Case #657 — Tudor Black Bay 41 (Red Leather) Ref. 79230R

Case #657 — Tudor Black Bay 41 "Black Bay Red"

Ref. 79230R

Status: Available

Condition: Good Pre-Owned

Scope: Box, Papers, and Cards

Year: 2018

🔎 Case Notes

Colour is the whole argument here. The burgundy bezel is the detail that made the Black Bay famous, and on this reference it is not a reissue flourish but the central design idea: a burgundy anodised aluminium crown tube and a rose-engraved crown, with the burgundy of the crown mirroring the matte burgundy aluminium insert of the unidirectional bezel. Paired with the black gilt-accented dial and Tudor's Snowflake hands, it reads as warm and slightly vintage rather than clinical — a diver that behaves like a daily watch.

This example is a 2018 piece on a leather strap with a folding clasp, sized to fit approximately a 7¾-inch wrist. It is graded Good Pre-Owned. BST's inspection found it to present very nicely overall, with some minor wear visible on the high-polish case sides — the flanks are where these cases always show handling first, and it is visible under direct light rather than across a room. Nothing else of note was recorded.

On the timing machine at BST, the watch measured **−2 seconds per day with 319° amplitude**. Those are healthy figures for a movement of this age and are stated as observed on our equipment, not as a guarantee of performance in every position or over time.

It arrives with its box, papers, and cards — a complete document set for a 2018 watch, which is less common than the volume of these on the market would suggest.

🕰️ The Evidence

• Reference: 79230R
• Model / Collection: Tudor Black Bay 41 — "Black Bay Red"
• Year: 2018
• Case: Stainless steel, polished and satin finishes
• Case Diameter: 41 mm
• Thickness: Approximately 13 mm
• Lug-to-Lug: Approximately 50 mm
• Lug Width: 22 mm
• Dial: Black, luminous hour markers, Snowflake hour hand
• Crystal: Domed sapphire (anti-reflective coated per BST inspection)
• Bezel: Unidirectional rotating, matte burgundy anodised aluminium insert
• Crown: Screw-down, Tudor rose engraved, burgundy anodised aluminium crown tube
• Movement: Manufacture Calibre MT5602, in-house, self-winding, 28,800 vph
• Certification: COSC chronometer
• Power Reserve: Approximately 70 hours
• Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds
• Water Resistance: 200 m
• Strap: Leather strap
• Clasp: Folding / deployant clasp
• Bracelet Fit: Approximately 7¾-inch wrist
• Condition: Good Pre-Owned — minor wear visible on the high-polish case sides
• Measured at BST: −2 seconds/day; 319° amplitude
• Included: Box, Papers, and Cards

🌟 Collector Provenance

The Black Bay line began in 2012, and the burgundy-bezel version was the one that set the template. The 79230 family arrived in 2016 as the successor to the earlier 79220 generation — ref. 79230 and its variations were developed as a follow-up to the ref. 79220, the original Black Bay model — and the change was substantive rather than cosmetic.

The headline was the movement. Where the earlier generation used a supplied ébauche, the 79230 introduced Tudor's own calibre MT5602: in-house, COSC certified, automatic, with a 70-hour power reserve. That combination — manufacture movement, chronometer certification, a weekend-proof reserve — is the reason this generation is the one most collectors point to when explaining how Tudor re-established itself as a serious watchmaking proposition in its own right rather than a satellite of its parent company.

The R-suffix carries its own weight within the family. Blue and black versions exist and have their advocates, but burgundy is the colour associated with the model's revival and with Tudor's own 1970s Submariner heritage. The Snowflake hand set reinforces that lineage directly: the luminescent Snowflake indexes and hands have been an iconic feature of Tudor diving watches since 1969.

This generation has since been superseded. Tudor's later 41 mm Black Bay redesign moved to a METAS-certified Master Chronometer calibre and a revised case and bracelet, which makes the 79230R a closed chapter: the last of the COSC-era, aluminium-bezel, 41 mm Black Bays in the original visual idiom.

🌟 Design Provenance

The 79230R is an exercise in restraint disguised as a colourful watch. The 41 mm case carries the burgundy bezel for vintage-leaning colour, the black dial provides contrast for the luminescent markers and hands, and a domed sapphire crystal sits above it — the dome is what softens the whole thing, catching light at the edges the way acrylic once did, without the fragility.

The detailing rewards close inspection. The crown tube is burgundy anodised aluminium and the crown itself carries the Tudor rose, echoing the bez