Saturday, July 14, 2018

Pepsi Anyone? The Tudor Black Bay GMT

Tudor has been making waves since they relaunched the Black Bay range of timepieces and this year in Baselworld 2018, they released another winner - The Black Bay GMT aka Pepsi GMT.

Of course the debate is around their more well known big brother the Rolex GMT II (Pepsi) but with so many brands "adopting" the blue/red scheme, why not Tudor? And I think this is a winning strategy. GMT, Chronometer certified, 70 hours of power reserve, in-house movement, 200m water resistance... what more can one ask for?

At first glance, the Black Bay GMT is well constructed, attractive and for the price that is slightly higher than S$5,000 a solid timepiece for any collection. Maybe not for everyone but for the everyday man on the street, its a winner.

The dial is clean with the signature snowflake hands - one on the hour hand and the other on the GMT hand. Clearly visible is the raised dome sapphire crystal which gives a timepiece a more vintage feel to it.

Unlike the Rolex which has a more red coloured hue, the Black Bay GMT has a darker burgundy colour. The bezel is a bidirectional rotatable 48 notches bezel in steel with 24-hour graduated anodised aluminium disc in matt burgundy and blue.

The crown is signed with the House of Tudor rose logo.

Housed under the hood is the in-house Manufacture automatic Calibre MT5652 which is also COSC certified. The movement which provides about 70 hours of power reserve comes with a bidirectional winding mechanism. So much for so little.

Closer examination shows that the Black Bay GMT punches above its price point - for a timepiece at this price point, the finishing is excellent. Take a look at the markers. Highly polished lumed indices.

A close up of the index - notice the matt blue bezel and the painted tracks?

A closed up shot of the raised sapphire glass and the minutes and GMT hands.

The signature snowflake hours hand and the grainy dial.

The date window lacks a window, not that I care for it but from the pictures of it, I say the stepped window is well done.

The GMT hand also comes with a snowflake design and with lume.

What the timepiece does not display is the fact that the GMT is waterproof to 200 metres - impressive or what?

The printing on the grainy dial is what one would expect from the hour of Tudor.

Nicely printed Tudor logo on the dial.

Inside the case is a brushed ring but unlike Rolex, the serial number is not engraved on the inside.

But what you will see if the words Swiss made proudly adorning the dial right and the bottom.

Concluding thoughts - the Tudor Black Bay GMT reference M79830RB-0001 is a no-brainer for any collector. Handsome timepiece close to the heritage of the bigger brother but yet with a history of its own. The 41mm steel case comes polished on the sides and brushed on top. The timepiece comes with three strap types - a bracelet, leather or fabric strap. I chose the brush steel bracelet which was listed at S$5,380.

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