Why Boldness Matters, Explained By Virtue Of The Flamingo Blue Tudor Black Bay Chronograph

Let me state something that I know will spark some people; as a watch-loving community, we’ve become far too negative in our opinions. Especially when it comes to social media, it’s easy to discard something you don’t like or even ridicule or bash. It’s a fairly common thing to express one’s (negative) opinion in such a way and state it as factual instead of opening up to discussions. And that’s a bad thing. Live and let live, or agree to disagree seems to be a dwindling character trait. Case in point: expressiveness in watches. Call it boldness, creativity or audacity; it’s often met with very negative fanfare, and I don’t get that. So I thought, why not sample a watch that’s quite in-your-face colourful and make a case for opening up to expressiveness from now on!

Rolex, the King of conservatism?

It’s often said that some brands employ an “evolution over revolution” strategy, where watches are fine-tuned rather than completely overhauled from generation to generation. To put things in an automotive perspective, think of the Porsche 911 sports car, which can still very much trace its mechanical and aesthetic roots back to the original one from 1963. In comparison, Rolex is often attributed to being ultra-conservative, ultra-restraint and a brand that doesn’t let it’s hair down, ever. But is it? I’d strongly disagree – well, at least for some of its watches.

Sure, if you look at history, some collections have been around for decades. Most of them were born in the 1950s and still look eerily similar now. So, in that respect, it certainly fits to call the brand conservative. But Rolex thinks about everything, and I do mean everything, before making updates or changes to any of their watches. Yet there is a side to The Crown that’s loosening the reigns more and more ever so slightly, and that comes down to today’s topic of expressiveness!

Stella dials, guilloché dials, puzzle and ‘balloon’ dials. Need I say more? Ok, the Yachtmaster RLX Titanium is a very muted, monochromatic watch, but it’s a titanium Rolex! That would have been deemed impossible a decade ago! Whenever Rolex does something like that, the nay-sayers are quick to dismiss their efforts and state what the brand should have done. But I say enough of that and welcome what Rolex and many others bring us with open arms! Not to the point that you have to like everything a manufacturer releases, as I don’t want to see lemmings-like behaviour. No, I mean more in the sense of appreciating something regardless of whether you would end up buying it or not. It’s always been the premise of my watch-writing and -collecting behaviour, and although I admit to being quite spoiled over the years, I adhere to my earliest claims about my work and passion; I try to look for things that resonate with me in every watch!

The Flamingo Blue Black Bay Chrono by Tudor

And even sister-brand Tudor is exploring new and creative territories, even if it “only” comes down to solid dial colours or case materials. Which leads me to the Black Bay, and more specifically, the Black Bay Chronograph Flamingo Blue. Tudor is seen as a one-trick pony by many, relying on the Black Bay as the core product. Sure, the Pelagos is the contemporary diving equivalent of the heritage-inspired Black Bay, but there’s more to it than that. Tudor has given us a lot of what we wanted if you look back at the brand’s past decade or so.

People complained that the original 41mm Black Bay was too bulky (not me!), so they sized it down to 39mm with the Black Bay 58. Some were still claiming it wasn’t compact enough, so out came the 37mm Black Bay 54. We heard complaints about its mechanical versatility, so we now have a wide range of divers, but also several GMTs and Chronographs. Steel is the obvious choice for pretty much any watch, but there’s also a Black Bay in ceramic, bronze, silver or gold for those looking to change things up a little. Don’t like an Oyster-style bracelet? Tudor has you covered, with textile, leather or rubber straps and even a Jubilee-style multi-link bracelet on some models. Do you want micro-adjustability, too? No problem, as Tudor developed the T-Fit folding clasp. Even higher levels of precision and anti-magnetism are possible, thanks to METAS Master Chronometer-certified movements. And finally, classical blue or black dials are offset with green, white and even a pink one, and now this Flamingo Blue! By the way, Flamingo Blue…?

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of handling the boutique-only Black Bay Chrono Blue, and I almost immediately told my colleagues I thought it was the best yet, by far! Then the Flamingo Blue came out, and I was a bit apprehensive at first, but thinking back to my core philosophy of finding positives in every watch quickly led me to ask for a review sample. And here it is, in all its aqua-blue-green-turquoise-mint glory. Whatever you want to call it, the colour is certainly striking! And I find myself gravitating to it more and more. While it’s no different in terms of size, proportions, or mechanics, it simply POPS on the wrist. And isn’t that just great? I think it is!

The fit and finish are typical Tudor, which comes very close to Rolex if we’re honest about it. It’s rock-solid, nicely detailed, comes with properly impressive mechanics and so on. I could tell you all about the watch in detail, but my main goal in this story was to get across my idea of opening up to boldness, creativity, and expressiveness. So I might save the nitty gritty details about how it wears for a longer period of time, for a later period of time.

For now, I just hope that all of us will loosen up a little and be a bit less judgmental about watches. After all, it’s about passion and sharing experiences to me, and I’m pretty sure the same goes for a lot of you, too. Find what you like and run with it, but don’t trash a watch (or any product for that matter) because it resonates a bit less with you than other stuff. And for the love of watches, don’t make an opinion a cold, hard fact, because it simply is not…

Really, the clue to all that I’m saying is in the slogan of the brand: Dare To Be Different. And I will live by that as best as I can…

For more information, please visit TudorWatch.com.