With its brown-and-bronze colour palette, bold circular bezel and riveted bracelet, this new-for-2021 Tudor timepiece looks a little like a vintage diving helmet. You know the ones we mean; the big and bulky, proper copper, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea-looking things. And it’s no coincidence we think that — because it’s exactly what the Black Bay Fifty-Eight Bronze was going for.
Designed to resemble old ships and historic deep-sea diving equipment, the lush, patinated bronze colour brings a dashing new satin-brushed spirit to the Black Bay collection. It offers up a pioneering, romantic, age-of-adventure diving watch — one resistant to corrosion and blessed with remarkable strength.
And yet, despite its vintage appearance, there is plenty new about Tudor’s handsome Black Bay Fifty-Eight Bronze. That shaded, matt brown face breathes fresh life into the familiar, dependable dial layout — bringing out the warm tones of the applied hour markets and the iconic ‘Snowflake’ hands. The gold accents on the bezel are also a nice new touch; muted but highly legible against the rich, burnished brown.
Inside the bold bronze case, you’ll find the same Manufacture Calibre MT5400 that makes the Black Bay Fifty-Eight 18K (as well as the Fifty-Eight 925) tick. With hour, minute and second functions, it’s a movement built with a non-magnetic silicon hairspring, variable inertia balance and a ‘weekend-proof’ 70-hour power reserve — to ensure it remains as sturdy as the alloy that encases it.
The bracelet, too, is new. While the Black Bay Fifty-Eight Bronze comes with a complimentary fabric strap, we’d suggest sticking with the new bronze bracelet. Tudor has been exploring and experimenting with bronze in its Black Bay collection from several years — but this 2021 model marks the first time that the brand has created a bracelet entirely from the alloy.
Crafted together from satin-brushed links, the handsome band takes its visual cues from the Tudor bracelets of the 1950s — with rivets co-ordinated with the case, and built to take on a characterful patina at the same pace as the main chunk of metal.
A new bronze clasp, also, features a redesigned cover and Tudor’s revolutionary ‘T-Fit’ rapid adjustment system — a practical system that allows wearers to carry out fine, instant adjustments along the length of the bracelet.
But, as impressive as the new bracelet is, the appeal of this latest Black Bay Fifty-Eight sits squarely on its brown-and-bronze dial. It is here that the existing, timeless design most clearly enjoys its new vintage spin — from the bronze accents to where the gently shaded sepia seeps down into the understated minutes track.
It’s a watch that captures the unique, intrepid essence of the Black Bay collection; a deep-diving deep diver informed by heavy-duty maritime machines of the past. It’s a piece of history, informed by history.
Want more from the watchmaker? Tudor’s new Black Bay Ceramic is a masterful matte-black Chronometer…
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