The Tudor Heritage Black Bay 36 with aged leather strap

At BaselWorld 2016, Tudor wowed with the Heritage Black Bay Bronze, which I personally gushed about online, and so did plenty of others. For the record, we selected it as a standout at the fair last year. Lost in all that fussing and gushing was the Heritage Black Bay 36, a watch that is literally hidden in the shadow of its 43-millimetre bronze sibling. To be clear, it isn’t that the Black Bay 36 is the lesser watch, just that it is smaller. At 36 millimetres, one might think this is a ladies’ timepiece, but that is not the case. It could really work for anyone, except people with very large wrists who might find it dainty.

According to Tudor (in its press notes, no less) the hope is that this model will help the brand reach out to a wider audience. Of course, size alone can’t achieve this, and Tudor clearly understands that. This watch gained its own traction and following throughout 2016, though of course, official sales figures per model are not available. Although the watch has been scaled down and the unidirectional bezel dropped, Tudor has not abandoned the general lines and characteristics of the Black Bay here. Just take a look the so-called “snowflake” hands dominating the dial, alongside the words “Rotor Self-Winding”. Speaking of that though, this might be the only Heritage Black Bay to sport curved text like this, as the others (including its bronze brethren) all feature text in the normal straight lines.

The Tudor Heritage Black Bay 36 with additional camouflage fabric strap

Something different here that must be noted is the movement, which is listed as the Tudor Calibre 2824. This likely means that it is derived from the self-winding ETA 2824, especially given that ETA 2824 calibres have a power reserve rating of 38 to 40 hours, which is what we find here. Also, Tudor in-house calibres typically bear the designation “MT” (no prizes for guessing what MT stands for). This is not an uncommon choice in the industry and, whatever its origins, the movement has likely been regulated and adjusted to the best accuracy possible by the brand.

Specifications

Movement Self-winding Calibre 2824
Power Reserve 38-hour
Case 36-millimetre steel
Water Resistance Up to 150 metres
Strap Steel bracelet or aged leather strap with folding clasp; both with additional camouflage fabric strap
Price SGD 3,888 (bracelet); SGD 3,456 (leather)

This article was originally published in WOW.