For the 2026 season, TUDOR takes the lead once again with the Black Bay Chrono “Carbon 26.” In 2025, the brand introduced the Black Bay Chrono “Carbon 25,” a model styled after the bold livery of the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls VCARB 02. That release marked another milestone in TUDOR’s long-standing tradition of going wheel‑to‑wheel with racing teams—a legacy that began in the 1960s with the original TUDOR Watches Racing Team. Now, for 2026, TUDOR returns to the grid with the “Carbon 26,” once more echoing the design language of the latest Visa Cash App Racing Bulls machine. Just as the car has evolved for the new season, so too has the watch. It maintains its ultra‑light carbon‑fibre case and column‑wheel Manufacture Chronograph Calibre, but now incorporates a flash of yellow inspired by the VCARB 03.

Motorsport is inherently perilous. Drivers operate at the razor’s edge of performance and safety, where time becomes the ultimate differentiator. Victories and defeats are measured in fractions of a second. TUDOR understands this intimately. Back in the late 1960s, when the brand campaigned a cutting‑edge Porsche 906 in Japan, its drivers wore TUDOR watches on their wrists. In 2026, that tradition continues: Liam Lawson and rookie Arvid Lindblad rely on the Black Bay Chrono “Carbon 26” to stay perfectly on time.

The “Carbon 26” extends TUDOR’s enduring presence in motorsport and its commitment to releasing a dedicated chronograph for each Formula 1 season. This model embodies the brand’s pursuit of mechanical excellence. Carbon fibre is the ideal material for a racing chronograph thanks to its dramatic weight savings—less mass means more speed, and that speed is precisely measured by the Manufacture Calibre MT5813 paired with a one‑piece carbon‑fibre tachymetric bezel. Even the strap’s end‑links are crafted from carbon fibre, shaving off every possible gram. A layered dial construction—alternating brass discs and carbon‑fibre sheets—gives the sub‑counters and date window their distinctive carbon‑fibre finish.

The visual cues of the “Carbon 26” directly reference the VCARB 03, especially the vivid yellow found on the car’s engine cowling. This energetic accent appears on the dial, giving the watch a dynamic, high‑velocity aesthetic. Production is limited to 2,026 pieces, each individually numbered on the case back—a nod to another milestone year in TUDOR’s evolving motorsport story.

Staying true to the Black Bay design language, the Black Bay Chrono adopts the iconic Snowflake hands, refined for maximum legibility on its domed “racing white” dial with two recessed black sub‑counters. Inspired by TUDOR’s earliest chronographs, the layout includes a 45‑minute totalizer and a date window at 6 o’clock. Signature Black Bay elements—bevelled lugs and the TUDOR rose‑signed crown—remain intact, now housed in a 42mm carbon‑fibre case. The titanium pushers draw from the very first TUDOR chronographs, while the fixed carbon‑fibre tachymetric bezel completes the watch’s performance‑driven character. The MT5813 powers hours, minutes, seconds, chronograph and date functions, and features the refined finishing typical of TUDOR Manufacture movements. Its tungsten monobloc rotor is open‑worked and satin‑brushed, while the bridges and mainplate alternate between sand‑blasted and polished surfaces with laser‑cut details.

With a 70‑hour power reserve and silicon balance spring, the MT5813 exceeds COSC standards—TUDOR regulates the fully assembled watch to –2/+4 seconds per day, surpassing the institute’s requirements. Built with a column wheel and vertical clutch, the movement is engineered for durability and precision, undergoing the same extreme testing applied to all TUDOR products.

Developed from the Breitling B01 base calibre but equipped with TUDOR’s own high‑precision regulating organ and exclusive finishing, the MT5813 represents a long‑standing collaboration between the two brands. Like the rest of the Black Bay family, the Chrono version features TUDOR’s angular Snowflake hands, first introduced in 1969. The line blends vintage inspiration with modern watchmaking, drawing on more than 70 years of TUDOR dive‑watch heritage. Though neo‑vintage in spirit, the Black Bay series is built with contemporary techniques, offering robustness, reliability and finishing that exceed modern standards.