1,000 miles with the Tudor Black Bay Chronograph

Hugh Francis Anderson embarks on an epic motorcycle rally to test out the Swiss watchmaker’s newest version of its all-action classic

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In 1952, Tudor demonstrated the reliability of its new Oyster Prince by placing it on the wrist of a competitor in the 1,000 mile Monaco International Trophy motorcycle race. At the time, it was the ultimate test of watch, machine and man. Some 65 years later, Tudor asked me to recreate the original test while wearing the new Black Bay Chronograph. As a motoring and adventure travel journalist, I leapt at the opportunity, and set about planning how this could be achieved. When I heard about The Great Mile, a 1,000-mile motorcycle rally from Castle Mey in the north of Scotland, all the way down to The Lizard in Cornwall, I knew this would be the perfect testing ground. Naturally, over the past 65 years, both motorcycles and watches have developed exponentially, but 1,000 miles is still a long way, and with the altogether unpredictable climes of the British Isles, I knew it was going to be long, tough, and undeniably wet.

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