In 2023, Tudor introduced a pair of FXD watches done for their partner, Alinghi Red Bull Racing, and both showcased carbon composite mid cases, a first for the brand. A year later, they followed up with another carbon composite FXD chronograph as a nod to their involvement in competitive cycling. This week, Tudor are taking another step in their use of the material with the introduction of the Black Bay Chronograph “Carbon 25”, with a new carbon fiber case, and this one has also been done with racing in mind, for their partnership with the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls (VCARB) Formula 1 team.
The Carbon 25 is a diving chronograph at heart, it’s still a Black Bay after all, but this one has sportier aspirations. As with each of the previous carbon cases introduced from the brand, there is a performance goal here in reducing weight as much as possible, particularly when it comes to the quite bulky frame of the Black Bay Chronograph. Tudor has addressed that here in two ways, first with a carbon fiber mid case and titanium caseback, and second, by reducing the overall thickness ever so slightly compared to the steel references. The material will have the greater impact here by far, but any consideration to the overall thickness of the watch is welcome.
At its core, this watch remains a Black Bay Chronograph, making use of Tudor’s manufacture caliber MT5813 with 70 hours of reserve and COSC certification to boot. This is set within a 42mm case and the thickness is reduced to a listed 14.3mm, a whole 0.1mm thinner than the steel references. The carbon fiber case is beset with black DLC coated titanium at the caseback as well as the crown and pushers to keep things on theme. The dial design is largely unchanged from the standard models, save for a couple notable differences.
This is a ‘racing white’ dial with a colorway that’s taken inspiration from the 2025 VCARB F1 car white and blue livery, with small hits of red. More importantly, the sub dials at three and nine o’clock receive a carbon layer to separate them from the dial aesthetically (and creating a ‘panda’ vibe in the process), and the minute track now hosts a stepped index ring that brings a rather unique personality to the dial as a whole. The snowflake hands and circular hour plots remain unchanged.
This is certainly a welcome watch from Tudor, addressing the biggest pain point of the Black Bay Chronograph with a lightweight material will do wonders for its day to day wearability. That said, this is a variation on a familiar formula, and I think many of us are still waiting for a new chronograph design that either references the brand’s classic ‘Monte Carlo’ and ‘Homeplate’ designs, or the ‘Big Block’ design that was made for Only Watch 2023. Like those FXD referenced above, this one has me wondering how we’ll see the brand using carbon again in the future. Tudor