Tudor’s incremental Black Bay updates this year may not include the fireworks some were hoping for, but there is a surprising new release from Watches & Wonders, and it isn’t even a dive watch. The Monarch is an entirely new design language from Tudor that revives an old naming convention last used in the ‘90s and early ‘00s. The watch is a celebration of 100 years of progress for Tudor, and opens a new development pathway for the brand with a design that appears to have plenty of potential.
The new Monarch doesn’t easily align with any single genre at a glance, with some ambiguous details that we often associate with go anywhere, do anything style watches these days. The case features angular, faceted surfaces that give the appearance of a twisted lug from certain angles, but in reality it’s a highly dynamic geometry at work. It doesn’t immediately adhere to tool or sport watch codes, but it’s not far off. Depending on the dial execution, this could be a highly versatile case and bracelet design. As is, the case measures 39mm in diameter, and 11.9mm in thickness, which are stout numbers, but I don’t think Tudor would find any issues scaling this down to 36mm.
Equally interesting is the dial, which has a lot going on, but presents some new ideas that could have some staying power. The base is a dark champagne color with black hands and indexes, and there is a subtle vertical brush providing some texture. Those indexes take on a California design with Roman numerals at the top half, and Arabic numerals in the bottom, all framed by a railroad track chapter ring. The shield logo appears at 12 o’clock, and feels pretty jarring thrown into the mix as a somewhat aggressive shape.
The hands represent an interesting interpretation of the Tudor snowflake design, with hollow portions near their tips outlining the design we generally filled with lume in the Black Bay collection. Their shape is more refined than we usually see, and they really lend a unique character to the dial overall. Finally, a subsidiary seconds takes up residence at six o’clock, with the “Master Chronometer” label proudly set at its top.
Tudor is using their manufacture caliber MT5662-2U, which is visible through an exhibition caseback. The movement has undergone COSC and METAS master chronometer certification, and will run between 0/+5 seconds per day of accuracy. A 65 hour power reserve, full balance bridge, and silicon hairspring round out the nice-to-haves.
With as much as there is going on with this dial and case, I like some of the ideas that Tudor is expressing here. The bones are great, as they say, and I think further iterations within this framework have high potential. It does seem slightly bigger both in diameter and thickness that I’d prefer a watch like this, but its success will ultimately come down to wearability, which remains to be seen.
One small detail worth calling out is the crown, which uses not the rose, and not even the shield, but rather spells out Tudor Monarch radially. This detail would seem slightly out of character at a glance, but again serves as a nod to the platform as an outlier, and a place where creative ideas can be expressed. It’s things like this that make me genuinely curious about where this collection will go from here.
The new Tudor Monarch is priced at $5,875, and is available now. Tudor