Say ‘hello’ to the Tudor Black Bay 36 – a versatile piece that flies under the radar! It comes in at 36mm, which to me is a perfect size. I know there are those that say 36mm is too small but for me, this wears perfectly, and is so proportionate. I suppose Rolex agrees with me ,given the new Explorer 1 is 36mm too, but that’s another topic for another time. Aesthetically, this piece goes well in formal or casual wear and won’t look out of place whether you are at a black-tie cocktail party, or just having a casual night out in jeans.

One criticism I have, and this is something common for some modern Tudors, is the circular hour markers with snowflake hour/minute hands – it would be perfect if the hour markers were square instead. Other than that, I think the smooth steel bezel with polished finish gives a great contrast to this piece, though it might make this piece more prone to scratches. This doesn’t bother me that much, as I’m a firm believer that watches are meant to be worn, and some light scratches here and there only serve to bring more character to a watch!

With Tudor’s latest 2021 launch, the Tudor BB36 now comes in 3 dial variations: the blue, black and silver dials. The one featured here is what some would call the safest (boring) choice – the black dial. What can I say – boring means its more likely to stand the test of time, but the blue and silver too are pretty handsome too!

On to the technical aspects – the BB36 comes with a self-winding mechanical movement, calibre T600, that gives it 38 hours of power reserve. Fairly respectable, but it would have been great if it came with Tudor’s in-house movement. Maybe it just might do so in the future, and if they do, I sure hope it doesn’t affect the pricing, given that this watch brings so much bang for buck at the current price point. It is also waterproof to 150m if you intend to do some swimming with this! I opted for the bracelet model, as I usually do with Tudor pieces, which I believe is more versatile and long lasting. The bracelet comes with micro-adjustments, and a folding clasp with a safety catch features.

With fantastic features, being really well built for a piece at this price point, and at 36mm, I strongly believe this will be a future classic. Given my nickname, I might be totally biased, but the Tudor Black Bay 36 is hard to beat at this price point, and most importantly, doesn’t attract too much unwanted attention!