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The Tudor Black Bay Chrono Pink
Anybody see this one coming? Nope, me either!
Tudor is in a state of rare marketing frenzy at the moment. Earlier this year, the Rolex sister company announced their return to motorsport when they became official partner of the newly-formed Visa Cash App RB Formula One Team. Formerly known as Scuderia AlphaTauri and owned by Red Bull, the group’s cars are driven by Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda. And while Tudor are no strangers to the thrills of the track, going all the way back to the ‘60s with the Tudor Watch Racing Team, their next bit of promotional allegiance certainly breaks new ground.
Late last month, the marque revealed they had joined with MLS team Inter Miami, co-owned by British soccer legend and Tudor ambassador David Beckham, as their Official Timekeeper.
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Nothing too out of the ordinary here; elite watchmaking brands have long been keen to align themselves with top professionals from all walks of life. And seeing that Inter Miami boasts the greatest player of all time in their squad, the incomparable Lionel Messi, it doesn’t get much better than that.
In fact, Tudor seem to be unable to control their excitement about this connection with the GOAT and have released a special edition to commemorate their new affiliation—about two weeks before Watches & Wonders 2024, the annual event for the industry to showcase all their new creations.
And what a piece it is! Knowing that Inter Miami play in a pink kit perhaps should have tipped us off to what Tudor were thinking, and especially as the watch was reportedly co-created with Jay Chou, the massively successful Taiwanese singer and musician. Known as the ‘King of Mandopop’ (whatever that is), Chou is renowned for his love of the color, and the result is a wonderfully striking and no doubt divisive reworking of Tudor’s brilliant Black Bay Chrono.
What Do You Think?
‘The Black Bay Chrono “Pink” might not be for everyone’ reads the brand’s own blurb on the watch’s dedicated webpage, and they’ve got that right. It’s a brave decision to add a shocking pink dial to any model, and especially one as rugged and manly as the Black Bay Chrono.
Released in 2021, the model was a culmination of everything Tudor had learned about making class-leading chronographs since their very first back in 1970.
It drew together design influences from those 50-years of development and packaged them all up in an absolutely superb whole—a 41mm, twin-registered, Panda and reverse Panda-dialed racing companion, complete with date display and 200m water resistance thanks to its screw down crown and pushers. Riding on a sturdy Oyster-esque bracelet and driven by the Breitling-derived MT5813, it offered fantastic performance and rock solid reliability, all at Tudor’s long held USP, a realistically attainable price.
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The combination of good looks, faultless execution and value for money has made the Black Bay Chrono a highly desirable watch, albeit a serious one. The collection is studiedly monochromatic for the most part, with only the recent additions of some gold accented pieces breaking up all that black and white
It’s safe to say, those days are now behind us. This new piece which, as a limited edition, doesn’t actually appear on the Tudor website, is a definite jolt to the senses. The pink dial, with its tiny spots of red in the text and tip of the seconds hand, is contrasted by the black of the totalizers and anodized aluminum bezel and the overall effect looks like one of those Licorice Allsorts sweets; you know, those little sandwich-type ones.
It is a color combination which just works and always has, and it certainly does here. Tudor, by their own admission, know it won’t be everyone’s cup of strawberry milk, but it would be unwise in the extreme to bet against this revision becoming a massively sought-after collectors’ favorite in the coming months.
There is also another break from the customary. That original three-link bracelet has been swapped for a beautifully elaborate five-link Jubilee-type band, as we saw first last year on the redesigned Black Bay Burgundy. A top quality product, the bracelet features satin finished outer links and polished mids and comes equipped with Tudor’s acclaimed folding clasp and T-Fit micro-adjustment.
What Will its Nickname Be?
All the greats have a nickname. Hulk, Pepsi, Root Beer, Pussy Galore, President, Sprite, and on and on and on.
Surely a watch as calculatedly contentious as this is crying out for an unofficial moniker, so I’m gonna get in first with a list of possibilities.
Cupcake? Bubblegum? Cotton Candy? The Flamingo? The Pink Panther? It’s only when you sit down and think about it that you realize how many cool things are pink.
Or maybe supporters will go the Paul Newman route and name the Chrono Pink after its creator or inspiration. The Tudor Chou, perhaps? The Tudor Beckham? The Tudor Inter? Who knows?
What we are sure of is that it won’t be around for long, so if you fancy one, a trip to your AD (bringing $5,675 with you) is called for sooner rather than later.
Personally, I’m a huge fan and comfortable enough in my own irresistible masculinity to dare to wear pink, so I might see you there.
Featured Photo: BKT Archive & Pixabay (cc) Archive.
