Tudor · July 31, 2026
Selling the Tudor Black Bay Chrono 79350
The first in-house Black Bay Chrono and its Tudor-Breitling movement — MT5813, the details that move value, and how they shape an offer.
Market guide: This article explains valuation factors. It is not a customer testimonial, completed transaction, promise or appraisal.
The Black Bay Chrono 79350 is the watch that grew out of one of the more interesting partnerships in the modern industry, and that story is genuinely part of its value. When Tudor needed an in-house-grade chronograph movement it partnered with Breitling: Tudor supplied Breitling a time-and-date caliber, and Breitling supplied Tudor the chronograph architecture that became the Caliber MT5813. So the 79350 is a Black Bay wearing a movement with real Breitling column-wheel and vertical-clutch DNA, and buyers who know that history factor it in.
The MT5813 is a COSC-certified automatic chronograph with a column wheel, a vertical clutch and a power reserve of around seventy hours — a genuinely high-specification movement for the price bracket. For a seller this is the anchor of the offer: an integrated, certified chronograph caliber with that lineage is a confident thing to resell, and it keeps the number resting on condition and completeness rather than on any doubt about the mechanism.
The 79350 is the first-generation Black Bay Chrono, and distinguishing it from later versions matters. Tudor evolved the line over the years with restyled subdial layouts, dial colors and case-back details, and demand varies across those generations and variants. Establishing that you have the 79350 specifically — and which dial configuration — is the first thing a buyer settles, because a black-and-white "panda"-style dial and a fully dark example do not draw the same audience.
The dial layout is part of the 79350's identity and worth describing accurately. It is a bi-compax chronograph — a 45-minute counter and a running-seconds subdial — with a date window, rather than the three-register layout many chronographs use, and it keeps the snowflake hour hand from the diving models. That specific configuration, along with the dial color, is what a buyer identifies first, because it separates the 79350 visually from the Black Bay chronographs that came later.
It also helps to distinguish the 79350 from the restyled Black Bay Chrono that followed it, which carried revised subdial proportions and its own reference number. The two share the MT5813 movement and the general look but are different production runs, and demand can differ between them. Confirming that you have the 79350 specifically — from the caseback and the paperwork — keeps both the expectation and the number correct.
The case is a 41mm Black Bay with a fixed tachymeter bezel and the snowflake hour hand carried over from the diving models, and its condition is graded like any modern Tudor. The case mixes brushed and polished surfaces; a heavy polish that softens the edges reads as damage, not refurbishment. The pushers and crown should operate cleanly, the subdial hands should return to zero on reset, and the bezel and dial should be unmarked. Honest wear is expected; buffing to hide it is a red flag.
The bracelet-and-strap question is as important here as on any Black Bay. The 79350 was offered on a steel bracelet, on a leather or fabric strap, and those pieces separate from the watch over time. A Chrono missing its original bracelet loses value because the bracelet is expensive to source and a complete package resells more easily. Before you submit photos, find every strap, bracelet and link that came with it — it is the simplest way to protect the number.
Completeness beyond the bracelet follows current-model logic. The box, the warranty card stamped and dated by an authorized dealer, the hang tags and any spare links all speed verification and lift the offer toward the top of a range. A watch-only 79350 is still buyable, but the missing card removes a verification shortcut, and on an in-house chronograph, easy verification is worth having.
Service risk on a chronograph deserves a closer look than on a time-only watch, because a chronograph has more moving parts and the pushers see use. If the MT5813 starts, stops and resets cleanly, holds its reserve and runs within a reasonable rate, there is little to reserve for. If the reset is imperfect, the subdials do not return to zero, or it has sat unused for a long time, a buyer will price in eventual service, because a chronograph service is not a trivial cost. It is also worth resisting the urge to run the chronograph constantly to demonstrate it works before a sale; on any chronograph, sustained use of the running functions accelerates wear, and a watch that simply keeps good time and resets cleanly makes the point without the extra mileage.
Bringing it together, a direct offer on a 79350 comes from confirming it is the first-generation Chrono and identifying the dial variant, checking that the original bracelet and straps are present, grading the case and verifying that the chronograph functions and resets correctly. A boxed, complete, clean example with a strong dial earns the top of its planning range; a worn, strap-only or reset-troubled piece earns a fair lower number, explained rather than hidden.
The Black Bay Chrono sits a little apart from the divers because it is a chronograph with a distinctive backstory, and a buyer who understands the Tudor-Breitling movement partnership tends to value it more accurately than one pricing it as a generic in-house chronograph. If you want to see the 79350 among the wider Black Bay range we buy, the Black Bay page is the reference, and clear photos of the caseback, dial, subdials and clasp — with a note on your box and straps, and on whether the chronograph resets cleanly to zero — let us give you a provisional number before anyone meets in person.