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A new incoming email rings, it’s from Tudor. We’ve been informed that a new-born is on its way, followed by an invitation to come see and wear it.
Paris is ravishing, its streets are still calm, and the sun rises to warm up the Parc Monceau. We have an appointment in Rolex’s headquarters, where Tudor is.
Usually closed to public, we have the chance to be in a room where we sit at a workbench to witness the presentation and handling of the watch.
It’s not the first time a Black Bay has a robe in black ceramic. In 2019, for the Only Watch auction, Tudor had donated one of its Pièce Unique, the Black Bay Ceramic One. A watch for which its new owner had spent CHF 350 000.
Two years after this successful experience, the Black Bay Ceramic is born.
It has the particularity to be certified Master Chronometrer by METAS. If you don’t know much about that certification, know that Omega also has some of its watches certified.
Know that obtaining this certification is not easy task.
First, your watch has to be Swiss Made. It means having a Swiss movement with at least 50% of its pieces produced in Switzerland. Case up and final control also have to be made there. Finally, 60% of the added value, including the components, must be produced in Switzerland.
Now that your watch meets all the criteria, it has to obtain the COSC certification. The goal is to verify consistency and precision. For that, during the first 10 days of control, the watch has to have a -4sec/ +6sec range of variation per day. Obviously, it’s controlled while the watch is in 5 different positions and 3 different temperatures (3,23 and 38°C).
It’s important to note that only 6% of the annual Swiss production is COSC certified.
In addition to the Swiss Made and the COSC certification, METAS requires the brands whishing the certify their watches to create a control center inside their own factory.
For watches to be certified Master Chronometrer, the range of variation has to be of 0/+5 sec per day, to stay functional even an exposure to a 15 000-gauss magnetic field and waterproof to 200m, all of this with a 70h power reserve.
To ensure that each brand meets all these criteria, 8% of the tested watches are sent to METAS for a second round of testing.
To summarize, by buying a Black Bay Ceramic, you can be sure of the quality and the precision of your watch.
The full black aspect, even down to the movement, wrap the watch of a certain aura. Despite the sandblasting of the surfaces and the laser finishing, you don’t buy a Black Bay for its finishing. It’s sober and made to perfection. Tudor, and even less Rolex, wouldn’t allow themselves to make a manufacturing deviation on that.
The Super-Luminova application on the markers and the hands shows well the importance of the readability. The time indication is what must be the most visible and that is why the Master Chronometrer certification comes with sense.
The essential is right before us. Even the brand symbol blends itself into the darkness of the dial. In our Human adventure, time is what matters the most to the brand.
Reading its technical details, the watch made us want to put on a neoprene suit to go on an underwater mission.
By getting the METAS certification and by choosing ceramic, we feel link Tudor wants to challenge Omega on its own field. The brand wants to become even more important. If Tudor used to be seen like Rolex’s little girl, today that time is well bygone. By making Tudor part of Omega and other important brands’ market, Rolex reinforce its already impregnable position.
Tell us in comments what you think about this new positioning and creation.
