F1 returns this weekend after a month-long hiatus following the suspension of the Middle East Grands Prix. We’ve already seen the H. Moser Bucherer special edition pay tribute to Miami, the hosts of the next race, and now Tudor are gearing up for the re-commencement of racing too. They’ve launched the Black Bay Chrono “Carbon 26”, a tribute to their official F1 partner Visa Cash App Racing Bulls.
The entire watch is dedicated to creating a high-performance aesthetic worthy of F1 levels of engineering. The 42mm x 14.3mm case is made from carbon fibre composite material, giving it excellent strength and lightweight properties. The same material is used for the tachymeter bezel, chronograph subdials and date disk making it the core stylistic pillar of the watch as well as the structural pillar too.
For the rest of the Black Bay Chrono “Carbon 26” display, Tudor have used the colour palette of the VCARB 03 livery. That means a white base with yellow markings for the minute scale, date and subdial scales, and then a red tipped chronograph seconds hand. It’s technically a variation on the iconic panda colourway thanks to the carbon fibre subdials and white main dial.
Inside is the manufacture calibre MT5813, which is one of Tudor’s COSC chronometer certified movements. I imagine they are working on a METAS Master Chronometer version for the future given the proliferation of that certification among their collections. The movement has a 70-hour power reserve and is protected by a solid caseback depicting the race finish chequered flag along with an inscription denoting it as a limited edition.
The Tudor Black Bay Chrono “Carbon 26” is priced at £6,750 with only 2,026 pieces being produced. Compared to some of Tudor’s funky partnership watches in the past, this one is a bit more straight down the line when it comes to its theme and design. Depending on your tastes that could be a positive or negative. One thing’s for sure, it depicts the high-performance world of F1 well.
2025 was killer colour way. 2026… Not so much