rolex counterpart. The Black Bay also makes use of the same handset as the most famous of vintage Tudor Subs, the Reference 7021 “Snowflake.” This particular Black Bay, a Reference 79230, is housed in a 41mm stainless steel case with a signed rose crown, a unidirectional rotating dive timing bezel with a lovely navy blue insert, and a sapphire crystal. It features a luminous matte black dial with Tudor 'shield’ logo, a matching ‘snowflake’ handset, Tudor’s excellent, in-house, chronometer-certified MT5602 automatic movement, and a black Everest rubber strap with a Tudor-signed deployant clasp. If you’re in the market for a trusty, reliable dive watch, The Black Bay is easily one of the decade’s best dive watches and a great place to start.