Blue Skies and Blue watches - Baselworld is Coming

At B&S we love this time of year, blue skies and blue watches. Baselworld is coming and Team Bulang will be there again bringing you an exclusive inside glimpse of Tudor’s new releases as well as a good overview of what is hot from all the major watch brands for 2016! Our highlight last year was the Pelages Blue, which Bernhard took on his family holiday to Ibiza. It is that time of year when our thoughts turn to the warmer months. The evenings are getting lighter, the green shoots are appearing in the garden and the sun is getting warmer. We have been getting emails now from the airlines urging us to book our flights for the summer and so we are getting that holiday feeling!

How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful

Blue Skies and Blue watches – Baselworld is Coming

Last year Team Bulang attended Baselworld as guests of Tudor and were witness to the exciting launch of the Tudor in-house movement encased within the new blue Tudor Pelagos (read our show report here). The Pelagos is Tudor’s professional dive watch, is depth rated to 500 metres and features a helium escape valve which is an essential aspect of the watch when used for saturation diving. The salt-water resistant and lightweight titanium case gives the watch a really cool matte finish, which we feel really lends the watch an air of military stealth (as we discussed in our original review here).

Blue Bay

Another of our favourite summer watches is the Black Bay Blue. One of the biggest hits to come out of the Tudor Heritage line has been the Black Bay. Now available in three versions (Red, Blue and most recently Black) the Black Bay is a reimagination of the 1950s era Big Crown Submariner. The midnight blue bezel and the matte black dial with silver printing gives the watch a literally-cool looking presence on the wrist and it’s again a perfect holiday partner for diving or relaxing by the pool.

The Bulang Beach Break

Whilst we couldn’t field-test the watches in a military environment, Bernhard took the Pelagos on his summer adventure last summer. Ibiza is a beautiful destination for both party-rockers and families looking to unwind and chill out. It was the latter that the Bulang family embarked on to enjoy the beaches and the island’s amazing scuba diving sites. The watch was used for swimming in the pool, diving in the sea, enjoying mojitos at the bar and relaxing suppers at the harbour. Family time is so important and the Bulang Clan had a fantastic time exploring the island and diving the reefs.

On The Rocks

You really get the full impact of the beautiful blue dial of the new Pelagos when you see it in the bright sunshine. The finish of the dial is stunning and is complimented perfectly by the ceramic insert in the bezel. Inspired by the blue vintage Submariners that were extensively utilised by the French Navy (the Marine Nationale) the watch is heavily steeped in Tudor’s Heritage – enhanced even further by the snowflake dial and hands combination.

A Glint of Silver

The French Navy played a key role in the development of the Tudor Submariners and their field testing of the watches informed Tudor of new ways to modify and improve each incarnation of this classic watch. The original Big Crown watches, in the 50s, were plagued with problems in relation to the crowns getting knocked in combat situations and subsequently the watches flooding. There are no such problems with the Black Bay, it’s a tough and robust watch and is a great companion for all summer adventures. The silver print on the dial really pops out when the sun catches it at certain angles, which adds a classy tough to what is essentially a very rugged tool watch.

Striking Straps

As you might expect, we have had a lot of fun playing with different straps on both the Pelagos and the Black Bay Blue. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, the quality of the straps that Tudor provide with both watches are superb; our favourite being the blue fabric strap that accompanies the Black Bay Blue. But, at Bulang & Sons we are passionate about the mix-and-match options of adding different straps to create different vibes for our beautiful watches. The Pelagos Blue looking stunning on the brown nato strap for evenings at the beach bar or a barbecue on the terrace. We also thought it looked great on the Black Bay Blue fabric strap – just fun playing around with different looks!

Warmer Climes

Whether you are planning a lazy holiday in the sun, a summer adventure or a simple ‘stay-cation’ at home – the summer months are filled with long evenings with friends, bright colours in our wardrobes and accessories. We are looking forward to summer 2016 and hope our summer throwback thoughts inspire you to look forward to the heat!