The Tudor Black Bay P01
Tudor
Tudors’ Black Bay P01, a watch based on a legendary prototype developed in the late 1960s
and proposed to the US Navy, and in so doing li s 1/5 the veil on a little-known aspect of its history.
In 1967, TUDOR, who had been supplying the US Navy with divers’ watches since the late 1950s, began development of a technical model to replace the Oyster Prince Submariner 7928 reference, which was standard-issue at that time. This new watch needed to meet a set of specifications decreed by the American government and incorporated the results of the latest research into functionality and ergonomics carried out by the brand’s engineers. A development phase was launched which resulted in the production of prototypes, as well as a patent for a hitherto unseen function. This ambitious project, which carried the code name “Commando”, never came to fruition as the regular TUDOR divers’ watch, reference 7016, which replaced reference 7928 in the TUDOR catalogue, was eventually adopted by the US Navy. In 2019, the TUDOR Black Bay P01 model - which stands for prototype 1 - is inspired by a prototype developed as part of this study and kept in the brand’s archives, only to have its unique aesthetic brought to life and mass-produced 50 years later.
Tudor
Crafted in a contemporary sporty spirit, while at the same time adopting the principle of the winding crown at 4 o’clock and the prominent end-links of the 1960s model, the Black Bay P01 reflects the exploratory nature of the project, a cross between a divers’ watch and a navigator’s watch. The hinged end-link system on the period prototype was the subject of a patent in 1968, which covered a locking and disassembling system for the bezel to aid maintenance of the watch. The Black Bay P01 model does not literally reproduce this mechanism but borrows liberally from it, providing a stop system for the bidirectional rotating bezel via
a mobile end-link at 12 o’clock. Black Bay P01 is waterproof to 200 metres and features hours, minutes, seconds and date functions. It is fitted with a domed matt-black dial with painted luminescent hour markers. Respecting the utilitarian aesthetic of the prototype that inspired it, the case is entirely satin-brushed for a matt finish.
Tudor
The Manufacture Calibre MT5612 that drives the Black Bay P01 model displays the hours, minutes, seconds and date functions. Its nishes are typical of TUDOR’s Manufacture calibres. Its openwork rotor is satin-brushed with sand- blasted details, and its bridges and plate have alternating polished sand-blasted surfaces and laser decorations. Its build has been designed to ensure robustness, longevity and reliability, as has its variable inertia balance, which is maintained by a sturdy traversing bridge xed in two-points. Thanks to these qualities, together with its non-magnetic silicon balance spring, the Calibre MT5612 is certi ed as a chronometer by the O cial Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute (COSC). Finally, with a 70-hour power reserve, a wearer can take o the watch on Friday evening and put it back on again on Monday morning without having to re-set and wind it.
Tudor
REFERENCE 70150
CASE 42 mm steel case with satin nish
BEZEL 60-notch, 12-hour graduated steel bidirectional rotating bezel with stop system for the bidirectional rotating bezel
via a mobile end-link at 12 o’clock
WINDING CROWN Screw-down steel winding crown at 4 o’clock, with the TUDOR logo in relief
MOVEMENT
CALIBRE Manufacture Calibre MT5612 (COSC)
Self-winding mechanical movement with bidirectional rotor system
PRECISION Swiss Chronometer o cially certi ed by the COSC (Swiss O cial Chronometer Testing Institute)
FUNCTIONS Central hour,
minute and second hands
Stop seconds for precise time setting
Instantaneous date at 3 o’clock with rapid adjustment without non-correction range
OSCILLATOR Variable inertia balance, micro-adjustment by screw
Non-magnetic silicon balance spring
Frequency:
28,800 beats/hour (4Hz)
TOTAL DIAMETER
31.8 mm
THICKNESS
6.5 mm
JEWELS
26 jewels
POWER RESERVE
Approximately 70 hours
BLACK BAY
P01
Swiss price (VAT incl.) CHF 3’750.–
DIAL
Black, domed Date at 3 o’clock
CRYSTAL
Domed sapphire crystal
WATERPROOFNESS
Waterproof to 200 m (660 )
BRACELET
Hybrid leather and rubber strap with folding clasp and safety catch, entirely satin- nishe