The Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Eight was one of the sleeper hits in Baselworld 2018 and in our opinion one of the best Black Bay release to date. What makes the Fifty-Eight special however is it’s truer to vintage proportions and appeals to those who want to wear something more balanced on the wrist, much like a 90's Rolex Submariner. In a sense, this watch is a spiritual successor to the classic Rolex Submariner: it has a modest 39mm case diameter, is 11.9mm thick, 60 click aluminium bezel, elegant 20mm lugs with a tapered riveted steel bracelet and the in-house MT5402 chronometer certified movement with 70hrs power reserve.
Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Eight 58 Automatic
We wore the watch on a 6 inch (average slim asian) wrist size as pictured. It wears extremely comfortably, mostly due to the balanced proportions of the watch. As with all Black Bays, the feeling of wearing a well engineered and solid timepiece is an obvious one. Looking closely at the watch you'll notice the slightly raised box sapphire crystal, which reflects a little bit of light very subtlely. The screw in crown has a classic Tudor rose logo engraving on it, a nod to it's rich heritage - which I love. It's classically simple in every way, yet it has enough little details to draw the attention of your eye to the watch.
It's interesting to also note that i never once felt that the watch felt heavy, like it's sitting on top of the wrist on the bracelet. That was quite prominent on other dive watches I have tried including the Tudor Black Bay 41mm with the latest manufacture movement. The entire design of this watch is made complete with the tapered bracelet, which of course removes much of the unweildy bulky feel of divers in general. This in my opinion, is why many people who own Rolex Submariners love their bracelets - it really does make or break the watch.
What I love most about this piece is how elegant it wears and how it can be worn in almost every situation. As an everyday watch, it matches most outfits with it's deep black dial and gold tone accents on the bezel, hands, dial and indicies. The perfectly balanced proportions of the watch makes wearing it under a work shirt an easy one as well, it slides easily under the cuff of the shirt. It's so versatile, you can also wear it on a NATO strap for the casual look or even on a leather strap for more formal occassions. It's versatility is unmatched, and coupled with it's rich heritage and perfect proportions it's no wonder why this watch is waitlisted.
