Blackbay Mods, What Do You Think?

[RageRover]

I was never in to Rolexes (Rolexi?) much, but guess I caught the bug for a vintage 1665 Sea Dweller a few years ago.  Saving up for a good case like a Yuki, Phong, etc.  The bug also bit me when it came to the "Snowflake" Tudors.  I'm not in to blue watches much either, but I'd LOVE a nice blue "snowflake" w/ a properly bleached bezel insert, a nice "bulbous" plexi and some modest aging by throwing the case around in a bag of coins.

 

I sort of like the Tudor BlackBay (haven't seen one up close, which I should probably do before ordering one!), but also afraid to get called out by some "Rolex know it all"!

 

If I do get a Blackbay I'm pretty keen on customizing it!  Why not?  A few things bother me about it though.  I'm not a fan of the Snowflake hour hand yet it keeps the "standard Submariner" dial layout, why didn't they just do a Snowflake dial or use "needle" or Mercedes hands?  IMHO those are some of the things that are sort of off and bother me a bit.

 

So with a few mods I'd fix what I don't like!  The beauty with a rep is you can do mods without too much worry, you mess up or don't like the results, you didn't loose much $ or ruin the resale of a watch you may want to trade or sell (something I've never done!  I buy to keep!).

 

I'd stick with "The standard Rolex/Tudor mods", maybe drill the spring bar holes all the way through like every Tudor & Rolex made prior to the Blackbay, how about a little VERY little aging (it's only been out for a few years, so I'd try for about 2yrs of wear?) using the "bag of coins" aging trick.  I've gotta see the crystal it comes with... maybe I'd fit a more classic plexi that's higher & rounder? and the hands... gotta change the hands like I mentioned earlier.  Maybe a Blackbay One homage... I do like the thin hands or can go with the classic "Mercedes".  But where can I find a GOOD Blackbay One dial now?  A few years ago when it was released/auctioned, there were several rep dials.  Don't know about now.

 

Last, how about a 7mm Rolex crown?  or stick with the Tudor flower crown?  I often prefer straps, a NATO may be a good fit.  Although I sometimes switch around and wear a watch with a bracelet, like I do with my Seiko "Black Monster".

 

Any input is GREATLY welcomed!

Also, any tips on who has the best Blackbay at the moment?  Or maybe case, dial, etc.

 

After all of this I'm sure many of you are thinking why I don't just do a proper vintage rep/homage "Big Crown".  Like a Tudor 7924 or Rolex 6538?  To do it properly it would take $$$$.  Like a case from Phong, Yuki, Ruby, etc.  A good Blackbay rep can be had for the price of a Phong dial (I think!).

 

Saving up to do a 1665 "Great White" later this year and hopefully a Tudor 9401 Snowflake... also craving a white dial PanAm Big Crown GMT with Bakelite (now plexi) bezel (even if it's a bit fantasy).

 

Thanks for your time and help!

[Sogeha]

The Black Bay is quite a bulky watch and I find it sits too high and unbalanced on my small wrist with a NATO. I prefer an RAF  pull through and love the Helenarou Bond version. Other than that, go for it, there is nothing to loose really

[LifeTrekker]

I'd say go for it! The Tudor Black Bay is one of my favorite modern interpretations of a classic watch, and I think it would make a pretty good base for some light modding.

As far as I can tell, the ZF Black Bay is the best rep out there right now. And as far as the Black Bay One goes, it is still listed as available on the Puretime05.com website, so I would see if you can still order one.

The one problem I can see you having though is being able to find Mercedes hands long enough to look right with the larger Black Bay dial. Of course, if you are able to order the ZF Black Bay One, long enough hands would not be a problem, although they would be straight and not Mercedes Benz style.

Below are two Black Bay mods I currently own. The Täufer Sailmaster uses a Helenarou case, while the BSH uses a ZF case. Both have Helenarou dials and hands.


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[mead861]

I wanted to do a blackbay GMT mod. 

[capice]

Love this GMT

[TAG Heuer]

Looks great