Grade One Replica Watch

BASELWORLD 2019: Tudor Black Bay P01

20 March 2019

Tudors new model shows off a part of the brand's history, that has only been firmly known until now. TheBlack Bay P01(Ref. 70150), which was introduced for the first time on the watch fair Baselworld 2019, is inspired by a prototype from the late 1960's and has been proposed the US Navy.The Swiss watch manufacture already provided the US-American marine with professional diving watches in the 1950's. In 1967 the brand developed atechnical model to replace theOyster Prince Submariner 7928reference, which was standard-issue at that time.Therefore they had tomeet a set of specifications decreed by the American government: Tudor incorporated latest results of the research into functionality and ergonomics, developed a prototype and patented a function unknown till then.Unfortunately this project with the codename Commando' was never realized. Instead the US Navy chose another standard model theReference 7016,which replacedReference 7928in the Tudor catalogue.Tudor Black Bay P01 Ref. 70150But now the brand presents a model, which is inspired by one of the prototypes developed for this study and kept in Tudor's archives for decades: theBlack Bay P01¨C which stands for prototype 1. This way50 years later the model is brought back to life and mass-produced for the first time.The prototype spiritTheBlack Bay P01is contemporary sporty,but at the same time the model adopts the principle of the winding crown at 4 o’clock and the prominent end-links of the 1960s model. This way theBlack Bay P01reflects the exploratory nature of the project, a cross between a divers’ watch and a navigator's watch. The hinged end-link system on the period prototype was the subject of a patent in 1968, which covered a locking and disassembling system for the bezel to aid maintenance of the watch. TheBlack Bay P01model does not literally reproduce this mechanism but borrows liberally from it, providing a stop system for the bidirectional rotating bezel via a mobile end-link at 12 o’clock.The new model features hours, minutes, seconds and date functions and is is fitted with a domed matt-black dial with painted luminescent hour markers. The matt stain-brushed case is as well based on the design of the prototype. TheBlack Bay P01is water resistant to a depth of 200 meters.Tudor Black Bay P01 Ref. 70150The manufacture calibre MT5612TheBlack Bay P01is driven by the manufacture calibre MT5612, which has been officially certified as a chronometer by the Swiss institute Contr?le Officiel Suisse des Chronom¨¨tres (COSC).Its openwork rotor is satin-brushed with sand-blasted details, and its bridges and plate have alternating polished sand-blasted surfaces and laser decorations.Special focus was laid on robustness and longevity to create a reliable and long living companion for the owner of the watch. In developing the variable inertia balance these characteristics played a central role as well: Itis maintained by a sturdy traversing bridge fixed in two-points. Other than that the Black Bay P01has a non-magnetic silicon balance spring and guarantees a power reserve of approximately 70 hours.Tudor Black Bay P01 Ref. 70150A hybrid leather and rubber strapThe strap especially developed for theBlack Bay P01model is a rubber base with “snowflake” motif on the back, finished with a brown leather trim. In the spirit of the period prototype, mobile satin-brushed steel attachments connect the strap to the watch case.Tudor Black Bay P01 Ref. 70150The essence of Black Bay'Like other models in the Black Bay line', theBlack Bay P01model features a dial inspired by the Tudor divers' watches produced in the 1950’s. It also adopts the characteristic angular hands known to collectors as “snowflake” that appeared in the brand's 1969 catalogue. Finally, the unprotected winding crown, like the holes drilled across the horns, are typical features of the first generations of the brand's divers’ watches...................