For about a decade Tudor made the Black Bay smaller. 41mm, then 39, then 37. Then in 2025 they turned around and released a 43mm one.
The Black Bay 68 is that watch, and the name is not a size — it is a date. 1968 is the year Tudor drew the Snowflake hand, which is still the single most recognisable thing on the dial.
It is also the Black Bay where the strap decision splits cleanly in two, because this model comes with two dials that behave completely differently in light. More on that below, but first the part that costs people money.
Strap size and fit guide (43mm does not mean what you think)
Your Tudor Black Bay 68 (Ref. M7943A1A0NU) has a 43mm case and a 22mm lug width. That applies to both the blue-dial and silver-dial versions.
On Helvetus product pages, select "Black Bay 68" before you add to cart.
Here is the trap on this one, and it is a good one: 43mm does not automatically mean 22mm in the Black Bay range.
| Watch | Case | Lug width |
|---|---|---|
| Black Bay 68 | 43mm | 22mm |
| Black Bay Bronze | 43mm | 23mm |
| Black Bay 58 | 39mm | 20mm |
The Black Bay Bronze is the same 43mm across and takes 23mm — a full millimetre wider. Two Tudors, same case diameter, two different straps. If you own both, or you are borrowing a strap from a friend who has the Bronze, that is exactly where this goes wrong. There is nothing intuitive about it; you simply have to know.
Checklist: 43mm case, 22mm lugs, select "Black Bay 68".
What the Black Bay 68 actually is
Tudor's own framing is that they built it "to fit all types of wrists" — the range had shrunk so far that anyone with a larger wrist had been quietly left behind. So the 68 is a full-size diver with the usual Black Bay recipe scaled up: 43mm steel case, brushed on top with polished bevels down the sides, a 60-minute unidirectional bezel with a matte black aluminium insert, a domed sapphire crystal, a screw-down crown with the Tudor rose, and 200m of water resistance.
Inside is the Calibre MT5601-U — chronometer certified and Master Chronometer certified, with a silicon hairspring, roughly 70 hours of reserve and resistance to 15,000 gauss.
Two details matter more than the rest. The bracelet finally drops the faux rivets in favour of smooth side flanks and the T-fit clasp, which is a genuine improvement. And the dial comes in exactly two flavours: sun-brushed Tudor Blue or sun-brushed silver, both domed, both with applied markers and Snowflake hands.
Why the dial, not the case, decides your strap
Every other Black Bay has a matte or flat dial. The 68 has a sun-brushed one, and that changes the whole exercise.
A sun-brushed finish throws light in a band as your wrist moves. The blue dial reads as a deep, saturated Tudor Blue in daylight and drops to something very close to black indoors. The silver dial does the same in reverse — near-white under a lamp, cool grey in flat light. In practice you own two versions of your own watch, and the strap has to work with both of them, not just the one in the product photo.
That is the rule for this reference: choose for the dial you have, and choose something that still works when the dial goes dark. Straps that only look right in bright light are why people end up with a drawer full of near-misses.
There is a second reason to swap, and it is the strongest wearability argument on the whole Black Bay range. The 68 measures roughly 51.8mm lug to lug — for context, the Black Bay 58 GMT is 47.8mm, the Black Bay Pro 47.2mm, and the Black Bay 54 about 46mm. This is by some distance the longest Black Bay, and on a long watch the thing that decides whether it wears well is how soon the strap starts curving after it leaves the lug. A steel bracelet cannot bend until the first link clears the case, which effectively makes a long watch longer. Rubber starts wrapping immediately. If the 68 has ever looked slightly too much on your wrist in a photo, this is why — and it is a two-minute fix.
The best straps for the Black Bay 68 — by dial
If you have the blue dial (M7943A1A0NU-0001)
Navy Blue — the hero. The obvious answer and the right one. Navy sits just below the dial's daylight blue, so in bright light you get a subtle two-tone effect between strap and dial, and when the dial drops toward black indoors the strap follows it down instead of suddenly standing out. That is exactly the behaviour you want from a sun-brushed dial. It also plays well against the matte black bezel, which is the one surface on this watch that never changes. Navy Blue Tudor Black Bay Rubber Strap
Black with Blue Line LuxLine® — the upgrade. For anyone who already owns a plain strap and wants the 68 to look considered rather than just correct. The black body matches the bezel insert exactly, and the blue line runs the length of the strap picking up the dial. On a 43mm watch there is enough strap on show for a single line to actually register, which is not true on a 37mm one. This is the version of the watch people ask about. Black w/Blue Line LuxLine® Tudor Black Bay Strap
If you have the silver dial (M7943A1A0NU-0002)
Black — maximum contrast, and the easy win. The silver dial is the brightest thing Tudor has put in a Black Bay for years, and black rubber is what lets it stay that way. Bezel, strap and case sides all go dark and the dial sits in the middle of them glowing. It is also the most forgiving choice across a wardrobe, and on a watch this size that matters more than it does on a small one — a big watch in a loud colour is a lot of watch. Black Tudor Black Bay Rubber Strap
Grey — the sophisticated one. Where black separates the dial from everything else, grey continues it. The strap picks up the sun-brushed silver and the polished case flanks, and the watch reads as one tonal object with a black bezel sitting on top of it. It looks considerably more expensive than it has any right to, and it is the pick almost nobody makes. If you want the 68 to look like a design object rather than a dive watch, this is the one. Grey Tudor Black Bay Rubber Strap
Both dials suit far more than these four — there is a full colour range for this case here: All Tudor Black Bay Straps
Getting the order right
Colour first, then select "Black Bay 68" on the product page. Not "Black Bay 41", not "Black Bay Bronze" — the Bronze is the same 43mm case size and a different width, which is the single most likely way to get this wrong.
If you own other Tudors, these cover the widths either side:
- Tudor Black Bay Bronze 79250BA Strap Guide — 43mm, but 23mm lugs
- Tudor Black Bay 41 Blue 79230B Strap Guide — 41mm, 22mm lugs
- Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Eight 79030N Strap Guide — 39mm, 20mm lugs
FAQ
What lug width is the Tudor Black Bay 68? 22mm, on both the blue and silver dial versions. Tudor states 22mm on both references.
Is the Black Bay 68 the same strap size as the Black Bay Bronze? No. Both are 43mm cases, but the Bronze takes 23mm and the 68 takes 22mm. Same diameter, different strap.
Which strap colour is best for the blue Black Bay 68? Navy blue, because it tracks the dial as the sun-brushed finish shifts between bright blue and near-black. A black strap with a blue line is the step up from there.
Which strap colour is best for the silver Black Bay 68? Black for maximum contrast against the bright dial, or grey if you would rather the watch read as one tonal piece.
Does the Black Bay 68 wear as big as 43mm sounds? It is 13.6mm thick with a lug-to-lug of roughly 51.8mm, which is the longest in the Black Bay range. A flexible rubber strap starts bending at the lug where a bracelet cannot, which is why it wears noticeably better on a strap.
Final thoughts
The 68 exists because Tudor accepted that not every wrist wants a 37mm watch, and it is a properly good full-size diver. On the bracelet it is a serious piece of steel. On rubber it becomes the thing you put on without thinking about it, and the sun-brushed dial does something different every hour of the day.
Helvetus straps are cut for this exact case, so you get a clean fit at the lugs with no gaps and no guessing. Every rubber strap is covered by a lifetime warranty, shipping is free worldwide with no import costs, and more than 50,000 customers have already made the swap.
