Tudor Black Bay 36 M79500-0007

The Tudor Black Bay 36 (ref. M79500-0007) is the 36 mm, time-only, black-dial version of Tudor's Black Bay range, fitted to a stainless steel bracelet. It uses an Oyster-style steel case with a fixed polished bezel, snowflake hands, a screw-down crown with the Tudor rose, and 150 m water resistance. Power comes from a self-winding outsourced movement that Tudor designates caliber T600 (the no-date, ETA 2824-2 or Sellita SW200-1 base), with roughly 38 hours of reserve. The 36 mm range debuted at Baselworld 2016 as the smallest, most dress-leaning member of the Black Bay family.

Tudor introduced the Black Bay 36 at Baselworld 2016 as the most compact member of its Black Bay range, sitting below the 41 mm model in both size and price. Monochrome's launch coverage records opening prices of €2,370 on the distressed beige leather strap and €2,670 on the steel bracelet, and notes that the 36 mm case received a flat, polished dial rather than the domed, matte treatment used on the 41 mm version.

The reference carries over the design language established by the earlier Black Bay divers — the Oyster-style steel case, the snowflake hands, and the Tudor rose on the crown — but drops the rotating dive bezel for a fixed, polished one and omits the date. Monochrome frames it as a time-only, more dress-oriented interpretation of the family, describing the result as a "clean and more elegant look."

Several reviewers position the watch explicitly as an alternative to the no-date, 36 mm Rolex Explorer. Writing for 12&60, James Mulvale argues it "ticks pretty much all the boxes that the Explorer does" at a far lower price, a comparison that recurs across the 36 mm range's coverage.

The Black Bay 36 does not use one of Tudor's in-house manufacture calibres. It runs an outsourced automatic that Tudor designates Calibre T600, a self-winding mechanical movement. Caliber Corner sets out how Tudor numbers these outsourced calibres — "T600 – No date" and "T601 – Date at 3:00" — so the time-only M79500-0007 is powered by the no-date T600, not the date-equipped T601. Both calibers are built on the same third-party base.

Caliber Corner reports that this base is drawn from either the ETA 2824-2 or the Sellita SW200-1, that Tudor does not publicly disclose which is fitted to a given watch, and lists its core figures as a 25.6 mm diameter, 25 or 26 jewels, a 28,800 vph (4 Hz) beat rate, and a roughly 38-hour power reserve. The interchangeability of the two bases is well known enough that Caliber Corner describes buyers being unsure which movement powers their specific example.

This is not a chronometer-grade manufacture movement of the kind found in Tudor's MT-series watches; it is a reliable, serviceable workhorse. Monochrome, reviewing the original release, judged that the movement "can and will provide many years of accurate and reliable time keeping," while noting the modest 38-hour reserve as its main practical limitation.

Multiple reviewers report that the watch wears bigger than its 36 mm diameter suggests. The Watch Lounge attributes this to "the solid, Oyster-style case with broad-shouldered lugs," observing that it "looks chunky yet feels slim on the wrist," particularly on the steel bracelet. Writing for 12&60, James Mulvale similarly notes that it has "enough presence that it doesn't feel small, but it's also thin enough that you can forget it's there."

HiConsumption's Tim Huber praised the day-long comfort of the bracelet, which "articulates well and falls flush from the end links with no overhang," and reported his example running "off by only a few seconds a day." He did flag one ergonomic quirk: the protruding crown tube, noting that "the distance the crown sits from the case, even when screwed in, kept making us think it wasn't fully screwed in."

Mulvale also identifies a practical limitation shared by this bracelet — its three fixed micro-adjustment positions, which can make dialing in a precise fit difficult. Overall, the reviewers converge on a watch they find versatile across casual and formal wear; Monochrome describes wearing it as "a refreshing feeling" from a "well proportioned" timepiece.

The steel-bracelet, black-dial M79500-0007 carries a US retail price of $3,050. HiConsumption lists that figure in its review, and it matches the authorized-dealer pricing shown by Long's Jewelers, which lists the reference at $3,050. Across the broader Black Bay 36 range, Caliber Corner records list prices from $2,525 for the least expensive configurations up to $4,200 for the steel-and-gold versions.

The watch is sold new through Tudor's authorized dealer network. Availability of this specific reference varies by dealer: Long's Jewelers lists it at full retail, Cooper Jewelers shows it at a reduced price of $2,592.50 against the $3,050 original, and both WatchMaxx and Bernard Watch mark it as discontinued or sold out. Prospective buyers should confirm current stock directly with an authorized dealer rather than assume uniform availability.

Because this reference has been offered in several dial colors and on multiple straps, buyers cross-shopping the range should decide between the bracelet (as fitted to M79500-0007) and the leather or fabric options, and between the black, blue, and silver dials, since these choices drive most of the price and character differences within the 36 mm line.