Weekend Adventures in the Bernese Oberland with the Tudor Black Bay Ceramic

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Weekend Adventures in the Bernese Oberland with the Tudor Black Bay Ceramic - Bucherer
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Tudor’s new Black Bay Ceramic made the ideal travel companion for a weekend in the Bernese Oberland

Sometimes, you need to go no further than your own doorstep to see landscapes of breathtaking beauty and find activities that take you out of your daily routine. For me, this meant a trip to Bern, one of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, with the help of Made in Bern, the organisation that promotes tourism in the area. I travelled to the Bernese Oberland and, specifically, Thun-Interlaken-Brienz, a region of forests, mountains and glacier lakes in the centre of Switzerland. The Bernese Oberland is the canton’s most elevated region, making it the ideal base for all kinds of excursions.

A weekend in Bern with the Tudor Black Bay Ceramic

A weekend in Bern with the Tudor Black Bay Ceramic

On good authority

Before setting out on my adventure, I asked Bucherer to recommend a reasonably priced watch that would be tough enough to wear for a weekend in the great outdoors. Having considered the various suggestions, I chose the Tudor Black Bay Ceramic. Antonio Teixeira, director of the Bucherer store on Rue du Rhône in Geneva, described it to me as “a contemporary design and, at under CHF 5,000, excellent value for an in-house movement.” Thanks to its great expertise in the watchmaking field, which comes from the various partners with which it collaborates and its almost 150 years of existence, Bucherer was able to give me detailed and precise advice on the product I was looking for.

A weekend in Bern with the Tudor Black Bay Ceramic

A weekend in Bern with the Tudor Black Bay Ceramic

Tudor Black Bay Ceramic

Price isn’t the only thing the Black Bay Ceramic has going for it (CHF 4,500). The 41mm case in matte black ceramic gives the watch a strong personality but stays on the right side of showy. The bevelled edges are a particularly nice touch as they create contrasting textures as well as a play of light and shade that add to the watch’s character.

A weekend in Bern with the Tudor Black Bay Ceramic

Hidden under the black dial but visible through the sapphire back, the Black Bay Ceramic’s in-house movement delivers 70 hours of power reserve. Ideal for spending three days in the Bernese Oberland without having to worry about keeping the movement wound.

A weekend in Bern with the Tudor Black Bay Ceramic

Whether you choose the leather and rubber strap with folding clasp for a dressier look, or the more casual fabric strap with pin buckle is up to you. As I was planning a fairly sporty weekend, I opted for the fabric strap. A wise choice, as it happened, because it didn’t make me sweat — not the sexiest of comments, granted, but a real benefit, nonetheless. The cream stripe running down the centre of the strap adds presence and also makes it stand out against the case.

A weekend in Bern with the Tudor Black Bay Ceramic

A breath of fresh air

There is certainly no shortage of things to do in the Haslital valley, one of the Alp’s largest. Stop off in the charming village of Meiringen, a favourite haunt of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his famous fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes, on your way to Gelmerbahn, where adrenalin junkies can board Europe’s steepest funicular which pitches at 106% as it climbs 1,500 vertical feet. If you don’t have a head for heights, keep your eyes closed for the ten-minute ride. You’ll be rewarded by the spectacular Gelmersee (Lake Gelmer) and the view of the surrounding mountains at 1,860 metres altitude. If you’re as lucky as I was, there’ll be snow on the peaks and the lake will still have its icy blanket — more Arctic than Alpine. The Black Bay Ceramic’s “snowflake” hands fit perfectly into this wintery backdrop. If the funicular wasn’t heart-pounding enough, you can also walk across the Handeckfall suspension bridge that rises 70 metres above the canyon floor. Guaranteed goosebumps, especially when there’s a gust of wind!

A weekend in Bern with the Tudor Black Bay Ceramic

A weekend in Bern with the Tudor Black Bay Ceramic

Water, water, everywhere

If heights are not your forte, you can follow the 1.4-km walkway through the Aare Gorge. The sound of rushing water will take your mind off the fact the canyon walls are only a metre apart at certain points. Part of the trail is by way of tunnels through the rock. Choose your travel companion well and let the Super-Luminova® hands and hour markers on the Tudor Black Bay Ceramic light the way.

A weekend in Bern with the Tudor Black Bay Ceramic

Follow the river Aare and it will bring you to Brienzersee (Lake Brienz). There’s plenty to do on the water here, including kayaking. Capsizing isn’t a worry when, like mine, your watch is water-resistant to 200 metres. And no I didn’t capsize, before you ask, although someone in my group did. We set out at 8am, and while the prospect of getting up early on a Sunday didn’t enchant me at first, the experience of paddling through cool waters on a warm, sunny morning made the experience all the more enjoyable.

Un week-end « Made in Bern » avec la Tudor Black Bay Ceramic

If you prefer a more stable vessel, a paddle steamer will ferry you across Lake Brienz to the Grandhotel Giessbach. The hotel, a Belle Epoque beauty that reopened in 1984, couldn’t be more perfectly located, above the lake by the thundering Giessbach Falls. Watch the sun sink into the water from the terrace while sipping a speciality cold tea. As befits such an exceptional location, all the paintings that hang inside the hotel are from the Bern Fine Arts Museum.

A weekend in Bern with the Tudor Black Bay Ceramic

West of Interlaken, Thunersee (Lake Thun) also offers numerous sport and leisure opportunities. These include a dinner cruise, setting sail from Interlaken and arriving at Thun, from where you’ll be treated to a superb view of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau, one of the most dramatic mountain groups in Switzerland.

With so much happening on the water during these three days, the Black Bay Ceramic dive watch with unidirectional rotating bezel and screw-down crown couldn’t have been a better choice.

A weekend in Bern with the Tudor Black Bay Ceramic

About the trip
Jordy visited the Bernese Oberland. He stayed at the Alpbach Hotel in Meiringen and the Boutique Hotel Bellevue in Interlaken. For information on what to see and do in the region, go to www.madeinbern.ch.

More about the Tudor Black Bay Ceramic 
- In-house automatic MT5602-1U calibre
- Swiss-made
- COSC-certified
- The first Tudor watch to obtain Master Chronometer certification from the Swiss Federal Institute of Metrology (METAS), it resists magnetic fields of up to 15,000 gauss.

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