Back in early 2024, TUDOR announced its return to motorsport, partnering with the new Visa Cash App RB Formula One team. To mark the occasion, TUDOR created a team-exclusive version of its Master Chronometer certified Black Bay Ceramic, complete with a blue dial that matches the team’s striking livery. Now you can finally wear the same watch as drivers Yuki and Daniel wear around the paddock.
TUDOR has established a long legacy of competing on the racetrack. TUDOR supported winning teams during the golden era of motorsport, starting with the TUDOR Watch Racing Team in the late ‘60s, all the way to the recent IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. Now, in 2024, TUDOR has returned to the grid once more, this time with Visa Cash App RB, a brand-new Formula 1® team with fan-favorite drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda behind the wheel.
Formula One is widely considered one of the most tech-forward sports. This is the reason why the Black Bay Ceramic is strapped on the wrist of the Visa Cash App RB team. This model represents TUDOR’s relentless pursuit of mechanical performance. Tested by the Federal Institute of Metrology or METAS, the Black Bay Ceramic is the epitome of watchmaking innovation and high-tech aesthetic language. Master Chronometer certification is one of the industry's most demanding standards in terms of chronometry and resistance to magnetic fields. Its matt black ceramic elements and black Manufacture Calibre accentuate this model’s outstanding performance.
Now offered in a Visa Cash App RB livery, with a blue dial and matching strap stitching, the same configuration the team has been wearing this season, the Black Bay Ceramic “Blue” writes a new chapter in TUDOR’s motorsport history.
Visa Cash App RB livery-matching blue, with applied hour markers
One of the hallmarks of the TUDOR divers’ watches introduced in 1969, with Grade X1 Swiss Super-LumiNova® luminous material
Certified by the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute (COSC), with a silicon hairspring and a 70-hour power reserve
in matt black ceramic
with blue stitching and complimentary black fabric strap with blue centre band
With no registration or periodic maintenance checks required
All the tests and prerequisites leading to the Master Chronometer certification, which the Black Bay has achieved, are summarised below:
METAS Master Chronometer certification is comprehensive and covers the main functional characteristics of a watch including precision, resistance to magnetic fields, waterproofness and power reserve. Its standards are incredibly high, starting with precision.
The Manufacture Calibre MT5602-1U, which powers the Black Bay Ceramic illustrates the technical development process signature of TUDOR, drawing on adaptable movement architecture capable of integrating new functions rather than resorting to additional modules. A minor detail for some, but a must for watchmaking purists.
Displaying hour, minute and second functions, it offers the general look and feel of TUDOR Manufacture Calibres with dedicated sun laser design and bears the Master Chronometer mention on its bridges, emphasising its distinctive performance. Its rotor is fashioned in tungsten monobloc and is openworked. It also features the distinctive laser radial grooving with sand-blasted details. Its bridges and mainplate have alternate sand-blasted and polished surfaces and laser decorations.
The build of the Manufacture Calibre MT5602-1U is designed to ensure robustness and precision. To do this, the variable inertia balance wheel is maintained by a sturdy traversing bridge with two-point anchoring. It is certified as a chronometer by the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute (COSC), with its performance going beyond the standards set by this independent institute. In fact, where COSC allows an average variation in the daily rate of an uncased movement of between -4 and +6 seconds and TUDOR applies a 6-second (-2/+4) variation standard on its fully assembled watches, METAS requires a Master Chronometer certified watch to run within a tolerance range of 5 seconds (0/+5). Not only is the Manufacture Calibre MT5602-1U certified to be more accurate, it is also rated as anti-magnetic, making it impervious to magnetic fields below 15,000 gauss.
Another notable feature is that the power reserve of the Manufacture Calibre MT5602-1U is “weekend-proof”, about 70 hours. This enables the wearer to take the watch off on a Friday evening and put it back on again on Monday morning without having to reset it.
The Black Bay line features dials inspired by the TUDOR divers’ watches produced during the 1950s. It borrows the characteristic angular hands known to collectors as “Snowflake” from models that appeared in the brand’s 1969 catalogue. Its shoulderless crown and the characteristics of its case are reminiscent of the first generations of TUDOR divers' watches.
The Black Bay line is the result of the subtle blend of traditionalaesthetics and contemporary watchmaking. Far from simply being an identicalre-release of a classic, it brings together 70 years of TUDOR dive watches,whilst at the same time being resolutely anchored in the present. It isneo-vintage in conception, yet its manufacturing techniques, reliability,robustness and the quality of its finishes are consistent with today's morerigorous requirements.
Aesthetically, the TUDOR Black Bay Ceramic “Blue” combines contemporary, high-tech details with subtle references to its significant heritage. Its matt black monobloc ceramic case has sand-blasted surfaces with bevelled edges, mirror-polished for a striking contrast, and is finished with very pronounced lines. The insert of its rotatable bezel is also in black ceramic with a sunray satin finish. The engraved graduations in matching tones offer a complementary additional matt detail, which responds subtly to changes in light. Finally, a hybrid leather and rubber strap, black of course, with a "Snowflake" motif on the inside, blue stitching and a black PVD-coated stainless steel folding clasp, as well as a complimentary black fabric strap with blue band, completes the look of this model.
Every TUDOR watch, including the Black Bay, is assembled and fully tested to TUDOR’s superior standards at the new TUDOR Manufacture located in the Le Locle, Switzerland.
This new state-of-the-art facility, bringing together the know-how of watchmakers with the best in production management and automated testing systems, was completed in 2021 after three years of construction. All decked out in TUDOR red, the Manufacture spans over four levels totaling more than 5,500 square meters and is physically and visually connected to the neighboring Kenissi Manufacture, the TUDOR movement production facility founded in 2016.
With Kenissi and a network of TUDOR-owned affiliates, the brand has been able to integrate the development and production of high-performance mechanical calibers. As a consequence, TUDOR now fully masters the manufacturing of strategic components and can guarantee their quality.
41mm matt black ceramic case with micro-blasted finish and monobloc middle case
Open case back in black-PVDtreated 316L steel with sapphire crystal
Unidirectional rotatable bezel in black-PVD-treated 316L steel with 60-minute graduated disc in black ceramic with sunray satin finish and engraved markings and numerals
Screw-down winding crown in black-PVD-treated 316L steel, with the TUDOR rose in relief and circular satin-brushed steel winding crown tube
Blue, domed
Domed sapphire crystal
Waterproof to 200m (660 ft)
Hybrid leather and rubber strap with exclusive stitching and folding clasp in black PVD-treated 316L steel
Complimentary black fabric strap with blue band and black PVDtreated 316L steel buckle
Manufacture Calibre MT5602-1U
Self-winding mechanical movement with bidirectional rotor system
Swiss Chronometer officially certified by the COSC (Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute)
Master Chronometer Certification from METAS
Centre hour, minute and seconds hands
Stop-seconds for precise time setting
Variable inertia balance, micro-adjustment by screw
Non-magnetic silicon balance spring
Frequency: 28,000 beats/hour (4 Hz)
31.8 mm
6.5 mm
25 jewels
70 hours certified by METAS
