Tudor introduced the Black Bay Bronze in 2016 with a brown dial and bezel insert. This version, introduced in 2019 and replacing the 2016 model, features a slate dial and bezel insert, but otherwise is essentially the same watch. There is also a blue variant tied to a specific retailer that exists for those looking for another color option. Note, after I reviewed this watch a Black Bay 58 variant became available, at a notably smaller case size.

Diameter: 43mm

Lug-to-lug: 52.4mm

Thickness: 14.6mm

Lug width is: 23mm

The watch has 200 meters of water resistance.

Looking at the face of this watch one can see the slate dial starts lightest at the center of the watch and darkens as your eye moves out towards the bezel. The text on the dial is a gilt print, with the Tudor shield and name towards the 12 o’clock position and the water resistance and chronometer certification towards the 6 o’clock position. As Tudor does with its Black Bay line you can see the familiar snowflake hands in play. Applied dot indices populate the dial at every hour position, except the 12 which is an applied triangle, and the 3, 6, and 9 which are applied Arabic numerals. There are no complications on this watch as it is time-only. The sapphire crystal is domed. The watch features a unidirectional rotating bezel with 120-clicks. The bezel is easy to turn and the only play is if it is between clicks. Everything seems lined up accurately. All the applied markers as well as all three hands are lumed.

The case itself is brushed. You can see the patina clearly which has darkened the watch in a relatively even fashion. The bezel insert is aluminum. The crown features the historic Tudor rose logo. The crown does screw down and has three positions. In position one the watch can be wound. Position two allows the time to be set and the watch does hack. In position zero the crown is screwed in to maximize water resistance.

The watch has a closed caseback. As you can see how shiny it is compared to the rest of this watch, that is because the caseback is PVD-coated steel, not bronze. This is because bronze can discolor the skin and cause skin irritation so standard practice is not to have components that rest against the skin be made of bronze. But it can help give you a sense as to what the case looks like without patina. Incidentally, it is possible to clean the patina off of bronze watches and there are plenty of guides online on how to do so with some common household ingredients.

This watch came on the original leather strap and is available either in leather or in a cloth strap. As I am not a fan of leather straps for dive watches I put on a third-party nylon strap. 

This watch features Tudor’s MT5601 calibre movement, which is COSC-certified, runs at 4 Hertz, and has a 70-hour power reserve.

In terms of measured accuracy I used the Watch Accuracy Meter app on my cell phone to measure the watch in six different positions, getting an average of zero seconds per day with a positional range of -3 seconds per day to 0 seconds per day. So my own measurements do correspond with the COSC certification standard.

My overall thoughts:

The positives:

• Extreme accuracy

• Easy-to-read dial

• Great power reserve

• Great lume

• Good aesthetic that factored in how the watch would look with and without patina

The negatives:

• 23mm lug width is weird

• The watch is huge

Tudor sold this watch on their website for $4,150 back when I first made my review video (when I last checked it was up to $4,400). Overall, this is perhaps my favorite bronze watch design (hence why I bought one). I really like that the dial is balanced and there is no date function with it. It’s really accurate, has an awesome power reserve level, and is super functional. My biggest gripe has been the strap. I’ve heard great things about Tudor’s cloth straps but the used model I bought came on leather, which was okay in terms of comfort but I think leather is a strange choice for dive watches from a tool perspective so I’ve gone with a nylon strap that looks similar to the cloth strap option. It’s fine but I really wish Tudor had continued to provide both straps with the watch like they did on the 2016 model. Otherwise, my only real gripe is this is a pretty big watch. Going over 52mm on the lug-to-lug is noticeable. I do notice this watch, in terms of size and weight, while I wear it, and I really wish it was about 2mm smaller for comfort reasons. I'd suggest those with smaller wrists check out the Black Bay 58 version instead.