Well loved for its design and eminent affordability, the Tudor Black Bay Bronze was first introduced three years ago with a brown dial (and later the special edition Bucherer version).

Now the original Black Bay Bronze has been replaced with a new version that has a graduated slate grey dial, but is otherwise identical.

The new dial is a “shaded slate grey”, but subtly executed. Unlike most other dégradé or graduated dials, the colouring here is less pronounced. The centre is a lighter shade of grey that darkens to almost black around the edges. It’s matched with a dark grey, almost black, bezel.

Compared to the earlier version in brown, the new Black Bay Bronze is more wearable, being a more neutral colour. From a distance it is essentially black, and restrained in style despite the size.

Everything else remains unchanged, including the 43mm case that’s made with an aluminium-bronze alloy. It’ll acquire a brownish patina over time, instead of the green verdigris of copper-based bronze alloys that are more common in watchmaking.

And the movement is still the MT5601, a COSC-certified automatic with a 70-hour power reserve and a silicon hairspring.

The new Black Bay Bronze is available either with a fabric NATO-style strap or a black nubuck strap.

And naturally the price remains unchanged.

Price and availability

The new Black Bay Bronze (ref. 79250BA) is priced at 3850 Swiss francs, and will be available starting April 2019.