The Heritage Black Bay, presented for the first time in 2012 and honored by the jury of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie in Geneva the following year, has been updated for 2016 with the new in-house mechanical movement developed, manufactured and assembled in-house by Tudor. One of the brand’s truly iconic models, it celebrates 60 years of diving replica watches with extraordinary heritage. The updated Heritage Black Bay line now features a dial with the Tudor shield instead of the Tudor rose. I guess this will make all previous models extra-special.
The new movement powering the Tudor Heritage Black Bay line, is a variant of the movement manufactured by Tudor and developed as an update to the Heritage Black Bay model. It displays hours, minutes and seconds, and bears the reference MT5602, in which “MT” stands for “Mouvement Tudor”. In 2015, Tudor announced the first mechanical movement in its history to have been developed, manufactured and assembled in-house. A high-performance calibre of excellent precision and proven robustness, it offers a 70-hour power reserve and is equipped with 25 jewels. Beating to a frequency of 28,800 vph or 4Hz, the movement is regulated by a variable inertia oscillator with silicon balance spring, held in place by a traversing bridge —a guarantee of its robustness. Furthermore, the movement is certified by the Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute —COSC.
Additionally, a new riveted bracelet has been fitted in the updated Tudor Heritage Black Bay line. Tudor has also reworked the steel bracelet which comes with this model, taking inspiration from the brand’s riveted bracelets made in the 50s and 60s. These were famous for having rivet heads for attaching the links in evidence on the side of the bracelet, as well as a stepped construction. These two aesthetic details have now been integrated into the bracelet of the Heritage Black Bay model, which bene ts at the same time from modern manufacturing methods with solid links.
Lastly, for the Tudor Heritage Black Bay Burgundy version, a new red strap made in the Jacquard technique according to traditional methods by a hundred-year-old family business from the St-Etienne region of France, has been added.
Sticker Price starting at CHF 3,200 Swiss Francs on leather and CHF 3,500 on bracelet —roughly $3,400 USD and $3,750 USD respectively. For more info on Tudor click here.
