Watch Review | Tudor Black Bay Burgundy Bezel M7941A1A0RU-0003

Alvin
Jun 27
7 min read

Holy smokes, how have I not done this already - one of my most worn watches, one that holds a couple of milestones for me, a bloody-beautiful-burgundy-bezel-beauty and I haven't bloody reviewed it yet!! Unbelievable, unmannerly, and just plain neglectful. I do apologise. This one has been with me a while, just over two years now, we've been through a lot, but we're both still looking good. Well, one of us is anyway. It's aging very well, it is burgundy after all. As Tudor continue to release pretenders to the throne, the Tudor BBBB or B4, as I will refer to it herein, is a special kind.

Let's get into then, that's a great photo by the way - it still looks fantastic and gets attention.

Background.

Well, we'll start this bit with my wants rather than those of Hans Wilsdorf - who founded Tudor in 1926. The earlier versions of this watch had been on my radar for a couple of years, though the first red bezel ref 79220R (not burgundy at that time) was launched in 2012, it had the smiley text which became a collectors thing. In 2016, they launched the 79230 (below right) and that was the one that got my attention, I'm gonna say in 2019 or something like that. It had the new Tudor/Kennisi Manufacture movement and good specs but the smiley still appealed as it was different and discontinued. So it's been a long wait - the reason was that I wasn't that familiar with Tudor and I wasn't sure if I wanted to spend £3000 on one.

credit: Monochrome Watches

I was almost at the point of purchase, when the new one was released. And as I was ready I became brave, or stupid, as I decided to venture for the first time into the hallowed grounds of an Authorised Dealer (AD). What a buzz, what a foolish moment of hubristic nonsense - but the B4 was meant for my wrist.

Purchase / Post / Packaging.

This section becomes somewhat defunct as the post and packaging was the bag I walked out of the AD with. The experience at the AD I have covered previously but it's been great, the Lady at the AD who deals with me has always been very friendly and nice, we chat about all sorts. But what she has failed to do after two years - I get it might not be her fault - is deliver a Rolex that I want, I feel like I might not visit the AD anymore - I digress. On the first occasion though, she was great and they had this one in stock to look at. It was however on the regular bracelet when I wanted the jubilee/5-link version. After a nice first chill and discussion, I put my name on the list for the one with the jubilee. Then after getting home and researching for a couple of days, it seems I would have to pay a premium or wait, so being an impatient ingrate I called the AD and said I'll come and get that one. At this point I had written off the jubilee, accepted I would have to leave it as I knew Rolex didn't sell their bracelets separately.

Anyway, I got both as you may know or have noticed, as the Lady at the AD mentioned that Tudor do sell their bracelets separately, me being eager to please with wallet akimbo, I thought why not? Maybe because it was £825 for the jubilee bracelet, that's a good reason for 'why not'. This then, added to the price of £3920, making it a very expensive purchase overall. The jubilee arrived around two months later, and they changed it in the store, and I was well super happy with it. It's been on the watch ever since, I'm not sure if I'll change it back.

Design & Build Quality

This is a beautifully designed watch. It has an aggressive grace to it. It's a bold dive watch with that spiky red bezel, the large crown compliments that side of it and large markers and hands in various shapes. It's no wallflower, but it somehow is refined by the gold accents of the dial, polished bevels of the case, and the 5-link bracelet. I would wear it on a date, even though it's a no-date - it's fancy but not over the top.

I love the colour combo of gold, black and red - it keeps it above the new glossy burgundy dial version though that one is pretty nice. I do wish however that they gold accents were real gold, I get that's a bit stupid but I really think when you have luxury watches, they should be that, and using gold plating or gold cap would be a very nice touch. Think about the Rolex Oyster Perpetual 116000, a £5000 watch that does have white gold lumed indices. It's not too much of an ask and elevates the Tudor brand without getting too fancy.

