Meet the new Tudor Black Bay and Black Bay Ceramic, two Master Chronometer-certified watches that are among the world’s most precise and anti-magnetic timepieces.
The title Master Chronometer is not granted to any ordinary timepiece. The watchmaking equivalent of a gruelling Marine Corps physical fitness test, a Master Chronometer certification process is comprehensive and exceedingly challenging, assessing all the main functional characteristics of a watch’s precision with incredibly high standards.
Indeed, only a handful of watches are deemed worthy to be Master Chronometers. Tudor counts two models with this rarefied title: the Black Bay Ceramic from 2021, and this year’s reintroduced Black Bay. Although both watches hail from the iconic Black Bay line, they are distinguished not just by the collection’s famous retro-inspired dive watch aesthetics, but also their outstanding technical performance specifications.
But what exactly is a Master Chronometer, and what makes these Black Bay models stand out? Here are five things to know about the elite quality control certification, and what you can expect from the Master Chronometer-certified Black Bay (pictured above) and Black Bay Ceramic.
The Master Chronometer certification covers eight tests.
The Master Chronometer tests are designed to ensure that the watches perform at unparalleled standards in the areas of robustness, precision, waterproofness, anti-magnetism, and power reserve. These include three different magnetic exposure tests, three tests for chronometric precision, one test for power reserve, and one for waterproofness. Over these eight tests, the watches are put through the paces in a variety of simulations from extreme pressure environments, to different positions and conditions that mimic daily use.
Master Chronometers are certified by METAS, an independent government body.
Expect full transparency and accountability with your watches’ METAS Master Chronometer certification. The Master Chronometers are tested and certified by a third party known as METAS, the Swiss Federal Institute of Metrology. Based in Bern, METAS describes itself as “Switzerland at its most accurate”. It is Switzerland’s national metrology organisation and is part of the country’s Federal Department of Justice and Police. Besides watches, METAS tests a wide array measuring equipment and measuring procedures.
Tudor’s Master Chronometers guarantee extreme precision under all circumstances.
Each Master Chronometer watch is tested in six different positions, in motion and at rest, at various temperatures, as well as in magnetised and demagnetised environments. Both the new Black Bay with a burgundy bezel and Black Bay Ceramic (pictured above) are accurate to 0/+5 seconds a day.
To put the precision rating in context, Tudor’s internal standard for precision rating is -2/+4 seconds a day for its in-house Manufacture Calibres. Meantime, the standard for the Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute (COSC) is -4/+6 a day. Additionally, the METAS precision test is carried out only on watches that have passed the COSC certification.
Tudor Master Chronometers are fortified by unmatched anti-magnetism.
The Black Bay and Black Bay Ceramic are certified to perform optimally even when exposed to magnetic fields of up to 15,000 Gauss. This level of magnetism is akin to that of an MRI scan. In comparison, magnetic fields generated by laptops are at approximately 500 to 1,000 Gauss.
A high level of waterproofness and power reserve are par for the course.
The waterproofness of the Black Bay and Black Bay Ceramic are rated to 200m, a standard that is in accordance with the ISO standard 22810:2010. Meantime, the in-house automatic movements of both watches – Calibre MT5602-U and MT5602-U1 – promise 70 hours of power reserve. For both waterproofness and power reserve, METAS certifies the ratings in accordance Tudor’s stated standards.
Having achieved Master Chronometer status for the new Black Bay and Black Bay Ceramic, Tudor demonstrates its relentless pursuit of horological performance. Indeed, the watches’ Master Chronometer certifications represent not an end, but rather, the beginning of a remarkable journey of technical excellence.
