Hands-On The Tudor Black Bay Chrono 39 "Bumblebee"

In the years since the first Black Bay 58 was launched – a 2018 debut that met the Hodinkee-reading market in lockstep and put the watchmaker on the map as a fan-favourite for collectors everywhere – Tudor releases have often just sidestepped the expectations of its most hardcore fans. For those of us who were crossing our fingers for another Black Bay 58 moment to celebrate 100 years of Tudor at Watches & Wonders 2026, it's fair to say the releases weren’t exactly what we’d expected. Tudor stuck to the playbook of what we know and love with new bracelet options, refined specifications, and fresh finishes, and the only entirely new reference we saw in Geneva in April was the Tudor Monarch. 

Now, albeit a few months later, we’ve gotten exactly what we were hoping for.

The all-new Tudor Black Bay Chrono 39 “Bumblebee” measures 39mm in diameter, 13.1mm in thickness, and arrives with a lug-to-lug measurement of 47mm. For the most part, it’s the chronograph that collectors have been dreaming about since the 41mm Black Bay Chrono range made its debut back in 2017, and when you compare it to the 41mm x 14.4mm x 49.9mm specs of the existing line-up, you can see why. 

I was lucky enough to spend a week with the 41mm “Flamingo Blue” Black Bay Chrono earlier this year, and while I loved how comfortable the five-link bracelet was, the intuitive function of the micro-adjust mechanism on the clasp, and the eye-catching dial colour, every time I put it on my wrist, I couldn’t help thinking, “it’s just a little bit too big.” In contrast, the first impression that ran through my mind when I closed the clasp of the Bumblebee was “this might be the best modern chronograph Tudor has ever made.”

Despite the case proportions being broadly similar compared to its 41mm siblings, the millimetres trimmed in every direction make it a significantly more comfortable watch to wear. With 1.3mm taken off the thickness of the case, you no longer have such a large, polished flank on the non-pusher side of the case, and by shortening the lug-to-lug measurement by nearly 3mm, it allows the bracelet to drape around the wrist much more comfortably. The narrower lugs also emphasise the polished facets on the edges of the lugs, nicely catching the light and more obviously contrasting the brushed finish on the other surfaces. In line with the rest of the Black Bay Chrono range, it arrives with a closed caseback and the same 200m of water resistance.

For the dial, we have that same sidestep of expectations we’ve seen from Tudor over the last few years, with a vibrant shade of yellow splashed across the main dial, nicely contrasted with snailed black subdials. Building on the flamingo blue and Inter Miami-linked pink dials of previous references and offering a not-so-quiet nod to Tudors’ "Tiger" chronographs of the 1990s, it’s a strong colour and one that works pretty well on the wrist, despite yellow being a relatively uncommon colour to see on a dial. 

Much like the 41mm references, we’ve got a 45-minute chronograph subdial at 3 o’clock, a running seconds subdial at 9 o’clock, and a bevelled white-wheel date display at 6 o’clock. Both the snowflake hands and hour markers are framed in black and filled with bright white Super-LumiNova, and the rest of the dial details – apart from the water resistance printed in red – are printed in high-contrast black. 

There are a few details on the dial and bezel that have been updated for this new 39mm reference, including the minute track no longer having a closed circle printed around it and the SWISS MADE at 6 o’clock moving inside the minute track, as the minute track now goes all the way to the edge of the dial. The bevel around the date window is also deeper to add some more emphasis to the slightly shrunk display. Finally, the hours, minutes, and chronograph hands have been ever so slightly shortened, and the bezel scale has been updated to allow tracking from 300 units to 55 units, rather than the bezels of the flamingo blue and pink dial references that go from 500 to 60.

Powering the Tudor Black Bay Chrono 39 “Bumblebee” is the same COSC-certified Manufacture Calibre MT5813 used across the entire Black Bay Chrono collection, equipped with a column-wheel and vertical clutch, a silicone balance spring, and a solid 70 hours of power reserve. On one hand, using the same movement as the rest of Tudor’s chronograph collection could be a point of frustration as we might have had a 39mm reference sooner, but on the other, it speaks to just how well Tudor packed the movement into the case, especially given that the MT5813 is 7.23mm thick and the 13.1mm thickness of the watch includes a reasonably domed sapphire crystal.

Finally, the Bumblebee arrived paired on a vertically brushed three-link steel bracelet, which differs from the Flamingo Blue and Pink dial references that come with Tudor’s five-link bracelet and the other 41mm references that are paired with the older style three-link bracelets with faux rivets on the sides. As you’ll also find in almost all of Tudor’s watches from the last few years, it’s equipped with the brand’s “T-fit” clasp that offers up to 8mm of micro-adjustment across five positions.

All considered, it’s a fantastic new addition to the Tudor catalogue because finally, we have the goldilocks-sized chronograph we’ve all been waiting for. It wears impressively comfortably, the updates to the dial and bezel details all add to legibility or functionality, and we’ve still got the most important spec sheet lines like 70 hours of power reserve and 200m water resistance. If that wasn’t enough, it’s also priced cheaper than both the more recent 41mm coloured dials and the regular 41mm references. The Tudor Black Bay Chrono 39 “Bumblebee” rings the register up to A$9,480, while the older generation black and white dials are A$9,680, and the newer generation references are all A$9,850.

Perhaps the most exciting prospect of the Bumblebee isn’t the watch itself, but what it could mean for future Tudor chronograph releases. I, for one, would love to see the same gilt black dial layout of the Black Bay 58 in a Black Bay Chrono 39 format or equally, a frosty white execution that draws from the Black Bay Pro. With the Bumblebee now here as a template, the possibilities are endless.

Brand: Tudor
Model: Black Bay Chrono 39 "Bumblebee"
Reference Number: 79310N

Diameter: 39mm
Thickness: 13.1mm
Lug to lug: 47mm
Case Material: Steel
Dial Colour: Yellow, black accents
Indexes: Applied
Lume: Yes, markers and hands
Water Resistance: 200m (660ft)
Strap/Bracelet: Steel three-link bracelet with T-Fit 

Calibre: MT5813
Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds, 45-minute chronograph counter, and central chronograph seconds
Diameter: 30.4mm
Thickness: 7.23mm
Power Reserve: 70 hours
Winding: Automatic
Frequency: 28,800 vph
Jewels: 41
Chronometer Certified: COSC
Additional Details: Silicon balance spring, column-wheel, and vertical clutch

Price: A$9,480
Limited Edition: No

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