Tudor Doesn’t Care If You Despise Its New Pink Watch. Thing Is, I Kind of Love It

Born to Dare. With a motto like that, Tudor’s role as the sister brand to Rolex has always been to take chances and offer the types of watches Rolex never would. A black ceramic watch. A diver made of silver. Whatever the Black Bay P01 is.

Something must have changed. For the past few years, Tudor has largely played it safe, relying on the types of conservative, incremental changes we expect from Rolex. Last year’s Black Bay 54 was an excellent timepiece, but a fastball, nonetheless.

Now it appears that Tudor might back to its fun-loving ways, and I for one couldn’t be happier about it.

The company just announced that it’s now the official timekeeper of Inter Miami CF — the MLS team taking the U.S. soccer scene by storm thanks to superstar Lionel Messi. And with it comes a limited-edition Black Bay Chrono in the team’s signature pink color.

Is this Tudor’s most daring watch ever?

Tudor

We may be closer than ever to living in a genderless society in 2024, but gender norms still annoyingly persist in the world of watches. Certain sizes, colors and styles are frequently divided into “masculine” and “feminine” camps, and too many collectors and enthusiasts worry about crossing over to a watch marketed to the opposite gender.

But thankfully, that old way of thinking is starting to lose its grip on the industry. Smaller watches are once again becoming en-vogue for men, along with more traditionally feminine colors. 2023 saw loads of purple watches released, and while pink hasn’t had quite as much market penetration, we have seen inroads recently thanks to brands like Nomos, TAG Heuer, Oris and others.

Now Tudor has planted its flag on the side of #teampink (well, technically the team is Inter Miami, but you get the idea). The new Black Bay Chrono’s dial is about as pink as pink gets, matching the bold team colors worn by Messi’s team. Interestingly enough, it was Tudor ambassador and Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham who conceived of the color for the team, wanting something bold that would stand out on the field. Naturally, the color stands out on the wrist, too.

There’s another big change besides the dial color

The thing that stands out most about the new Black Bay Chrono is of course the striking pink panda dial with its contrasting black subdials and black aluminum bezel. But there’s another big change here, and honestly, it’s pretty exciting.

Tudor

Currently, the Black Bay Chrono is only offered on a three-link Oyster-style bracelet with a basic folding clasp. The Black Bay Chrono Pink, by contrast, is offered on a five-link Jubilee-style bracelet fitted with Tudor’s excellent T-Fit clasp that allows for on-the-fly micro-adjustment.

The Jubilee is a bit of a dressier style and matches the pink dial perfectly, and there’s not a Tudor fan alive who would prefer a standard clasp over the T-Fit. I consider this bracelet a win-win, and a possible sign of things to come. With Wathces & Wonders right around the corner, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this bracelet make its way to the rest of the Black Bay Chrono lineup.

Now for the bad news

Frustratingly, it seems Tudor has less confidence in the popularity of its new pink watch than I do. The brand states that the color is “not for the mainstream,” and as such, “only a small number of examples will be produced.”

Tudor hasn’t said how many Black Bay Chrono Pinks will be made, but it sounds like it won’t be a whole lot. The silver lining is the watch is not priced like an extreme limited edition, costing just $100 more than the white or black Black Bay Chrono in stainless steel on a bracelet.