Anyway, that's maybe wishful thinking as these guys are trying to save money at every turn. Saying that, their 'in-house' Kenissi movements (Tudor owned movement manufacturer) are exactly what makes these kinds of things possible. Other than that, the bezel is robust with a very pleasing click, I don't move it a lot but it hasn't loosened in the slightest. The crown remains tight and smooth. I quite like the snowflake hour hand, while its primary function is legibility, it adds an interesting big fat element. The markers have been the same configuration since the 1954 Tudor Prince Submariner ref: 7922 version of this watch and they pop nicely off the dial with the gold surroundings.

I have no issues with janky bracelet build or any signs of degradation in any sense. There is an interesting thing when it comes to power reserve, I rarely wear any watch two days in a row meaning it might sit there running for a day or two. This is unnecessary wear and the downside of a high power reserve (70 hours) in a large watch collection with lots of rotation. It's something that is a detrimental in a way but also a testament to the quality of the watch as all told it has probably run more in the watch box than on my wrist.

Strap & Fit

It's not small but it's quite elegant for diver once on the jubilee, and I think the smaller links and flexibile nature of the bracelet help it sit more flatteringly on the skinny wrist. It fits well when tight on the wrist and with the jubilee I wear it loose. The t-fit clasp is very cool and easy to use. There is often complaint about the quality of tudor bracelets, and I can say that the Black Bay Pro Opaline was a bit janky at first but it loosened up nicely. The jubilee is a level above, I have had no issues with it whatsoever. It has clear signs of two years of wear that is mainly focused on the bracelet - I want to keep it that way. I try my best to take care of my beauties, my precioussss.

Movement & Accuracy

The specs of this watch are quite impressive indeed, and one would expect no less from a company who have created another company specifically to create movements - that being Kenissi. The calibre MT5602-U is META and COSC certified, comes in with 70 hour power reserve and 200m of water resistance. Here's the Tudor spiel:

METAS Master Chronometer certification is comprehensive and covers the main functional characteristics of a watch including precision, resistance to magnetic fields, waterproofness and power reserve. Its standards are incredibly high, starting with precision. In order to qualify, a watch must be able to function within a 5-second range of variation each day (0 +5), that is to say 5 seconds less than the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute (COSC) (-4 +6) carried out on a single movement and a second less than TUDOR's internal standard, which is applied to the brand's models with a Manufacture Calibre (-2 +4).

Sounds pretty damn good to me, I haven't had any issues with quality (so far) but if I did it's got almost 3 years left on the warranty which is a comfort. Some people see Kenissi as a pseudo-in-house movement, or out-house due to the company also providing their movements to other brands including Breitling and Chanel - the latter are part-owners of Kenissi and use their movements. Tudor might make great watches and have a huge fan base but they also have their fair share of detractors.

Competition / Value for money.

In collection competition sits with the Zenith Synopsis and now the Black Bay Pro bro, but it gets more wear than the more expensive watches. It remains my go to piece for mild showiness. In general, Tudors stable offers so much variation in colour and material finish from the Black Bay and Black Bay 58 lines that it might Bezelboozle the layman. Then the Tudor Pelagos demands for more serious divers. There are also a plethora of (desk) dive watches or similar watches at around the £4000 mark, my general faves are the new Longines Spirit Zulu time and the Omega Aqua Terra 150m.

Credit: Me & Longines.

Conclusion

It's a solid sunnuva Wilsdorf that I will go back to forever, I hope. There is nothing quite like it in my collection or in the watch world in my opinion. It is extremely well balanced, and has a sophistication that some of the other Black Bays don't have - the Harrods editions green bezel and green dial come close but the burgundy bezel is more of a statement.

This is one of the watches that I think is close to perfect for my style and my life. It is pricey and signals a bit without being too in your face or garish (either in style or reputation). It can be toned down on the regular bracelet or nato, but I don't feel like doing that at the moment. I haven't really thought about my style translated purely into watch form before but this and the Zenith Synopsis have that balance of form and functino in common - there's a reason they are my faves. I just somehow need to get my wrist a bigger (without getting fatter) so I can enjoy these bigger, bolder watches like I used to. And specifically to give the brilliant, best Black Bay the love it readily deserves.

Thanks for your time!

Yours Burgunconditionally,

Alvin.