Getting A Perspective On The New Tudor Black Bay Pro With The White Opaline Dial

About three weeks have passed since this year’s Watches and Wonders, so it’s time to reflect on some of the great introductions we saw during the fair. It’s easiest to divide these into two groups. The first are the watches we admire from a distance, meaning they will likely never be part of our collections due to their prices. The second group is the watches we would consider adding to our collections. For me, the new Tudor Black Bay Pro with the opaline dial is at the top of that list. It’s the one Tudor that stood out. But does it stand out for the right reasons? It’s time for a little bit of soul searching on my end.

Overall, I thought Tudor’s releases this year were a reflection of the mind rather than the heart. There was no real collective excitement about any of them. The Pelagos Ultra is a nice updated version of the classic Pelagos that got quite a bit of praise. Additionally, the new Black Bay 68 models are a clever addition from a commercial perspective. After talking to many people from brands over time, we know that there is a demand for larger dive watches despite hardcore enthusiasts’ wishes for more modestly sized ones. These were the big releases for Tudor this year, and in all honesty, I would call the offerings solid but not necessarily exciting.

The Tudor Black Bay Pro as one in a series of variations

The remaining releases were a series of new variants of existing models, with the Black Bay 58 in burgundy, the Black Bay Pro with an opaline dial, and, lastly, the Black Bay Chrono with a new bracelet. While Tudor enthusiasts never ask for a large stream of new releases, the wish for something unexpected and exciting is always there. Neither the Pelagos Ultra nor the Black Bay 68 could satisfy that desire.

That said, I think the Pelagos Ultra is a great updated version of the regular Pelagos. As you might have read in our Sunday Morning Series, I would have considered replacing the current Pelagos with the new model. Hopefully, we will soon have the chance to compare them side by side.

I can’t wait to try the new Ultra for a hands-on review because it seems like a very solid update and a great daily wearer despite its impressive deep-sea specs. But with that conclusion also comes the question of whether the Ultra is something that Tudor enthusiasts, including your truly, really got excited over. Looking at the current score in last week’s Sunday Morning Showdown, the Ultra is chasing the regular Pelagos, so that gives us a clue.

The new Tudor Black Bay Pro Opaline

This brings me to the one Tudor release that excited me upon its debut. However, with the excitement of seeing the Black Bay Pro with a white dial also came an important question: did Tudor update the case and make the watch slimmer? The disappointing answer was that Tudor used the same case as for the black-dial version. It’s a decision that feels like a missed opportunity. Sure, the brand would have to update the black-dial version and introduce this new white-dial one with an updated case. But if there’s something that many Tudor enthusiasts would get excited about, it is a slimmed-down version of the Black Bay Pro.

My love for the black-dial version has been documented well here on Fratello. I reviewed three Forstner bracelets specifically created for the Black Bay Pro and included the watch in several lists of personal favorites over time. Additionally, I greatly enjoyed wearing the Black Bay Pro for the better part of 2024 and the first few months of this year.

But even after wearing it for a long time, there is always this one big point of criticism that keeps coming back: the 39mm × 14.6mm case has slab-like flanks that immediately make the proportions seem off. Even if you can pull off wearing it, like I can, there is always a visual reminder that it’s a chunky watch.

A slimmer Black Bay Pro is not a strange concept

Has it ever bothered me so much that I couldn’t wear the watch? No, but after rotating the Black Bay Pro with a series of slimmer watches from different brands, the wish for a slimmer version of my favorite Tudor does come back time and again. And the thing that makes this new opaline-dial version feel like a squandered chance is the release of the Tudor Black Bay 58 GMT last year.

With an updated Master Chronometer movement and a slimmer 12.8mm profile, the brand showed what is possible with the GMT versions of its Black Bay models. Not seeing a follow-up of that with a slimmer Black Bay Pro feels like a missed opportunity that would have made it the talk of the town for Tudor at this year’s Watches and Wonders.

