No, you haven't come to the wrong place... we live in strange times and usually by July I would have been somewhere; perhaps London, Manchester or Sheffield and tried some watches on and maybe not every single one of them would have been a TAG Heuer. After all, I have previously written about such varied brands as Breitling, Cartier, Ulysse Nardin and even Roger Dubuis (still by far the most expensive watch I've written about at over £160,000!) and since Tudor is for sure one of TAG Heuer's main competitors this watch is likely of interest to at least some of my readers.
Now, to be honest, I'm not a massive fan of Tudor. My friend has the Pelagos and that is far and away the Tudor I would buy if I was gong to buy one, if only for the amazing lumed bezel. Aside from that though, they don't really do it for me. I tried on the North Flag a couple of times, but it's a very strange watch. I like its bold design, but on the wrist it feels very odd - and my Pelagos owning friend came to exactly the same conclusion.
The only other Tudor that I like at all is the Harrods edition Black Bay. Which is very specific I know... but unlike seemingly everyone and their dog, I haven't really fallen for the charms of the Black Bay. It's a bit too retro for me, a bit too old school, which is of course why everyone else likes it. It's an affordable 'Submariner' for people who want a vintage Rolex, with enough of a connection to make it 'authentic' at a relatively affordable price.
In short, it's a winner... and Tudor have been milking it relentlessly over the last few years, sometimes more successfully than others it has to be said; for example, sticking a chronograph in it was a terrible idea, especially when your hour hand is the size of a dinner plate and covers up the subdials... best to stick with nice colours, like the aforementioned Harrods piece, one that was trading well over list for quite a while I noticed.
A couple of years ago Tudor made a 'Bucherer' Special Edition Black Bay which was primarily blue with gold trimmings and it was definitely the nicest Black Bay I'd seen up until that point. The only downside was that it came on a NATO strap and I cannot abide them. I know a lot of people love them, but all that spare strap sticking out here there and everywhere and those awful sticky-out strap retaining bars... I could have had a camouflage Aquaracer if I wanted all that nonsense! Thankfully, this new 'Navy Blue' Black Bay is available on a choice of straps and a bracelet, including a NATO and a rather nifty looking 'soft touch' strap with a deployment clasp.
I think the reason this one caught my eye this morning when Beaverbrooks sent me an email, was that somehow in blue (and particularly on this strap) the Black Bay looks a little more modern. Indeed I had to look at it for a second to figure out if it was a Pelagos or a Black Bay, so tied is the Tudor Pelagos to the blue colour scheme. Admittedly I'm not so fussed about one of the Black Bay Fifty Eight's main selling points, that being it's reduced case size of 39mm. Personally I'd be quite happy with a 42mm case, but to be fair I haven't tried on a Fifty Eight so maybe I don't know what I'm missing?
On the soft touch or NATO straps this model is retailing at £2520 and on a bracelet it sells out at £2760. You'll have to be quick though as it seems like this is one that's going to be hard to get and only seems to be available in stores (not online). Perhaps Tudor are taking a leaf out of the TAG Heuer book of how to sell watches in a tough economic climate?
To be fair, it seems very well priced. For a start it's a certified chronometer version of Tudor's in house MT5402 that features a power reserve of 70 hours. Added to that you have a domed sapphire crystal (which some people get awfully excited about) a 200M water resistance rating and that all important Tudor/Rolex 'residual-value' fuzzy feeling.
Granted I'm not about to start buying Tudors but if I did, this one would rank quite highly on my list of potential possibilities. I'm pretty sure that ultimately I'd still end up going for a Pelagos, my only real dilemma would be choosing between the blue and the black colour schemes!
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