Our Thoughts About the New Tudor Black Bay GMT “Root Beer”
One of Tudor’s strong bets this year seems to be dual time zone watches, at least the signs were in that direction during the latest edition of Watches And Wonders. The brand, after presenting the Black Bay GMT in 2018, the first dual time watch from the Black Bay collection, four years later is back with two new GMT watches… one within the Black Bay GMT line and the other in the new Black Bay Pro line, but in the end the result is the same, two new watches with the GMT function.
If we already had the opportunity to talk about the new Black Bay Pro here two weeks ago at the time of its launch and if you want to know more you can read here, the same had not happened yet with the new Tudor Black Bay GMT S&G which now comes in two tones and a black and brown bezel reminiscent of the Rolex GMT “Root Beer”. For now, we can conclude that the design bet of the Black Bay line has not changed since its launch, that is, it continues to be inspired by the past and glorious models of its motherhouse, Rolex, and the launch of these two models only reinforces this idea.
If the Black Bay Pro is a clear allusion to the Rolex Explorer II ref. 1655 used by the famous Steve Mcqueen, the new Black Bay GMT is the embodiment of the Rolex Master II GMT ref. 126711 was released in 2018.
Although the new Black Bay GMT comes with the same 41mm by 14.6mm stainless steel case as the “Pepsi” version, it now adds a crown and rotating bezel in gold, as well as a two-tone bracelet, on which the central links are presented in gold, although only the first two links are in solid gold and the rest in gold-plated steel in order to keep the price affordable. The same happens with the dial, which now receives gilt accents instead of the previous rhodium-plated accents.
Inside, everything is the same, just like its big brother comes equipped with the Caliber MT5652 which is COSC certified and offers up to 70 hours of power reserve.
Our Opinion
I’ve never been a deep fan of two-tone watches, but I confess that this new Tudor GMT “Root Beer” has its charm and if there’s a two-tone watch I’ve seen myself wearing this is probably one of them. I confess that the two-tone bracelet is a bit too much for me, but with a leather or nylon strap, the story could be different.
Among the three Tudor GMTs now available, my choice would probably be the new BB Pro, for its design but above all for the 39mm case size compared to my reduced wrist, but if this “Root Beer” was 2mm less my choice it would be compromised because as I already mentioned this watch has something special that I like.
Finally, still not wanting to take this to a comparison between the two lines, what we like more about the Black Bay GMT line than the new Black Bay Pro line, is the rotating bezel instead of the fixed bezel, and this has nothing to do with the aesthetic aspect, as the steel bezel even pleases us, but yes, it has to do with the functional aspect, since the rotating bezel has the advantage of offering a third-time zone, which in our opinion is increasingly convenient.
Read more on www.tudorwatch.com.
General Specifications:
Brand: Tudor
Model: Black Bay GMT S&G
Reference: M79833-0001 (stainless steel and gold bracelet), M79833-0003 (leather strap), M79833-0004 (fabric strap)
Dial: Black
Lume: Yes
Case Material: Stainless steel and gold
Case Dimensions: 41 mm Diameter, 14.6 mm thickness
Crystal: Sapphire Glass
Case Back: Stainless steel
Water Resistance: 200 Meters
Strap: Stainless steel and gold bracelet with rivets, brown leather strap or black textile strap
Calibre: MT5652
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, GMT hand, date
Winding: Automatic
Frequency: 4 Hz (28,800 Vph)
Jewels: 26
Power Reserve: 70 Hours
Chronometer Certified: COSC
Price: € 5,350 (on bracelet), € 4,140 (on strap)
Availability: Now
