Taking place on September 20 till November 1, the Rugby World Cup is just around the corner. As if we weren’t already excited enough, official timekeeper, Tudor has unveiled a watch honouring the defending champs, the New Zealand All Blacks.
Tudor, the sister company of Rolex, has been supporting the All Blacks since 2017, the same year the Black Bay Chrono hit shelves. Collaborating with the team, Tudor has created a limited edition timepiece taking design ques from the team’s iconic kit.
New Zealand’s rugby team are the current title holders of the Rugby World Cup, having won the previous event back in 2015. The All Blacks, named so for their distinctive all black uniforms, are one of the most dominating forces in rugby, currently second in the world ranking.
The Black Bay Chrono Dark adds to the existing line of ‘Black’ Black Bays, sporting a PVD-coating to give the steel piece a matte black finish.
The watch has all the hallmarks of a modern-day Tudor, it has the Snowflake hands for easy reading, a 41mm casing, sporty red accents, and the familiar Tudor rose on the crown. The piece has a water resistance of 200m, and a power reserve of around 70 hours.
Powered by the Calibre MT5813, which Tudor actually borrows from its best-bud Breitling and then modifies itself, the watch shows the hours and minutes and has a chronograph counter, small seconds dial, and a date window, as well as stop seconds for precise time setting.
The Chrono Dark takes the usual Black Bay Chrono, adds the matte finish and also adds an engraving on the case back indicating the serial number of each watch.
Rarely do Tudor make a limited series watch, but this piece is made to pay tribute to every player who has been selected for New Zealand’s national rugby team from its creation in 1884 to the World Cup in 2019. This means that only 1,181 Darks will be made. The number will be adjusted according to the final composition of the World Cup team. The series will grow over the coming years as new players join the ranks of the All Blacks.
The special edition watch has a retail estimation of US $5,925. You can check it out on the official site here.
