On Friday morning, Tudor announced a brand new watch, continuing its trend of colorful Black Bay Chronographs. However, the watch was strategically leaked a day earlier by David Beckham. While promoting IM8, his new line of nutritional supplements, Beckham wore Tudor’s latest release, a Black Bay Chronograph with what the brand is calling a “Flamingo Blue” dial.
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Until this week, “Flamingo Blue” may have only existed inside the imagination of someone like C.S. Lewis. But the new dial is meant to evoke “the very tone of turquoise that is so distinctive of the tropical waters flamingos are known to love,” according to a press release. (Fittingly, last year, Tudor released a Black Bay in a shade more typically associated with the flamingo: pink. Beckham teased that one, too.) Perhaps more to the point than special flamingo water is that the watch delivers “the classic South Beach vibe,” according to Tudor. That’s not incorrect. If I were fumbling my way back to 1 Hotel South Beach after a late-night bender in a Hawaiian shirt with too much chest hair showing, this is the watch I want on my wrist.
And this is not to throw shade. On the contrary, this watch is excellent. Until 2020, neither Tudor nor big sister brand Rolex would ever have made something like this as part of its modern production. Now, however, both the Crown and the Shield seem much more comfortable venturing beyond their strictly utilitarian tool watch roots into territory slightly more fun. And despite its confectionary looks, the Black Bay Chrono is still very much a hard-wearing tool. Housed in a 41mm stainless steel case with screw-down pushers, a screw-down crown, and 200 meters of water resistance, it’s powered by a Chronometer-certified automatic movement and comes paired to a five-link bracelet with the brand’s genius “T-fit” rapid-adjustment clasp. Make no mistake, this is a forever watch, the sort of thing your grandkid inherits after they’ve buried you in South Beach in your Hawaiian shirt. At $5,875, relatively high-end for the Tudor catalog, you shouldn’t expect much less.)
The new “Flamingo Blue” isn’t Tudor’s first foray into adventurous dial colors, either. There’s the aforementioned Black Bay Chrono “Pink” from last March that signaled Tudor’s new partnership with Beckham’s Inter Miami. Heck, Tudor’s got enough eye-watering horological candy these days that it’s dedicated a new section of its website to such pieces, dubbing it “Daring Watches.” Thankfully, much in the way that one can buy both Rolex’s “Celebration Dial” Oyster Perpetual as well as one with a more staid solid-black dial, the same is true for the Black Bay Chrono, which now comes in black, opaline, two types of two-tone, blue, pink, and turquoise. Heck, if your last name is Beckham, you’ve probably got one of each!
