Hands-On: The Tudor Heritage Black Bay 36 (Live Pics, Thoughts, Official Pricing)

This is the best watch I have seen so far at Baselworld – there, I said it. You may have read about the new Tudor Heritage Black Bay 36 yesterday – well, I just had a chance to see it in person, and I can absolutely confirm that in the metal, and on the wrist, it's just as awesome as it looks in the official press images – maybe more so.

First of all, the Black Bay 36 wears incredibly well. The 36 mm stainless-steel case lies perfectly flat and is perfectly comfortable on both male and female wrists (as you can see from the pictures below). Just as importantly, it looks in proportion to the wrist, not overwhelming it or seeming too small. I find it so refreshing to see a 36 mm case from a brand I love that generally sticks to 41-43 mm cases, as I think this size really is the one that suits most (but not all) people.

Second of all, this watch is strongly reminiscent of the much-desired Rolex Explorer reference 1016, and the smooth bezel reminds me of the Milgauss 1019. The shiny black dial gives it a modern edge, and the oversized applied lume dots create a full and well-balanced dial. The characteristic snowflake hands (and the signature) are the two main things that set this watch apart from its Rolex cousins. Additionally, Tudor has re-instated the shield symbol on the dial (instead of the rose) and the 36 is the last remaining Black Bay with curved text on the bottom half of the dial, while all the other new Black Bay models feature straight line text.

Pricing for the Tudor Black Bay 36 is $2,525 with a leather strap and $2,850 on bracelet (both come with a gray camouflage NATO strap). Now, although this is expensive in real life, in the context of luxury mechanical watches it's a downright bargain and puts a fantastic looking, unpretentious, really handsome watch into a very affordable, non-scary price point.

Okay, so it doesn't have a Tudor in-house movement, but nobody is perfect (not to mention that first of all, Tudor does a great job tweaking its supplied movements and who knows, the in house movement may be in the next series – fingers crossed). So there you have it, the Tudor Heritage Black Bay 36 is my favorite watch thus far this year at Baselworld, and it just might be the sleeper hit of the entire show.

For more information on the Tudor you can visit their website here.

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