Tudor Black Bay 925 79010SG Silver Tarnishing – Tudor Tarnishing Issues

Tudor Black Bay 58 925 Silver Tarnishing – Tudor Tarnishing Issues

In 2021, Tudor released a watch that, quite frankly, took the market by storm. And it did so because it was made in a material that is very rare and uncommon in today’s watch market. That material is 925 silver.

Making a watch in silver has multiple benefits. First and foremost, it’s unique and stands out from the crowd in a world where most watches are made of stainless steel. Furthermore, silver weighs more than stainless steel and therefore feels more exclusive and luxurious on the wrist. Moreover, silver has a warmer and brighter white color than steel which gives it a more striking and luxurious appearance. At the same time, if it tarnishes, it will lose its brighter white color.

Tudor has a motto which is “born to dare”. And one of the ways that they live up to this motto is by daring to experiment with new and unique materials for their watches. They have created bronze watches and they have created ceramic watches. Tudor took things one step further with the 925 79010SG and released a watch made in 925 silver, a material that barely any watch brand uses today.

When Tudor released the 79010SG, they stated in the release video the following: “It is also very stable so that when we brush it to make it matte, its aspect is final. It won’t let you down, ever. Nope, not in a million years.”

With this statement, people assumed that Tudor had created a silver alloy that was stable enough to never tarnish or change color, which is something that silver is known to do. But since Tudor created its own silver alloy for this watch, they didn’t want to disclose the exact composition of the metal.

Of course, if you would ask most people, they would be more surprised that silver wouldn’t tarnish or oxidize. But Tudor’s statement gave some hope that perhaps Tudor had solved the issue of tarnishing, thus making 925 more suitable for wristwatches. After all, tarnishing has been one of the main reasons why watchmakers have chosen not to use this material to a great extent in the last decades.

With this said, some people actually like the aged, tarnished look of the 925 as it tarnishes. After all, bronze watches from Tudor are very popular, and a lot of people buy them for the sole reason that they enjoy the fact that it changes over time and gets a more sporty, tool-like look. But the issue some people have is Tudor’s statement about the 925.

If Tudor would have released the watch and presented it as a watch made in silver, people would naturally have immediately assumed that it would tarnish, and expected that when buying it. But instead, Tudor said it would not tarnish, eventually being proven the opposite, thus causing disappointment amongst some customers.

Perhaps we as customers just had too high hopes for the 925 Black Bay. Even if Tudor created a new silver alloy, 92.5% of the metal is still silver and with that in mind, it is to be expected that it is going to show at least some levels of oxidization. However, we can still say that Tudor has succeeded with its alloy in a sense. Even if it doesn’t eliminate tarnishing completely, Tudor has succeeded in dramatically reducing the level of tarnishing with its new alloy.

Whilst regular 925 silver will show black oxidization on the surface, the vast majority of Tudor owners will not experience more than a bit of yellow hue to the surface.

One person expressed their thoughts about the watch in the following way:

“I originally loved the sound of a silver watch and read the Tudor saying that ‘it would not tarnish’ and seeing the tarnish of your watch, I would be incredibly disappointed in a tarnished watch that is far different than the original bright white silver color. Unfortunately, the tarnish on your watch will impact your ability to sell that watch and has severely devalued the watch. Knowing from your unfortunate experience, I would not buy a Tudor 925 and invest my money elsewhere. Perhaps you have a recourse with Tudor.”

On the contrary, another person said:

“I personally love the tarnish look of the case and can understand that it isn’t for everyone. But I agree with you that the warm tarnish doesn’t really go well with the cool gray dial with bright white indices.”

This just goes to show how the question of Tudor Black Bay 925 silver tarnishing splits opinions.

As mentioned, the tarnishing is something that splits opinions and may have caused the initial hype and popularity of this model to decrease slightly since its release to some people. Whilst some people like it, others don’t like the look, or like the idea that the luxury watch they buy will eventually start to oxidize.

Tudor silver 925 silver tarnishing

Only a few weeks or months after the 925 silver was released, reports about the fact that owners’ 925 silver Black Bays had started to tarnish appeared.

The tarnishing was shown in the form of a yellow hue to the finish of the case, in particular on the backside of the lugs, an area where the constant contact with the wrist, humidity, and sweat causes faster oxidation. If the Tudor 925 would in fact prove to oxidize, it would be this area that would start oxidizing first. And that’s exactly what happened.

The YouTube channel Checkitoutvideos said the following:

“won’t let you down in a million years” they are right you know, cause it only took 1 month to tarnish.

It doesn’t come as a surprise that people in warmer and more humid climates experience faster tarnishing of their watch than those who live in colder and dry climates. Naturally, when people sweat more, it causes faster tarnishing than in dry climates where the watch isn’t subjected as much to oxidizing substances such as sweat.

How to remove and clean Tudor 925 silver tarnishing

The good news is that just as you can remove tarnishing on silverware and other silver objects, you’ll of course be able to remove the tarnishing from your Black Bay 925 silver. The same has also proven to be the case for the Black Bay Bronze.

Here is a detailed video of how you can clean and remove tarnishing from your Tudor 925 silver:

Fortunately, the process of cleaning the watch is both simple and quick. With this in mind, if you really like the Tudor 925 and are turned off by the idea that it tarnishes, we would still say buy it! After all, you can relatively easily, as seen in the video above, clean and remove the tarnishing. But don’t buy it and expect it not to tarnish. Because most likely, it will, at least to some degree.