Tudor Black Bay Chrono gets a new, smaller case and a bold new colour

Tudor just dropped the most fun watch of the year so far. Meet the Black Bay Chrono 39 “Bumblebee” – a bright yellow sports chronograph that can’t be ignored.

Forget the colour for a moment though, the big news is the case size. The Black Bay Chrono has gone from 41mm down to 39mm, which, in watch terms, is a sizeable shrinking.

It also sits at just 13.1mm thick (shrunk down from 14.4mm), which is impressively lean for a full chronograph. It’s a size Tudor fans have been begging for for years.

The dial is where Tudor has gone off piste. It’s a domed, vivid yellow with contrasting circular black sub-counters – incredibly bold.

Dial layout follows Tudor’s historic chronograph blueprint: 45-minute counter at 3 o’clock, small seconds at 9, and the date sitting at 6 o’clock.

It joins the “Pink” and “Flamingo Blue” editions as part of Tudor’s Daring Watches collection, and honestly, it’s the more daring of the lot.

Inside is the Manufacture Calibre MT5813 – a COSC-certified movement with a column-wheel construction, vertical clutch, silicon balance spring, and a 70-hour power reserve. Tudor actually holds its assembled watches to a tighter standard than COSC requires, allowing just -2/+4 seconds per day versus the institute’s -4/+6.

The movement itself is still derived from Breitling’s Calibre B01.

There are some welcome refinements elsewhere too. The Snowflake hands have been redesigned specifically for legibility over the sub-dials, and the pushers feature a new knurling pattern that Tudor’s own press release refers to as “MK2.”

The new three-link bracelet is an improvement as well. Smooth link sides give it a cleaner look, and the T-fit clasp allows 8mm of fine adjustment across five positions without tools.

Waterproofing is rated to 200m, and the watch comes with Tudor’s five-year transferable guarantee.

The Black Bay Chrono 39 “Bumblebee” is priced at $6725 in the US and £5270 in the UK.

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Spencer Hart Buying Guide Editor

About

As Buying Guide Editor, Spencer is responsible for all e-commerce content on Stuff, overseeing buying guides as well as covering deals and new product launches. Spencer has been writing about consumer tech for over eight years. He has worked on some of the biggest publications in the UK, where he covered everything from the emergence of smartwatches to the arrival of self-driving cars. During this time, Spencer has become a seasoned traveller, racking up air miles while travelling around the world reviewing cars, attending product launches, and covering every trade show known to man, from Baselworld and Geneva Motor Show to CES and MWC. While tech remains one of his biggest passions, Spencer also enjoys getting hands-on with the latest luxury watches, trying out new grooming kit, and road-testing all kinds of vehicles, from electric scooters to supercars.

Areas of expertise

Watches, travel, grooming, transport, tech