​Tudor announced today ahead of Baselworld its new Heritage Black Bay Bronze model, a 43 mm diver’s watch inspired by the brand’s rich history. What’s more, for the first time, the Black Bay will be fitted with a mechanical movement that has been developed, manufactured and assembled in-house. The watch is expected to make its debut at Baselworld, the annual watch and jewellery trade show, starting Thursday, March 17.

Tudor has been adding new versions to its Black Bay over the years, releasing stainless steel versions of the watch with red, blue and most recently, black bezels on the Black Bay Black. This time though, the Heritage Black Bay Bronze is cased in brushed aluminum-bronze alloy, an aesthetic reference to the use of bronze in historic ships and other diving equipment. The chemical properties of bronze also mean that the watch will develop a subtle and unique patina to match its user’s habits. A chocolate-brown dial and bezel highlights the golden accents of the hands and indexes. 

Some other small but significant changes include replacing the indexes at 3, 6 and 9 o’clock with numerals, and drilled lugs. In reference to a period watch that had a strap made from elastic recovered from a French rescue parachute with yellow thread, the new model is fitted onto a beige and brown woven jacquard strap. The watch is also accompanied by an aged brown leather strap in line with the characteristics of the Heritage line.

Otherwise, the new model contains similar elements as its predecessors, including angular “snowflake” hands, a domed crystal and a prominent winding crown.

Tudor debuted its first in-house movement with the Tudor North Flag in 2015. The Heritage Black Bay Bronze will be the third Tudor watch (and the first in the Heritage Black Bay family) to be fitted with the in-house movement. The calibre MT5601, a variant, is slightly larger and developed specifically to equip the new watch.