Tudor Black Bay 36 review

As with any hobby, you can never have enough mechanical watches, so after more than a year I bought another one.

This time I wanted to move up to a slightly higher tier, so I chose a sportier watch from Tudor, the Tudor Black Bay 36.

Tudor

The Swiss watch company Tudor was founded by Hans Wilsdorf in 1926 as a sister company to Rolex. Tudor focused on producing more affordable watches that were still high-quality and reliable. Over the years, the brand became popular with professional divers and soldiers looking for reliable, robust watches that could handle demanding conditions.

The brand saw a major revival in 2009, when Tudor returned to the market and began gaining prominence again. Today, Tudor is known for stylish, high-quality and relatively affordable watches.

Tudor often draws inspiration from its history and the evolution of its older models. The Black Bay 36 is part of the Tudor Heritage line, inspired by dive watches from the 1950s.

In 2016, Tudor began developing and manufacturing movements in-house.

Tudor Black Bay 36

Design

A black dial with prominent applied indices sits inside a case measuring 36 mm in diameter and 44 mm from lug to lug. The case is very similar to the Oyster cases from Rolex.

The dominant feature of the dial is the so-called snowflake hands, which are a characteristic design element of all Tudor sports watches.

At 12, there is the classic Tudor shield logo, together with the words Tudor and Geneve. At 6, the words Rotor and Self-winding follow a curve that some people call a smile.

The dial is highly legible. The large white indices and hands are clearly visible against the black background in any light.

Both the indices and hands are generously coated with Super-LumiNova. In the dark, the triangle at 12 helps with orientation. The watch glows very brightly, mainly because of the size of the indices.

The crown sits at 3 and screws down, giving the watch a stated water resistance of up to 150 metres.

The crown carries an engraved Tudor logo and sits slightly proud of the case on an aluminium tube. It is a somewhat unusual detail inspired by historical models, but it makes the crown easier to operate.

Movement

The Tudor Black Bay 36 is powered by the T600, a modified version of the top-grade ETA 2824.

The movement is rated to the COSC specification of −4/+6 seconds per day, although it does not have official COSC certification.

The power reserve is 38 hours and the movement beats at 28,800 vibrations per hour, or eight beats per second.

Manual winding and hacking are present as expected. Pulling out the crown stops the seconds hand, allowing the time to be set precisely to the second.

It is a little disappointing that the watch does not have an in-house movement, although using one would probably have had a noticeable effect on the price.

Steel bracelet

The steel bracelet is very similar to the Oyster bracelet from Rolex, but it does not have polished centre links. All the links are solid, although the lack of half-links can make sizing a little more complicated.

The clasp with the Tudor logo has three micro-adjustment positions, so getting the right fit for my wrist was not a problem.

On the wrist

A watch with a diameter of 36 mm may seem small today, but it is the ideal size for my 16 cm wrist. It is genuinely comfortable to wear.

The robust case makes the Tudor Black Bay 36 wear larger. Its 44 mm lug-to-lug length is comparable to watches with a diameter of 38 mm, such as the Seiko SARB033. It is even longer than the Junghans Max Bill Automatic, which measures 42 mm from lug to lug.

It is noticeably heavier than my other watches. The weight is still not unpleasant or uncomfortable. Thanks to the robust construction, I do not worry about it even with slightly rougher handling.

The accuracy was a very positive surprise. With my wearing habits, the watch gains around five seconds per day. That is within the COSC specification, and the Tudor Black Bay 36 is noticeably more accurate than my other watches.

The screw-down crown takes a little getting used to. However, the lack of a date and the high accuracy mean that I do not need to correct the time very often.

The Tudor Black Bay 36 was the first watch I bought on a steel bracelet, so I did not have much to compare it with. The bracelet is surprisingly comfortable, and I had no problem getting used to it.

Changes in wrist size between winter and warmer weather can easily be accommodated using the micro-adjustment.

Specifications

Conclusion

The Tudor Black Bay 36 is a great all-purpose watch for everyday wear, both sporty and a little more elegant. It can also be your entry point into a slightly higher tier of mechanical watches.