Tudor Black Bay Chrono “Carbon 25”

Jamie Weiss

• In time for the 2025 Miami Grand Prix, Tudor unveils its second collaborative watch with Visa Money App Racing Bulls Components One Crew – a chronograph this time.
• This watch was first teased (however not unveiled publicly) at Watches and Wonders Geneva 2025 a month in the past.
• A restricted version of two,025 items, it boasts a solid carbon fibre case, titanium parts and a white/blue dial impressed by VCARB’s colors. 

Over the weekend, the high-octane circus that’s the Components 1 World Championship made its strategy to Florida for the fourth version of the Miami Grand Prix, which in earlier years previous has been an event for watch manufacturers to time product releases round – lots of which have featured vibrant pastel color schemes impressed by Vice Metropolis and its beachy character. In fact, some of the fashionable Tudors in latest reminiscence, the Black Bay Chrono “Pink”, additionally has a connection to Miami, with its creation impressed by the colors of ambassador David Beckham’s soccer group, Inter Miami CF… And through the Miami GP race weekend, we noticed one other Black Bay Chrono be a part of Tudor’s lineup. Simply not a pink one.

We knew this watch was coming, however in what type, we weren’t sure. Forward of Watches and Wonders Geneva 2025, I predicted that the Swiss model would produce one other watch in collaboration with the F1 group they sponsor, Visa Money App Racing Bulls (or VCARB for brief) – nevertheless, I predicted that it might be a white ceramic model of the extant Black Bay Ceramic “Blue”, the primary group watch Tudor created to mark its partnership with VCARB. We didn’t see such a watch unveiled in Geneva, however as I reported from the bottom, the Tudor sales space on the honest featured a pronounced F1 theme, with a VCARB automotive current however extra intriguingly, a countdown timer teasing the reveal of a brand new watch through the Miami GP.

Now, right here we’re – and the watch we’ve bought, the Black Bay Chrono “Carbon 25”, doesn’t disappoint. It’s the primary Black Bay mannequin to characteristic a solid carbon fibre case, with carbon beforehand solely used as a case materials within the Pelagos vary, with fashions just like the Pelagos FXD Chrono Biking Version. It’s additionally value stating that, as of publishing, Tudor’s sister model Rolex doesn’t provide any watch with a carbon fibre case.

Particularly, the Black Bay Chrono “Carbon 25” contains a solid carbon fibre primary case, tachymetre bezel and strap finish hyperlinks, with different case parts such because the crown, chronograph pushers and caseback produced from black PVD grade 5 titanium. The dial, too, is carbon fibre, topped with a varnished matte “racing white” layer with a minute monitor and emblem in blue, with the 2 chronograph sub-registers exposing the carbon under. You additionally get two refined pops of purple within the type of the water resistance score textual content and the tip of the chronograph seconds hand.

This color scheme intently displays VCARB’s normal livery colors, though VCARB sported a novel pink livery for the 2025 Miami Grand Prix, confusingly. Even the utilized indices and snowflake arms have blue-emission Tremendous-LumiNova. And naturally, fashionable F1 vehicles are predominantly produced from carbon fibre, so it’s an totally acceptable alternative of case materials for a F1 group watch. The carbon fibre finish hyperlinks for the hybrid strap (which additionally has a buckle produced from carbon fibre, though its pin is titanium) are a very stylish contact.

There’s been a shocking quantity of chatter on-line about this watch’s dimensions, although. At 42mm in diameter and 14.3mm thick, it’s 1mm larger however 0.1mm thinner than different Black Bay Chronos. Nonetheless, in comparison with the Pelagos FXD Chrono Biking Version, which has the identical motion as this watch, it’s bought a 1mm smaller diameter however is 1.1mm thicker. What distinction does a millimetre make? I’ll allow you to resolve, though I’ve been shocked there’s been a lot chatter about it. Additionally, as our Deputy Editor Borna Bošnjak has identified, the Black Bay Chrono “Carbon 25” is twice as water resistant as Tudor’s equally carbon-cased Pelagos FXD Chrono fashions, maybe due to its screw-down pushers.

Talking of that motion, underneath the hood of the Black Bay Chrono “Carbon 25” hums the Calibre MT5813, which relies on the Breitling B01 however has been modified by Tudor with a silicon hairspring for improved anti-magnetism, a variable inertia stability and runs for 45 minutes somewhat than the B01’s 30min. An distinctive motion with a column wheel and vertical clutch – mainly the best chronograph expertise – it has a 70-hour energy reserve and is COSC-certified (however not METAS-certified as an rising variety of Tudors are lately). This motion is hidden beneath a closed caseback, which contains a laser-engraved depiction of the VCARB 02 race automotive in addition to each its collection quantity and the 12 months.

Closing ideas

As a diehard F1 fan, it was nice to see Tudor be a part of the F1 paddock final 12 months with VCARB, though I used to be fairly shocked that Tudor’s first watch with the outfit wasn’t a chronograph, contemplating how inseparable from motorsports that complication is. However by no means thoughts, we’ve bought a VCARB chrono now, and it’s fairly racy – the truth is, it’s arduous to consider a greater VCARB group watch. It’s value discussing the worth level, nevertheless. For the reason that Black Bay Chrono “Carbon 25” broke cowl, there’s been dialogue amongst fanatics about how costly it’s: at simply shy of A$11,000 (or simply over US$7,000), many have commented that it’s approaching Rolex pricing territory. However, as I discussed earlier on this article, there’s no Rolex with a carbon fibre case, and there’s just one chronograph in Rolex’s vary, the Daytona, which is greater than double this watch’s value.

Tudor Black Bay Chrono “Carbon 25” pricing and availability

The Tudor Black Bay Chrono “Carbon 25” is an individually numbered restricted version of two,025 items, out there now. Value: A$10,970