Tudor’s Formula One chapter is becoming more than a seasonal side note.
The new Black Bay Chrono Carbon 26 continues the brand’s partnership with the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls Formula One Team, bringing the look of the team’s VCARB 03 race car into a limited carbon-fibre chronograph.
It’s a sharper, lighter and more motorsport-coded take on a collection that has recently become far more adventurous than its steel-heavy past suggested.
At a glance
- Tudor has introduced the Black Bay Chrono Carbon 26, a Formula One-linked chronograph limited to 2,026 pieces.
- The watch uses a 42mm carbon-fibre case, carbon bezel, titanium hardware and a racing white dial with yellow accents.
- Pricing is set at EUR 7,980 or CHF 7,050, placing it above the standard Black Bay Chrono line.
Carbon case with clear track intent
The Black Bay Chrono Carbon 26 keeps the familiar proportions of Tudor’s modern chronograph, with a 42mm case and 14.3mm thickness.
What changes the character is the material execution.
The case, fixed tachymeter bezel and end-links are made from carbon fibre, giving the watch a darker, more technical presence than the steel and steel-and-gold models in the wider Black Bay Chrono family.
Tudor pairs that carbon construction with a PVD-coated titanium caseback, screw-down crown and chronograph pushers.
The result is a watch that feels deliberately engineered around reduced weight, without giving up the Black Bay Chrono’s sturdy everyday brief.
Water resistance is rated to 200 metres, while a domed sapphire crystal sits above the dial.
The caseback is individually numbered, and the crown carries the Tudor rose in relief.
Yellow accents tie the dial to the VCARB 03
The biggest visual shift for 2026 is on the dial.
Tudor uses a racing white base with black carbon-fibre sub-dials, then adds yellow detailing across the seconds track, counters and date disc.
That colour treatment connects the watch to the VCARB 03 livery and gives it a different energy from the earlier Carbon 25, which leaned into blue accents.
The dial construction combines brass discs with carbon-fibre sheets, adding visible texture without moving too far from the clean bicompax layout that defines the model.
The 45-minute chronograph counter sits at 3 o’clock, small seconds sit at 9 o’clock and the date remains at 6 o’clock inside a carbon-fibre frame.
Black-outlined Snowflake hands and applied markers keep the display legible, which matters on a watch that could easily have become too decorative.
The MT5813 remains the serious part of the package
Inside the Black Bay Chrono Carbon 26 is Tudor’s Manufacture Calibre MT5813, an automatic chronograph movement with architecture linked to the Breitling B01.
It runs at 28,800 vibrations per hour and offers around 70 hours of power reserve.
The movement is COSC-certified and uses a column wheel, a variable inertia balance and a silicon balance spring.
Tudor also regulates the assembled watch to a stated accuracy of -2/+4 seconds per day, which keeps the Carbon 26 firmly in tool-watch territory despite its special-edition styling.
The watch is worn on a hybrid leather-rubber strap with a rubber tyre pattern and a PVD-coated pin buckle.
Details & Specifications
| Brand | Tudor |
|---|---|
| Model | Black Bay Chrono Carbon 26 |
| Reference | M79377KN-0003 |
| Case size | 42mm diameter, 14.3mm thickness |
| Case material | Carbon fibre with carbon-fibre end-links |
| Bezel | Fixed carbon-fibre bezel with tachymeter scale |
| Caseback, crown and pushers | PVD-coated titanium |
| Crystal | Domed sapphire |
| Water resistance | 200 metres |
| Dial | Racing white with carbon-fibre sub-counters and yellow accents |
| Movement | Tudor Manufacture Calibre MT5813 automatic chronograph |
| Certification | COSC-certified |
| Frequency | 28,800 vibrations per hour, 4Hz |
| Jewels | 41 |
| Power reserve | Approximately 70 hours |
| Functions | Hours, minutes, small seconds, central chronograph seconds, 45-minute counter, date |
| Strap | Hybrid leather-rubber strap with rubber tyre pattern |
| Limited edition | 2,026 pieces |
| Price | EUR 7,980 or CHF 7,050 |
The Black Bay Chrono Carbon 26 won’t be the quietest chronograph in Tudor’s catalogue, but that’s exactly the point.
For collectors who want the Black Bay Chrono’s proven mechanics with a lighter case, a direct F1 connection and a design that moves beyond the usual steel formula, this is one of Tudor’s most focused racing watches yet.
