Hi all!
Ive just picked up a Tudor black bay heritage 41mm, I wanted to sing out my impressions of it in case anyone is interested or thinking of buying one. Sorry if I ramble.
TLDR- Yeah it's really good. Just feels like a quality piece. Superb bracelet, clear face, all round great quality explorer style watch.
the long road..... in no particular order of importance.
ETA vs in house. So why did I choose the black bay with and eta instead of the only slightly more expensive bb diver with the in house? Well, I think eta are good movements. They're solid workhorses, and I've been led to believe the Tudor ones are the top grades with tudors own tweaking done in house. I'm not saying it's a better movement; it has a lower power reserve and fewer jewels, and I'm sure the in house is very very good. I just wanted something tested and functional over many years. Simple as that really.
The function and and design philosophy of the watch. I like the explorer style. I've had plenty of divers over the years, and find them very useful and extremely versatile pieces. However, they have drawbacks which may or may not affect your own personal situation, but affects mine. I'm an engineer, and often have to slide my hand into awkward places. I find a divers style often sits too high on my wrist due to the bezel or domed crystals, and creates what can only be described as a jam! I like the heritages slimmer style, it isn't that much slimmer but every little helps. The heritage has a screw down crown and 150m of resistance which is plenty for my needs. And pretty much everyone's if we are being honest. I like the clean dial, I really value instant legibility but I wish the lime was up to Seiko standards. It's functional, but much more, ahem, subtle than the seiko standard. It's fine really. I've just been spoilt by my turtle I suppose. No date, not the end of the world to me. I think the plain style of this piece is just lovely, it's simple and understated, classy yet rugged. I like how versatile this watch is, but strangely it doesn't seem like a wish washy compromise. I suppose as a diver it might fall short.... or would it? Other than 150m resistance and the lack of a bezel it has everything else. So perhaps a diver might be overkill for me! I do think the diver is 99 percent for aesthetic style over functionality. Nothing wrong with that by the way. How many of us have pilot styles and can't fly?
Its not overly fancy or complicated, but it does what it does extremely well. I like that. My philosophy nowadays is simplicity and function first, but I still appreciate nice things.
Mechanicals. I found the rotor sound and movement very smooth and well tuned. Smoother sounding and easier to swish than my Seiko turtle, about on par with my old breitling super avenger. The crown threads are smooth, and hand winding is quiet and slick. Very smooth seconds hand sweep. When setting the time there was no slop in the hands. Definite feel of quality.
case and bracelet. Outstanding for the money. God this is gonna make me sound like an arse, but.... it feels and looks like a Rolex. Sorry everyone. But it does. Yes there are differences, but it's so good! It's comfortable and sits low on the wrist, the crown doesn't intrude and the bracelet is beautiful. Fit and finish is superb. Clasp is high quality. No creaks or squeaks. Steel is nice, the whole thing just feels nice in the hand. Not a featherweight, but light enough to be unobtrusive and weighty enough to feel the quality.
package. Nicely boxed, comes with the jacquard strap if you want to...... but it's awkward to swap out as the bracelet fit is so precise. Victim of its own success. The opening of the box feels special though.
unquantifiables.. I really really really really like this. You have to see and feel one in the flesh to fully appreciate it. Photos do not do it justice. Wish the lume was better but not a big deal. Whole watch Looks cool I think.
Value for money. Feels like a quality watch. Looks like one. Will probably hold its price for me, but I paid 17 percent less than full for it due to my company having a discount deal with a jewelry chain. Good news is Tudor don't discount so it hopefully won't devalue too much. Just in case I sell it, but I bought it to use it as a 24/7 watch.
robustness. Hopefully will be solid. Workhorse movement, good steel, solid case and bracelet, all screwed together well. Sapphire glass, brushed/satin finish so hopefully not a scratch magnet.
So. Yeah. Love it.
Out.
Ive just picked up a Tudor black bay heritage 41mm, I wanted to sing out my impressions of it in case anyone is interested or thinking of buying one. Sorry if I ramble.
TLDR- Yeah it's really good. Just feels like a quality piece. Superb bracelet, clear face, all round great quality explorer style watch.
the long road..... in no particular order of importance.
ETA vs in house. So why did I choose the black bay with and eta instead of the only slightly more expensive bb diver with the in house? Well, I think eta are good movements. They're solid workhorses, and I've been led to believe the Tudor ones are the top grades with tudors own tweaking done in house. I'm not saying it's a better movement; it has a lower power reserve and fewer jewels, and I'm sure the in house is very very good. I just wanted something tested and functional over many years. Simple as that really.
The function and and design philosophy of the watch. I like the explorer style. I've had plenty of divers over the years, and find them very useful and extremely versatile pieces. However, they have drawbacks which may or may not affect your own personal situation, but affects mine. I'm an engineer, and often have to slide my hand into awkward places. I find a divers style often sits too high on my wrist due to the bezel or domed crystals, and creates what can only be described as a jam! I like the heritages slimmer style, it isn't that much slimmer but every little helps. The heritage has a screw down crown and 150m of resistance which is plenty for my needs. And pretty much everyone's if we are being honest. I like the clean dial, I really value instant legibility but I wish the lime was up to Seiko standards. It's functional, but much more, ahem, subtle than the seiko standard. It's fine really. I've just been spoilt by my turtle I suppose. No date, not the end of the world to me. I think the plain style of this piece is just lovely, it's simple and understated, classy yet rugged. I like how versatile this watch is, but strangely it doesn't seem like a wish washy compromise. I suppose as a diver it might fall short.... or would it? Other than 150m resistance and the lack of a bezel it has everything else. So perhaps a diver might be overkill for me! I do think the diver is 99 percent for aesthetic style over functionality. Nothing wrong with that by the way. How many of us have pilot styles and can't fly?
Its not overly fancy or complicated, but it does what it does extremely well. I like that. My philosophy nowadays is simplicity and function first, but I still appreciate nice things.
Mechanicals. I found the rotor sound and movement very smooth and well tuned. Smoother sounding and easier to swish than my Seiko turtle, about on par with my old breitling super avenger. The crown threads are smooth, and hand winding is quiet and slick. Very smooth seconds hand sweep. When setting the time there was no slop in the hands. Definite feel of quality.
case and bracelet. Outstanding for the money. God this is gonna make me sound like an arse, but.... it feels and looks like a Rolex. Sorry everyone. But it does. Yes there are differences, but it's so good! It's comfortable and sits low on the wrist, the crown doesn't intrude and the bracelet is beautiful. Fit and finish is superb. Clasp is high quality. No creaks or squeaks. Steel is nice, the whole thing just feels nice in the hand. Not a featherweight, but light enough to be unobtrusive and weighty enough to feel the quality.
package. Nicely boxed, comes with the jacquard strap if you want to...... but it's awkward to swap out as the bracelet fit is so precise. Victim of its own success. The opening of the box feels special though.
unquantifiables.. I really really really really like this. You have to see and feel one in the flesh to fully appreciate it. Photos do not do it justice. Wish the lume was better but not a big deal. Whole watch Looks cool I think.
Value for money. Feels like a quality watch. Looks like one. Will probably hold its price for me, but I paid 17 percent less than full for it due to my company having a discount deal with a jewelry chain. Good news is Tudor don't discount so it hopefully won't devalue too much. Just in case I sell it, but I bought it to use it as a 24/7 watch.
robustness. Hopefully will be solid. Workhorse movement, good steel, solid case and bracelet, all screwed together well. Sapphire glass, brushed/satin finish so hopefully not a scratch magnet.
So. Yeah. Love it.
Out.
