‘Tis the season to renew our passports and properly scratch the travel itch, eh? Given the healthy growth of GMT watches this year, many watch brands seem to agree as they entice us to spend a portion of our vacation budgets on new travel watches.
Of course, a good travel watch needs to be convenient. At the very least, it needs to help you keep track of the time at home while you’re away. For bonus points, it should offer plenty of style mileage – whether you need to pack for formal and casual occasions while travelling, or at home, where you can wear it from morning to night.
When it was first introduced in 2018, the Tudor Black Bay GMT felt like the perfect travel companion (which it still is). Priced at just under S$6,000, this 41mm steel best replica watches is on the sporty side of the spectrum in terms of configuration. However, when paired with a matching strap and given a vintage Black Bay spirit, it won’t look shabby when paired with a sharp suit.
What’s more, the Black Bay GMT is equipped with a powerful and reliable dual-time function. With this watch, one can know the time “locally” and “back home” at the same time. A separate 24-hour hand points to the 24-hour bezel, providing you with “home” time. Elsewhere, the main hour hand can be independently adjusted forward and backwards in one-hour increments and synchronized with the date display, so that both the “local” time and the date are accurate. What’s more, the 24-hour bezel is bidirectional, which means you can rotate and set it to determine a third-time zone.
This brings us to this year’s Black Bay GMT S&G. The new version comes with the familiar features mentioned above, while exuding a distinctly luxurious feel compared to the previous model. The watch’s “S&G” suffix stands for “steel and gold”, just as advertised. It features a stainless steel case with a gold bezel in the centre set with a dark brown anodized aluminium disc, a colour combination reminiscent of a refreshing drink, hence the name “root beer”. (On the other hand, the 2018 steel version with a blue and red bezel is popularly known as you guessed it, “Pepsi”).
The automatic movement MT5652 drives the new model, just like the original – a trustworthy and reliable engine with a 70-hour power reserve and COSC certification. As before, the Black Bay GMT S&G’s 41 mm case and weight lend themselves to the dive watch-inspired Black Bay collection. It also boasts the signature Black Bay features beloved by rolex replica watches enthusiasts, such as large hour-markers, “snowflake” hands and a large crown reminiscent of Tudor’s vintage dive watches. Set against a black dial, the hands, markers and brand logo are sheathed in gold tones to match the rest of the watch. While the Black Bay GMT S&G exudes a sporty allure, the gold-plated accents certainly amplify a sense of macho luxury.
Tudor offers three versions of the Black Bay GMT S&G: a brown leather strap, a black fabric strap (both similarly priced at $220 more than the steel version with strap), and a steel gold strap, which is significantly more expensive-$1,740 more compared to the leather and fabric strap models. One will definitely feel more of a sting, but we recommend the full bracelet version. At this point, the regal quality of the steel and gold combination comes through in spades, and indeed, that’s the whole point of owning a bi-metallic watch that, to be fair, will continue to give us pleasure long after we return from our vacation.