Tudor’s Black Bay P01 is inspired by a prototype developed for the US Navy in 1967 under the code name “Commando”. Tudor had already been supplying the US Navy with divers’ watches since the late 1950s and the P01 was designed to replace the Oyster Prince Submariner ref. 7928, which was standard-issue at the time. Unfortunately, the P01, which stands for Prototype 1, never came to fruition and the US Navy adopted for the ref. 7016 instead.

Fast forward 50 years, and Tudor has decided to bring the P01 back to life in the Black Bay P01, a timepiece which celebrates the exploratory nature of the initial development in a design that is a cross between a divers’ and a navigators’ watch.

The first thing that catches the eye is the watch’s hinged end-link system that connects the case to the strap. This mechanism was the subject of a patent in 1968 that included a locking and disassembling mechanism for the bezel that was designed to aid maintenance of the watch. The new version is slightly different in that it provides a stop system for the bidirectional rotating bezel via a mobile end-link at 12 o’clock.

Housed in a 42mm satin-finished, stainless steel case, this timepiece features a winding crown at four o’clock and a water resistance of 200 metres. Its domed, matt black dial and painted luminescent hour markers make it highly legible, in keeping with the utilitarian aesthetic of the original prototype.

The Black Bay P01 is powered by the brand’s Manufacture automatic Calibre MT5612 that displays the hours, minutes, seconds and date. This COSC-certified movement features a silicium escapement and has a variable inertia balance, making it particularly sturdy and reliable.

Reviving this historic prototype and turning it into a mass-produced series was particularly appreciated by the jury of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève who recently awarded it the prize for Best Challenge.