[VIDEO] The Tudor Black Bay THUNDERDOME!

It was bound to happen. You get enough Black Bays in a room together, and they’re going to fight it out until there’s only one diver standing. Zach Kazan, Zach Weiss, and Kat Shoulders are all big Tudor fans, and have gravitated toward various corners of the Black Bay universe over the last few years in the dive watch’s decade-plus history. In this video, sides are chosen, and a battle is waged to crown the best Black Bay. 

Kat’s choice, the Black Bay 54, was the darling of last year’s Watches & Wonders festivities. An immediate hit for its slender, vintage inspired footprint, the 54 is effectively a recreation of a classic vintage Tudor with all the conveniences of a modern watch. The only question: is it too small? And does it cannibalize the Black Bay 58, a watch that was once at the top of the enthusiast food chain (and not too long ago) but now might be redundant for many. 

Zach Weiss picked the Black Bay Pro, another Watches & Wonders release, this one from 2022. While we’re still not sure exactly what makes it “pro,” there’s no denying the utility of a GMT equipped diver. The Black Bay Pro borrows some of its key attributes from well known vintage Rolex references (that fixed steel 24 hour bezel is clearly meant to evoke old and new Explorer IIs) but is still very much its own thing. It’s a hard watch not to like, unless you insist on complicated and robust sports watches being thinner than one could reasonably expect for about $4,000. We address the proportions in this video. 

Finally, Zach Kazan has selected the Black Bay 41, otherwise known as, well, the Black Bay. This latest edition of Tudor’s modern classic has case upgrades to make it slimmer and wear better than its direct predecessor, and a beautiful new five-link bracelet that gives it more of an “everyday wear” vibe than the hardcore tool notes of earlier references. It’s also got a METAS certified movement to boot, which may or may not offer a genuine practical improvement over the standard COSC certification of the other watches selected here. With so many different Black Bays out there (don’t forget about the P01, the ceramic Black Bay, the GMT, and all those Black Bays without bezels…) sometimes it’s nice to remember where they all came from. That’s this watch (sort of). 

The battle lines are drawn, so let us know which Black Bay you’d pick in the comments. Tudor