FEATURE: Is the Tudor Black Bay becoming a 'Problem'?

 

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This post was originally going to be called 'How to React When Your Friend Buys a Watch You Don't Really Like That Much!'... but the more I thought about it, the more I came to the conclusion that it's clearly me who's out of step when it comes to the Tudor Black Bay and I wonder if it isn't starting to become a little bit of a problem for TAG Heuer?

So we all know the problems one encounters when trying to purchase pretty much any stainless steel Rolex 'sports' watch, and it can't have escaped your attention that this has really played into Tudor's hands. While technically they may be more 'independent' than they once were, that distinction hasn't really bled through to the public consciousness and the brand is still seen (and most likely promoted within stores) as the baby, or 'accessible' if you prefer, Rolex.

Now personally Rolex doesn't excite me. I don't know if it's because I feel they are grossly overpriced, or it's simply the fact that 'everyone else' likes them that puts me off.... but honestly I couldn't care less,  and maybe for me that has spilled over to the Tudor brand too. I do remember a time a long time ago (before I became a fully fledged TAG Heuer Enthusiast and a single brand collector) when I considered Black Bay ownership, I even tried one on, but I didn't like the crown at all and the overall aesthetic was too 'retro' for my tastes.

Now others will argue that the watch is not 'retro', that it is in fact 'timeless' but I disagree and as I recall when it came out it was pretty much announced as Tudor's 'heritage-diver' (as opposed to the much cooler and clearly more modern Pelagos) and it's pretty much based on designs from at least 50 years ago, so retro it clearly is and no more debate is necessary on that!

But if you spend any amount of time around people who like watches enough to join and contribute to forums, you will swiftly come to the conclusion that when it really comes down to it 'retro' is what they want. So with that in mind, when it was announced that there was a new Aquaracer coming down the track there was much hopeful speculation (amongst those people) that TAG Heuer would abandon the 'modernist' approach in favour of something a lot more like (or ideally exactly like) the old Heuer 1000 Series.

Of course that didn't happen, if anything TAG Heuer went even more aggressively modern (though bizarrely they made one limited edition that sort of wanted to be 'retro' and pay homage to the 1000 Series the enthusiasts actually wanted) which caused ripples of disquiet throughout the (generally anti TAG Heuer it must be said) watch community at large. Ah the difficulties of being truly 'avant garde'...

Personally I'm not totally sold on the new Aquaracer, I much prefer the older WAY and CAY models, but I must admit the 2021 models are much better in the flesh than they are in photographs so you really should go see one, try it on and make up your own mind; a lot of the negatives in the pictures (like the cyclops) really disappear once you get it in the hand. 

But our Swedish friend (and occasional contributor) Jim Dollares recently took a trip to the big city with a pocket full of cash and a burning desire to buy a dive watch. I don't want to give away too much here because I am very much hoping for a 10,000 word post all about Jim's watch trip and buying experience in the not too distant future - but he tried on the WAY series blue dial Aquaracer and the Tudor Black Bay (among others) and ultimately came away with the Black Bay.

And he's not the only one, the Calibre 11 forum is filling up week by week with people who own or have owned the Black Bay and they are all singing it's praises from the rooftops. Bear in mind that this is not a general 'watch' forum, it is a TAG Heuer specific forum, and while it's perfectly fine for TAG Heuer enthusiasts to own other brands too, when two people buy the same watch in one day (and one other member reacts with 'Yawn, another Black Bay) then you have to face the fact that something is up.

It's a long time since I actually held a Black Bay, but the common consensus seems to be that the finishing is better, the movement is better (not to mention in-house, if you care about that sort of thing) and in the hand it genuinely feels like a 'luxury' product. Whereas the Aquaracer feels like an £800 watch (at least according to J.D.) and then there's the worry of the Sellita SW200 movement with its vague crown action and known winding issues (shared by the ETA 2824 it is based on and which powered the Black Bay when it was originally released incidentally). 

Admittedly the Black Bay is a little dearer than an Aquaracer (approximately £200 on a bracelet), but it doesn't seem to be putting people off. Perhaps it's time for TAG Heuer to upgrade the movement in the Aquaracer, even if it means bringing it up in price a little. The new Aquaracer has already improved on the bracelet and clasp and putting the cyclops under the crystal is definitely a step in the right direction. I think people will come round to the new look eventually, but even if they do this movement issue will still be there. 

So really, either they need to switch up the movement for something better or they need to increase the warranty period to give people more 'comfort' in their purchasing. Whether that will be enough to stem the flow of people clamouring to buy the Black Bay I don't know, and on the flipside Tudor is beginning to look like a 'one-watch-brand' and that's not a good thing either. But like I said at the start of this post, the Black Bay is becoming something of a phenomenon and one that is showing no sign of slowing down, as such I really can't believe that it isn't becoming something of a thorn in TAG Heuer's side...