The Black Bay Bronze Blue Bucherer special edition was made specifically by Tudor for the Swiss watch company based in Lucern; Bucherer. Founded in 1888, Bucherer is one of the oldest luxury Swiss watchmakers that is still run to this day by the founding family. Bucherer has up to twenty nine stores throughout Europe, with ten of them being in Switzerland alone. One of the stores located in Paris, is the worlds largest watch and jewellery store.
In the lead up to the 130th anniversary for Bucherer, they released a collection with Bucherer’s signature colour, termed “Bucherer Blue”. Along with Tudor, this collection would see collaborations with other major brands such as IWC, Breguet, Oris, Tag Heuer and Roger Dubuis just to name a few. A total of 36 watches has been produced for the Bucherer Blue collection.
The Tudor Black Bay Bronze Blue Bucherer special edition is almost identical to the original Heritage Black Bay Bronze aside from the aesthetic appearance between the two models. While the original Tudor Black Bay Bronze had great success with buyers and collectors in general, it offered little to people that wanted more colour depth/contrast on the watch. This is due to the dial on the Black Bay Bronze being matte brown with a brown bezel insert, followed by a bronze casing. While the watch does indeed look great and has its own appeal, the similarities in colour throughout the timepiece didn’t do the watch justice. That is until the Tudor Black Bay Bronze Blue Bucherer special edition came along! It takes the already great model of the Black Bay Bronze and gives it an upgraded colour palette with the colours blue, bronze and white.
The Tudor Black Bay Bronze Blue Bucherer special edition (also known as Tudor 5B) has all the same characteristics as the original Black Bay Bronze, beginning with the 43mm casing. The casing is made purely from a brushed finish as a polished finish on bronze material is hard to achieve. The large crown with the iconic Tudor rose in relief and the beveled lugs are both taken from the original model, which Tudor has done well to keep as it give the timepiece a more classic look.
The indexes are done in white colour which works exceptionally well on a blue dial background. The colour contrast that the Black Bay Bronze somewhat lacked is clearly evident just from the indexes to the dial colour alone in this model. Tudor has also implemented the 3-6-9 indexes that was specific to the Black Bay Bronze model. The snowflake hour hand, constant second hand and the minute hand design has also been kept the same as the original Black Bay Bronze, with the only change being a new white colour finish on these hands.
The indexes and hands also has a bronze finishing for the outer edges. The minute track around the dial has been done in a bronze colour, which is a nice finish resembling the casing of the watch. Along with the minute track, Tudor’s Shield logo, the “Tudor Geneve” and the “200m 660ft Chronometer Official Certified” writing has all been done in a bronze finish. Combine this with the before mentioned bronze edge finishing for the indexes and hands, the blue, bronze and white colour theme really make this timepiece stand out.
Being a divers watch, the Tudor Black Bay Bronze Blue Bucherer special edition comes equipped with luminescent indexes, hour and minute hands. This comes in handy for those occasions when dial readability may be an issue.
The Tudor Black Bay Bronze Blue Bucherer special edition comes equipped with the MT5601 calibre movement, the same one that is on the original Black Bay Bronze. The MT5601 movement is Tudor’s third in-house manufactured movement and arguably their largest in-house calibre. The MT5601 movement has also achieved COSC certification. The movement comes with an anti-magnetism silicon hairspring and to improve accuracy a variable inertia oscillator has been used. A power reserve output of approximately 70 hours can be achieved from the MT5601 movement which is handy if this watch is used for work or occasional wear. The movement unfortunately cannot be seen due to the closed case back, however it does come with a special engraving to commemorate Bucherer’s 130th anniversary.
How does the Tudor Black Bay Bronze Blue Bucherer special edition wear?
The Tudor Black Bay Bronze Blue Bucherer special edition is a refreshing take on the original Black Bay Bronze model. While the internal characteristics of the two watches are identical, the Black Bay Bronze Blue Bucherer sets itself apart with the beautiful aesthetic appeal of the dial. Seeing this watch in photos doesn’t do the watch justice as the contrast with the blue to the bronze really does have a great appeal in person. when it comes to watch photography, photos do turn out quiet well, especially under different lighting angles.
This watch comes available with two strap variations. The first being a distressed brown leather strap which can be worn for a more formal outing or even office wear. The second strap is the blue fabric strap. This fabric strap has a gold/bronze stripe down the middle which matches with the blue/gold colour theme of the watch quite nicely. This strap choice really does make the colours of the watch pop and looks good even matched with a suit. With the strap being made from fabric, it does offer more versatility when compared to the leather as you are able to wear it in more humid conditions.
One thing to note is that the casing is made from a mixture of aluminium and bronze, which means depending on how you wear and the conditions the watch being worn, the case will create a beautiful patina.
If you are after a watch with exclusivity, bang for buck, changes colour depends how the watch is being used and love the colour blue, then you can’t look past the Tudor Black Bay Bronze Blue Bucherer special edition.
Tudor Black Bay Bronze Blue Bucherer special edition Specification
- Reference : 79250BB-Fabric Strap blue
- Case diameter : 43mm
- Case material : Bronze, brushed finish
- Crystal : Domed sapphire crystal
- Winding crown: Bronze screw-down winding crown, with the Tudor rose in relief
- Water resistance : 200 meters/ 660 feet
- Movement : Caliber MT5601
- Power reserve : Approximately 70 hours
- Bracelet : Blue fabric strap and distressed brown leather strap