This brings me to the actual watch. Do I like the new Black Bay Pro with its white opaline dial? Ask me at different times, and you will get different answers. Overall, I am a fan of the new dial variant. It perfectly shows that a white dial gives the Black Bay Pro a different feel. Some have correctly concluded that the new dial makes it feel less “Rolexy” and more distinct.

That’s also what I appreciate about it. I have to credit the Tudor designers for keeping the GMT hand that dark yellow rather than making it orange. On top of that, the white dial is nicely contrasted by the black text and the black edges of the hour markers. While the lume color is not as white as the actual dial, it is close enough to create a crisp look that initially made me very excited to see the watch.

Where does this leave the Black Bay Pro?

That’s also why I included the watch in the list of my favorite Watches and Wonders 2025 releases. It’s the one watch I could buy and be happy wearing. I love the looks, and from the joy I get from wearing the black-dial version, I know I would greatly enjoy the opaline model as a daily wearer. But you can already sense where this is going. No matter how cool this new dial version is, that one big “issue” everyone has with it isn’t fixed. It’s the one thing that would’ve made this Black Bay Pro not only a great-looking dial variant but also a brilliantly improved watch that fans will fall in love with. As it stands, I know the bulky case will follow me wherever I go.

Tudor can still correct this in the long term. However, that’s assuming that the Black Bay Pro is a permanent fixture in the Tudor collection. Nacho introduced a new perspective by suggesting that Tudor might decide to keep these in the collection as is, and that will be it for the Black Bay Pro. Once it’s done, it’s done. There will be no updates or new versions, and the Black Bay Pro story will end once these two watches have run their course. I thought it was an interesting theory, but it feels a bit off. It would predominantly feel like a squandered opportunity. Surely, the new white-dial version will draw in people who have been waiting for this specific variation. And for them, Tudor did a great job with this new dial.

The great potential is not in the dial but in the case

Still, no matter how many potential Black Bay Pro buyers this new version will draw in, the number of Black Bay Pro fans who would buy it with a slimmer case instinctively feels exponentially bigger. Many enthusiasts love the watch and its 39mm diameter but not the case’s overall proportions, so they opted out of buying one. I’m certain that many would jump at the opportunity to buy a Black Bay Pro with an optimized case. That is the big takeaway from a year of wearing the watch and talking to people about it.

The one thing that we are unable to answer with certainty at this point is why Tudor decided to go this route. Sure, it does seem like an easy addition to the Black Bay lineup that might lead to a jump in sales without the brand having to completely re-engineer the watch. On top of that, the black-dial version came out only three years ago, so a complete overhaul of the Black Bay Pro could have been deemed “too soon.” While that’s understandable, here we are with a cleverly designed and wonderful-looking release that still feels like it could have been so much more exciting.

Final thoughts on the new Tudor Black Bay Pro Opaline

It will be interesting to find out what the brand’s considerations were when developing this opaline-dial Black Bay Pro. Hopefully, we’ll be able to find out about it soon from Tudor. On top of that, we would also love to find out that Nacho’s suggested scenario is not true. If this were it for the Black Bay Pro story, that would be a shame. Despite its biggest flaw, it still is the Tudor Black Bay for me. I love it so much that I am willing to put up with the bulky case for the black-dial variant for now. But this year’s version is not the nice surprise that it could have been.

So, where do we end up with this article? Mainly, there were a lot of questions about why we didn’t get the slimmer Black Bay Pro that fans so desperately wanted to see. We can come up with all kinds of plausible theories on why Tudor didn’t decide to update the watch with a slimmer case and an upgraded movement. But whether it’s the development timeline, the current market, or because too few years have passed since the initial introduction, the fact is that enthusiasts didn’t get the watch they had hoped for.

With that reality, I would most of all love to hear that the scenario Nacho suggested is not true. It seems unlikely that this is it for the Black Bay Pro. I’ll genuinely enjoy the black-dial version while finding answers to these questions because I refuse to believe that this is the end for the watch.

But I would love to hear your thoughts on the new opaline-dial Tudor Black Bay Pro. Please let us know your take on it and the model’s future in the comments section.